REFLECT
Insecurity, Power, and Tyrants
By Joe Byerly Why do people chase power? Many of us fool ourselves into thinking our pursuit of power is noble. We want to make a difference. We want to bring about change. We want to make things better. But lurking just beneath those reasons is...
Judgment Comes Full Circle: I’m the Major Now
By Sara Roger Chaos, uncertainty, deadlines, endless meetings, new guy syndrome. You might call these facts of life, but for me, they were the ingredients in this week’s signature dish: “Fill the Gap for the Brigade Operations Officer.” For the...
Why FightCamp Is the Perfect Garage Gym Setup for Veterans Getting Back in Shape
By Joe Byerly After 20 years in the military, staying physically fit is hardwired into who I am. But I’ll be honest, my body doesn’t bounce back the way it used to. My knees aren’t fans of long runs or high-impact workouts like CrossFit anymore,...
What George Marshall Would Tell Today’s Leaders
by Aaron Childers The military places a large amount of responsibility on young leaders from the moment they assume their positions. This can be overwhelming at times, but it isn’t a modern problem. In fact, some of the struggles that...
Why Every Leader Needs to Create a “Me Manual”
By Joe Byerly One of the first pieces of advice I received when I joined the Army was to create an “I love me book.” This binder became a repository for all my awards, evaluation reports, orders, and even handwritten notes from senior leaders. I...
Silent Sacrifices, Powerful Impact: The Truth About Military Spouses
Albert D. Keever Jr. In the military, the term “dependent” usually refers to someone who relies on a service member for financial and medical support, such as a spouse or a child. It’s a label that, on the surface, appears...
Power is the Great Auditor
By Joe Byerly Do you believe you have a strong character? Do you think you’re a highly competent leader? Do you think you understand the full extent of your faults? Do you think you can do a better job than the guy or gal currently in the role you...
Learning to Live a Halfway Interesting Life
By Joe Byerly It’s been three years since I deployed to Europe on short notice with the 82nd Airborne Division in preparation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nine months since I gave up command of a cavalry squadron in Europe. And six months...
Chasing the Inner Circle
By Joe Byerly Most of us, whether we admit it or not, feel the pull toward the ‘inner circle’ in our professional lives. For some, it’s a passing thought. For others, it’s an obsession that can cost friendships, even family, in the pursuit of being...
Power and the Inner Circle
By Joe Byerly We often think of power as something that belongs to the person in charge. The corporate executive, political leader, or military commander is the one with all the power, right? However, power rarely exists in isolation, it...
From a Company Commander to Platoon Leaders: Relax—and Check Your Ego
by Michael Everett Relax. Be where your feet are. Be yourself. Learn how to Army. Read, write, learn. Own being the leader of your platoon. You are about to be handed the keys to a platoon and officially begin your time as a platoon leader...
Wayne Gretzky and Coup d’oeil
by T.G. Bradbeer In his classic work, On War, Clausewitz describes the concept of Coup d’oeil as “an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmering of the inner light which leads to truth.” This ‘inward eye’ refers to the ability...
How To Be a Data Literate Leader—And Why It Matters
Photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash by Justine Meberg As the Army shifts focus from asymmetric to peer threats, modernization involves significant change. New hardware and software will gather and process increasingly more information across a vast...
It’s Not Innovation Versus Readiness—Innovation Is Readiness
By James Ashworth, with Rebecca Segal The U.S. Army has been charged to transform in contact, using deployments and exercises to stimulate innovation. To do so successfully, while still training your tactical mission, requires a conscious approach...
From a Staff Sergeant To Future Platoon Leaders: Own Your Roles and Responsibilities
by Cindy M. Lopez As you senior Cadets approach Commissioning, I hope that you are all as excited as I am for you. As a Non-Commissioned Officer, I do have a few requests from you. When I first pinned the rank of Sergeant (SGT), I had only...
