ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

I recently served a 12-month tour in Baghdad’s U.S. Embassy with the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq. Early in my tour, in September 2020, my office received a request from the Iraqi government to bolster security measures in Baghdad’s Green Zone to protect the seat of government from malign groups, angry civilian protesters and others.

I was assigned to lead the effort and spent the remainder of my tour working closely alongside my Iraqi counterparts to complete this project as quickly as possible.

From the start, top officials in the White House, DoD and the State Department from...

The Story of Operation Inherent Resolve

Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump. Michael Gordon. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 496 pages. $30

By Brig. Gen. John Brown, U.S. Army retired

Michael Gordon is an accomplished chronicler of recent American wars. In Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, he delivers a superb account of Operation Inherent Resolve, the American portion of the 2014–19 campaign to dismantle the Islamic State group’s...

The Army People Strategy from October 2019 states: “Authentic leader engagement is critical to developing cohesive teams and maximizing performance. Counseling demonstrates the leader’s investment in the development of a subordinate. Ensure formal career counseling to each Army professional at key crossroads in his or her career.” Surprisingly, the word “mentorship” does not appear in this strategy. But mentorship can make a profound difference regardless of one’s rank or experience.

I benefited immensely from “authentic leader engagement” throughout my Army career. My father (a Vietnam...

An important part of leadership is underwriting the mistakes of subordinates when those mistakes are made in good faith. Most leaders will admit that tolerance and forbearance on the part of superiors are a big part of growth and success. In my long Army career, I was fortunate to serve under many commanders who understood this—and who remembered their own growing pains.

As a young officer in the 82nd Airborne Division, life was challenging and demanding. But on rare occasions, allowances were made for a lieutenant’s rash, brash mistakes.

As a new platoon leader, I was tasked to run a...

Former Pfc. Jim “Pee Wee” Martin is one of the last of the paratroopers who trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, and jumped into World War II with the 101st Airborne Division’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. On June 6, 1944, he jumped into the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. In September 1944, he jumped into Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. In December 1944, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. Martin, now 101 years old, only recently stopped jumping out of airplanes, but he found a new gig with country music singer and passionate military supporter Karen...

In 1903, the Wright brothers invented the first successful airplane. By 1914, just over a decade after its successful test, aircraft would be used in combat in World War I, with capabilities including reconnaissance, bombing and aerial combat. This has been categorized by most historians as a revolution in military affairs. The battlefield, which previously included land and sea, now included the sky, permanently altering the way wars are fought. With the new technology came new strategy, policy, tactics, procedures and formations.

Twenty years ago, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) were...

In 1903, the Wright brothers invented the first successful airplane. By 1914, just over a decade after its successful test, aircraft would be used in combat in World War I, with capabilities including reconnaissance, bombing and aerial combat. This has been categorized by most historians as a revolution in military affairs. The battlefield, which previously included land and sea, now included the sky, permanently altering the way wars are fought. With the new technology came new strategy, policy, tactics, procedures and formations.

Twenty years ago, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) were...

The commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command wants to talk about the critical work his soldiers do every day. And he wants to clear up any confusion about the roles and responsibilities of his command and the mission of the U.S. Space Force, the military’s newest branch.

In the Space Force, the Guardians look up into the skies, while Space and Missile Defense Command looks to where people live and where wars have been fought for millennia, said Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, who has led the Huntsville, Alabama-based Army command since December 2019.

It’s something...

The Army’s Future Vertical Lift aircraft will provide the joint force with flexible, agile and decisive options based on next-generation technological advancements as well as advanced tactics and teaming. Future Vertical Lift will feature transformational speed, range and endurance to generate strategic and operational advantages, operate from a place of relative sanctuary and rapidly deliver combat power to the tactical edge of the battlefield.

Next-generation technological advancements and Future Vertical Lift’s modular open systems approach set the conditions for interoperability and...

The Army’s Future Vertical Lift aircraft will provide the joint force with flexible, agile and decisive options based on next-generation technological advancements as well as advanced tactics and teaming. Future Vertical Lift will feature transformational speed, range and endurance to generate strategic and operational advantages, operate from a place of relative sanctuary and rapidly deliver combat power to the tactical edge of the battlefield.

Next-generation technological advancements and Future Vertical Lift’s modular open systems approach set the conditions for interoperability and...

The revolution will not be televised

Will not be televised

Will not be televised

Will not be televised

The revolution will be no re-run, brothers

The revolution will be live

While the above stanza, drawn from the Gil Scott-Heron song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, may appear at first glance to have nothing to do with the Army, a closer examination of the challenges we face reveals a more subtle connection. Between domestic issues and political challenges at home and a global pandemic and ascendant peers abroad, the Army must fundamentally change how it operates to...

The Army’s plan for the light division proposes the addition of an Infantry Squad Vehicle for every rifle squad in an infantry brigade. Incorporating squad vehicles could greatly increase infantry mobility, but also incur significant costs. Motorizing the infantry also would limit the tactical deployment of light infantry, further complicate movement control and do little to solve the Army’s greater transportation needs.

Transportation shortfalls have consistently represented the key constraint for large-scale combat operations, as detailed in the Army University Press’ 2018 collection The...

The Army’s plan for the light division proposes the addition of an Infantry Squad Vehicle for every rifle squad in an infantry brigade. Incorporating squad vehicles could greatly increase infantry mobility, but also incur significant costs. Motorizing the infantry also would limit the tactical deployment of light infantry, further complicate movement control and do little to solve the Army’s greater transportation needs.

Transportation shortfalls have consistently represented the key constraint for large-scale combat operations, as detailed in the Army University Press’ 2018 collection The...

Special Operations’ Rocky Evolution

Warfighter: The Story of an American Fighting Man. Col. Jesse Johnson With Alex Holstein. Lyons Press. 264 pages. $27.95

By Col. Keith Nightingale, U.S. Army retired

Retired Col. Jesse Johnson’s book Warfighter: The Story of an American Fighting Man, written with Alex Holstein, is a stirring, highly readable and satisfying work. It is a combination of special operations inside baseball as well as a descriptive trip through the life of one of America’s great soldiers.

The book describes the true nature of close combat, from Johnson’s time in...

Leaders frequently struggle with communication. In fact, command climate surveys identify communication as one of the top challenges within Army organizations. Why does this happen? What is it about communication that is so difficult? Why do leaders think their subordinates are not understanding them, and why do subordinates think their leaders are poor communicators?

Leadership is how we communicate with each other, and language is our tool for communication. Unfortunately, the perception of good communication is in the ear of the beholder.

Culprits Behind Failures

Mission Command...