ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

In the private sector, companies sponsor data science competitions to solve stagnating problems, outsource difficult work and advertise to the labor market. Netflix announced the first major data challenge in 2006 in hopes of improving its recommendation algorithm by 10%. The reward—a cool $1 million.

In the first week, a team submitted an algorithm that bested Netflix’s proprietary model. Throughout the competition, Netflix required the competitors to publish their codes, and eventually, the winning algorithm—to the benefit of the data science community at large.

Most recently, the real estate...

In the private sector, companies sponsor data science competitions to solve stagnating problems, outsource difficult work and advertise to the labor market. Netflix announced the first major data challenge in 2006 in hopes of improving its recommendation algorithm by 10%. The reward—a cool $1 million.

In the first week, a team submitted an algorithm that bested Netflix’s proprietary model. Throughout the competition, Netflix required the competitors to publish their codes, and eventually, the winning algorithm—to the benefit of the data science community at large.

Most recently, the real estate...

Collection Gives Close-up View of the Services

Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics. Nathan K. Finney and Tyrell O. Mayfield. Naval Institute Press. 264 pages. $29.95

By Lt. Col. Robert L. Bateman, U.S. Army retired

In the years between the Korean and Vietnam wars, three writers on civil-military relations—Samuel P. Huntington, Morris Janowitz and Gen. Sir John Hackett—published books that established the concept of the military as a profession. More than 50 years later, a new group of thinkers moves the discussion further along, especially in light of our...

Over 100 years ago, during the summer of 1919, dozens of members of that year’s West Point graduating class were sent to Europe to tour World War I battlefields. They walked on ground left deeply scarred by the conflict that had ended just months before, and met people left equally scarred by the war’s massive and bitter toll. They traveled across the Atlantic because no amount of classroom study can replicate the experience of such firsthand study of a recent conflict.

In the same spirit, the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, conducts research trips...

Over 100 years ago, during the summer of 1919, dozens of members of that year’s West Point graduating class were sent to Europe to tour World War I battlefields. They walked on ground left deeply scarred by the conflict that had ended just months before, and met people left equally scarred by the war’s massive and bitter toll. They traveled across the Atlantic because no amount of classroom study can replicate the experience of such firsthand study of a recent conflict.

In the same spirit, the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, conducts research trips...

It began as a cheap, off-the-shelf tactic.

Buy a commercially available drone, strap a bomb to it and let it fly.

It didn’t take long for the tactic to catch on, spreading across the battlefields of Iraq and Syria as the Islamic State group tried to hold onto its territory against advancing U.S.-backed Iraqi forces.

The homemade flying bombs were not the terrorists’ most effective tool—truck bombs were still far deadlier—but they achieved their intended purpose and drove the U.S. Army and other services to rush to find effective ways to counter this new threat.

“It’s the first time any military...

The U.S. faces a complex strategic environment: ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the global war against al-Qaida and its ilk; a seething war in Syria; unrest in Libya and other parts of Africa; Russia-induced instability in Eastern Europe; a rising China and defiant Iran; an unrepentant North Korea still in control of its nuclear weapons; and worried allies.

The security environment at home is no less complex. A lot is at stake.

The administration might use a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of defense as an opportunity to review the procedures for its...

From Korea and Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq, Army medical evacuation crews have gone above and beyond for wounded soldiers on the battlefield for decades.

They’ve faced the dangers of combat, pushed limits and pioneered advances in combat casualty care. Staffed with two pilots, a crew chief and a medic, they’re known as “Dustoff” crews, always ready to fly into harm’s way when soldiers need them the most.

Many have earned awards for risking their lives to save troops on the ground, and have worked to improve their skills to save even more lives than ever. They have been in high demand for...

Twenty-first-century warfare will force America’s soldiers into complex environments spanning bustling megacities to the freezing Arctic. They will operate in jungles too thick to penetrate with satellites, and on desert plains too open to hide. Peer belligerents possessing hypersonic and electronic weapons, lasers, artificial intelligence and advanced robotics will threaten to confuse and constrain soldier formations.

Further, multidomain operations will involve electronic warfare, cyber and space in ways that have not been seen in combat before. Army materiel modernization is not sufficient...

Twenty-first-century warfare will force America’s soldiers into complex environments spanning bustling megacities to the freezing Arctic. They will operate in jungles too thick to penetrate with satellites, and on desert plains too open to hide. Peer belligerents possessing hypersonic and electronic weapons, lasers, artificial intelligence and advanced robotics will threaten to confuse and constrain soldier formations.

Further, multidomain operations will involve electronic warfare, cyber and space in ways that have not been seen in combat before. Army materiel modernization is not sufficient...

The ability to deploy, fight and win requires a ready force. Improving today’s Army to accomplish these tasks does not end with modernizing platforms. It continues with improving the skills and decision-making abilities of soldiers.

So soldiers can learn their military occupational skills faster, the Army should invest in developing a “cadre” of artificial intelligence training systems. Unlike human cadre, these machine-learning systems could manifest as virtual personal assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, or they may be integrated into the sensors and computer hardware in new...

Daring Secret Mission Reaps Soviet Gold

Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War’s Most Audacious Espionage Operation. Steve Vogel. Custom House. 530 pages. $36.99

By Rick Maze, Editor in Chief

Presented as a true-life spy story recounting the damage done by notorious British traitor George Blake, a new book by historian and former Washington Post reporter Steve Vogel provides new details about Operation Gold, a Cold War mission undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Army Signal Corps to tunnel from the American sector of divided Berlin into the Soviet sector to tap...

Ryan D. McCarthy, the former Ranger and Afghanistan War veteran called on for the fourth time to be the civilian leader of the U.S. Army, is both optimistic and concerned about the future of America’s foundational force.

Confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 26 to be the 24th secretary of the Army, McCarthy already has a lot of experience in the job. In the 25 months before his appointment as secretary, he served several times as acting secretary or as the senior official performing the duties of secretary, including a 108-day period in 2017 and about four months in 2019. That experience gave the...

In his first day as the 40th Army chief of staff, Gen. James C. McConville declared that people are his No. 1 priority.

From soldiers and family members to veterans and Army civilians, the Army is about people, McConville said during his Aug. 9 swearing-in ceremony, and he’s not wasting time putting his promise into action with sweeping initiatives designed to better identify and manage soldiers’ and civilian employees’ talents and skills.

He also has identified five priorities to improve quality of life for soldiers, veterans and their families, including better housing and health care.

“People...

As the Army reorients itself after almost two decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael A. Grinston is focused on making sure soldiers are fit, healthy and ready for the next fight.

To do that, Grinston is looking at everything from living conditions in the barracks and the quality of chow hall food, to developing ways to better manage soldiers’ careers and talents, to pushing soldiers to train for the new Army Combat Fitness Test and Expert Soldier Badge.

“We’ve got the greatest Army in the world, [and] we want to stay on top,” Grinston said. “Everybody wants to...