Why You Should Reinvent the Wheel
by Todd Schmidt How many times throughout your career has someone told you to not reinvent the wheel? Scientists estimate that the wheel has been around since about 3500 BC. Originally used for manufacturing pottery, milling, irrigation, and...
What I Learned about Leadership from a 24-Year-Old Sales Manager at Best Buy
by Stein Thorbeck It’s probably unfair to name a single greatest leader I have worked for. But if someone held a gun to my head today and forced me to name someone, I would think about impact. I would tell them the name of a leader who changed the...
The Beowulf Problem
by Cherian Zachariah Beowulf spoke and made a formal boast for the last time: “I risked my life often when I was young; now I am old. As king of the people, I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will abandon his fort...
How Aristotle Challenged Me to ‘Embrace the Suck’
by Scotty Fargo Aristotle was all for the embodiment of excellence, characterized well by his quote, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” This article serves as a reflection of what I have learned as a cadet...
The Timeless Relevance of Classical War Theories in Modern Warfare
Montage of Sun Tzu, by the Chinese School, 19th century, via FineArtAmerica; with The Battle of Yešil-köl-nör by Charles Nicolas Cochin II, via The Met; and Carl von Clausewitz by Franz Michelis Wilhelm, 1830, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin by...
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Building Cohesive and Effective Teams
by Mitch Butterworth “It is not what [leaders] know or how bright they are that leads to success or failure; [rather] how well they work with others, and how well they understand themselves.” – R.J....
4 Types of Officers; and How to Develop Yourself and Others
By Joel Smith The Four Types of Officers As a young officer I read German General Kurt Von Hammerstein-Equord’s four officer categories; they are 1) the clever, 2) the industrious, 3) the lazy, and 4) the stupid. “I divide my officers into four...
The Impact of Moral Efficacy on Army Readiness
by Marc Meybaum, Cole Cannon, & Brian Martinez You stand in the hot sun of a motor pool staring down at a sea of equipment layouts. You have been desperately trying to manage the ream of property book pages as you conduct your change of command...
Lessons from Large Scale Combat Operations, Part III
by Larry Kay, Josh Cosmos, Dan DeNeve, Nicole Courtney, Jeremy Mounticure Editor’s Note: In this final article of our three-part series, the authors will describe the staff’s attempt to create “decision space” for the commanding general, while also...
Lessons from Large Scale Combat Operations, Part II
by Larry Kay, Josh Cosmos, Dan DeNeve, Nicole Courtney, Jeremy Mounticure Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part article, stay tuned for the final part tomorrow. In the previous article, the authors discussed the importance of aligning...
Lessons from Large Scale Combat Operations Part I
by Larry Kay, Josh Cosmos, Dan DeNeve, Nicole Courtney, Jeremy Mounticure Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part article, stay tuned for the next two parts over the coming days. The division is the Army’s principal tactical...
Lessons From the Dark Side: Leadership by Vader
by Eric Shockley The presentation with the Emperor had not gone well. Progress on the completion of the Death Star had been slow. Delays, complications with contractors, hiring challenges, and the ongoing war with the Rebel Alliance had all...
Expertise: How Interwar Periods Inform our Army Officer Development
by Ben Elliott Imagine this scenario: A mainland force for years has been steadily infringing on the domestic issues of its regional neighbors and most recently began to advance toward its strategic direction to control its near abroad. At...
Greener Pastures: Can the Implementation of Self-determination Theory Improve the Army Talent Management System?
by Catherine Cline Joining any military requires some intrinsic motivation to commit to selfless service. However, the Army has a growing disparity in the retention of mid-grade officers and for various reasons, loses almost half its officers by...
Operationalizing Multi-Domain Operations at the Tactical Level: SOSRA and Seven Steps of Engagement Area Development
by Michael Soyka The United States Army made a significant leap forward in modernizing its doctrine to align to current and future threats with the publication of FM 3-0 Operations in 2022. While the new FM 3-0 builds on the changes...
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