ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The combat training center has morphed in purpose and scope since its inception. After the Vietnam War ended in the mid-1970s, the Army created the combat training center to transform its force from a broken service to a highly lethal fighting force, which would be on display during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

The overwhelming success of Desert Storm could not have happened without the validation of AirLand Battle doctrine, which was tested and refined at multiple combat training center rotations by warfighters in the interwar years.

During the global war on terror, combat training...

A no-notice alert to deploy to the U.S. southern border gave the 10th Mountain Division the opportunity to test new equipment, build military-to-military relationships and gain real-world experience against a determined and adaptive adversary.

The U.S. military has supported U.S. Customs and Border Protection for years. While previous missions seemed to erode readiness as soldiers were employed as unskilled labor instead of highly trained maneuver forces, that is not the case today. Empowered by new authorities and a refined purpose, troops deployed along the southern border lead...

A no-notice alert to deploy to the U.S. southern border gave the 10th Mountain Division the opportunity to test new equipment, build military-to-military relationships and gain real-world experience against a determined and adaptive adversary.

The U.S. military has supported U.S. Customs and Border Protection for years. While previous missions seemed to erode readiness as soldiers were employed as unskilled labor instead of highly trained maneuver forces, that is not the case today. Empowered by new authorities and a refined purpose, troops deployed along the southern border lead...

For the past 70 years, U.S. and South Korean armed forces have maintained the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, deterred aggression and provided a framework for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Doing this has required the collective might of the two countries and the placing of tens of thousands of service members and their equipment facing North Korea, locked in on their mutual adversary, like pieces on a chessboard.

This arrangement has worked for decades. But as the Indo-Pacific security situation has grown in size and complexity, there is a need to enable allied forces in...

Artificial intelligence is fast becoming a linchpin of strategic military relevance. For the Army, integration of artificial intelligence has moved beyond the drawing board into tangible applications, whether through autonomous intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, predictive logistics or real-time decision-support systems.

These tools already are shifting the tempo of combat and reshaping what readiness looks like in the modern era.

As a military intelligence officer, I’ve worked directly with artificial intelligence-enhanced platforms like the Maven Smart System...

The decline of the U.S. Army’s cavalry force did not occur in one sweeping decision. Rather, it was a slow, incremental process shaped by two decades of institutional drift, doctrinal confusion and well-

intended but ultimately harmful organizational change. It began in the early 2000s as the Army rapidly restructured to meet the demands of the global war on terror.

A critical moment came in 2003, when Army leadership chose to eliminate all air cavalry troops from division and regimental formations. This disbanded the Army’s only true air/ground reconnaissance units—formations that had...

The battlefield has gone digital, but leadership can’t afford to follow blindly. Messaging platforms like Signal and WhatsApp have become standard tools across the force. They offer speed, access and reach like never before, but they’ve also shifted how leaders engage with their teams. Authority now arrives via notification. Pings replace presence. And that easy, always-available access creates a new problem: task saturation with no sense of timing, tempo or personal impact.

Leaders unintentionally erode trust by pushing directives without gauging mental load or operational tempo. When...

The battlefield has gone digital, but leadership can’t afford to follow blindly. Messaging platforms like Signal and WhatsApp have become standard tools across the force. They offer speed, access and reach like never before, but they’ve also shifted how leaders engage with their teams. Authority now arrives via notification. Pings replace presence. And that easy, always-available access creates a new problem: task saturation with no sense of timing, tempo or personal impact.

Leaders unintentionally erode trust by pushing directives without gauging mental load or operational tempo. When...

Lately, there’s been talk about soldiers not being bound to follow illegal orders. The talk mostly is among some academicians, media personalities and political leaders. It’s usually associated with one side of the political aisle trying to score points against the other. I don’t want to use this essay to engage in that kind of partisan political discussion. Rather, I’d like to point out two of the enduring and foundational aspects of our profession that are relevant to the current discussion.

First, military commanders in the chain of command, with advice from staff judge advocates, are...

There’s hardly a lack of mentorship and freely given advice for junior officers to absorb in today’s Army. Commanders are often willing to reflect on their experiences and offer guidance to the next generation. I want to share some insight gained in my time wearing the rank of second lieutenant, and the advice myself and my peers were often given.

I have served just under two years on active duty, having commissioned through the Army’s Officer Candidate School in January 2024. In the following paragraphs, I’ll give my unorthodox takes on the common advice second lieutenants often hear, and...

As the U.S. Army pursues its comprehensive transformation strategy, there are leadership demands that go beyond technical proficiency and tactical experience. Delivering critical warfighting capabilities, optimizing force structure and eliminating waste and obsolete programs does not relieve today’s leaders of the responsibility to be emotionally intelligent, adaptive and resilient. On the contrary, it requires more of them. Peer mentorship, defined here as reciprocal relationships between teammates of similar rank or experience, is a powerful, underleveraged tool to meet these needs.

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In early 2025, several nondescript cargo trucks loaded with smuggled drones and remote-controlled lids arrived near at least four key air bases in Russia. The drones were deployed from the trucks by Ukraine on June 1 in a coordinated strike, destroying or severely damaging as many as 20 Russian strategic aircraft and dealing a major blow to Russia’s long-range strike capabilities.

Dubbed Operation Spider’s Web, the meticulously planned and daring attack marked a new dimension to the already fast-moving drone warfare and spurred warnings that copycat attacks could strike deep into the U...

From a small working group in the XVIII Airborne Corps headquarters’ windowless basement at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2020, to an exercise spanning all U.S. military services and civilian and international partners around the globe, Scarlet Dragon’s concept of integrating artificial intelligence on a shared data platform is now a viable reality.

As the Department of War’s premier training series for integrating AI across multiple services and partners, the Scarlet Dragon series of exercises develops and improves the rapid response capabilities of the XVIII Airborne Corps through...

From a small working group in the XVIII Airborne Corps headquarters’ windowless basement at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2020, to an exercise spanning all U.S. military services and civilian and international partners around the globe, Scarlet Dragon’s concept of integrating artificial intelligence on a shared data platform is now a viable reality.

As the Department of War’s premier training series for integrating AI across multiple services and partners, the Scarlet Dragon series of exercises develops and improves the rapid response capabilities of the XVIII Airborne Corps through...

The story of David and Goliath is a popular biblical tale depicting the extraordinary journey of a young shepherd who fearlessly confronts a formidable giant. Armed with only a sling, David defies all odds to fell Goliath and emerge victorious. When considering employment of a simple sling to defeat a larger enemy, the tale highlights that it is not the size difference between opponents that matters, but rather the effectiveness of the weapon itself. 

In October 2023, Hamas carried out a large-scale surprise attack against Israel with the help of drones. The crude, inexpensive drones...