REFLECT
A Unifying Foundation: Military Community and the Oath of Office
by Tom Dull The military community stands apart from others due to its emphasis on inclusion and acceptance. While small in population, the military community is highly efficient and effective in operation; its ability to find common ground to...
Post-Traumatic Growth: Reflections on PTSD and Thriving in the Military
by Ron Sprang Eleven years ago I wrote an article in the middle of one of the greatest trials of my life, A Silent Warrior’s Struggle: PTSD and Leader Resiliency. I wanted to follow up on that experience, address the positive change in Army culture...
Who Cares if Soldiers Look Fat? Reimagining the Army’s Body Composition Program
by Brennan Deveraux & Katie Haapala For the past few years, the Army has prioritized a holistic approach to health and fitness, epitomized by the service’s overhaul of its physical fitness test. However, the Army’s establishment of its new...
Getting the Word Out: 10 Ways to Bolster Your Unit’s PAO and Make Your Unit Better
by Kevin Sandell Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series focused on improving your unit’s communication efforts through your Public Affairs Office. The second part of this series will be published later this spring....
Leader Development in the National Guard: Overcoming Obstacles and Intentionally Developing Others
by Jakob Hutter Our world is diverse and ever changing. As such, organizational leaders must be able to effectively deal with changes that can influence the organization’s current systems and processes. For the Army, developing leaders involves a...
The Oldest Wargame: How Rediscovering Chess can Develop the Military Leader
by Jay Carmody The game of chess has experienced a resurgence in the United States, due in large part to popular tv series and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic driving people to board games. As the civilian world rediscovers chess, it is time...
Heading to a Joint Assignment? Complete Phase II of Joint Professional Military Education (JPME)
by Thang Q. Tran It is an exciting time of the year as Assignment Officers and Detailers notify individuals of their upcoming assignments. A select group of field grade officers from across the Department of Defense will get assigned to a position...
War on a Budget: What Can the S-8 Do for Your Team?
by Henoch Gassner A relatively late addition to the Brigade Combat Team (BCT), the Resource Management (RM) staff, or S-8, enables the brigade commander to make informed decisions on how to maximize lethality by executing their budget. Although the...
Garrison Command: Lessons Learned as a Strategic Leader
By Chad R. Foster This might not be the outcome you expected or wanted. You might be shocked, excited, disappointed, or angry – perhaps all four at once. Regardless of what you know (or think you know), you are going to find that Garrison Command...
Sprinting the Marathon: Lessons Learned from an Advanced Individual Training Commander
by David G. Moehling Commanding an Advanced Individual Training (AIT) Company presents unique challenges vastly different from those in conventional units. The training calendar is cyclic and repetitive, the property book is minimal, and...
How to Leave a Legacy
By Ryan Kenny When you look back at your contributions throughout your career what will matter most to you? How will you judge yourself and expect to be judged? Too often, as leaders, we do not ask ourselves these simple questions throughout our...
Chuck it in the F*ck It Bucket! A Lesson in Resiliency
By: Liz Schloemann There are times as leaders when you expend a lot of effort on a project, a plan, or in some cases, a person. You spend weeks to months building up to the perfect pivotal moment of success, when your effort comes to fruition. You...
Field Grade Years- The Journeyman Experience
By BG Ross Coffman Defining success as a major in a succinct manner is difficult. Leaders typically serve at this rank for seven years and transition from position to position. Each of these positions require different learning objectives and keys...
Some NCO Advice to New Majors
By: CSM Samuel C. Rapp and SFC Harlan D. Kefalas Hey Sir! Welcome to the unit. Whether you are the operations officer or the executive officer, we are going to be working close together. NCOs will do most of the heavy lifting with support from...
Interacting With Your Battalion Commander
By Scott Shaw So you’re in the Staff College, on the Division Staff, or just about to take that Iron Major position. CONGRATULATIONS! You’re about to assume a very important role. Majors run Brigade Combat Teams and Brigade Combat Teams are what...
Speak the Forbidden Letters: MDMP
By Josh Powers and Joe Byerly In many organizations, the letters “MDMP” will send staff officers running. The process can be painful and daunting, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As field grade officers, we control the planning timeline and we...
Field Grade Tales From a Former OC/T
By Jim King One of the benefits of being an Observer Controller/Trainer (OC/T) is that we get to stand with one leg in doctrine and the other in reality. We learn the theory, but then watch countless units fight it out in the Mojave desert, moving...
In Case You Didn’t Know It, Things Are Very Different Now: Part 2
By: Tony Cucolo Exceptional Personal Appearance: The Baseline for a Great First Impression I have taken a lot of good-natured chiding and grief for this portion of the coaching – one of my Majors called it “The Blazer Brief” — but I cannot...
In Case You Didn’t Know It, Things Are Very Different Now: Part 1
By Major General Tony Cucolo, U.S. Army (Ret.) Over the length of my time in uniform, I often found myself scratching my head and saying to no one in particular, “I wish someone had told me that…” So, I make it a point to wherever and whenever...
Iron Major, Meet Your PAO
By Dave Butler and Dave Chace In the Information Age, how your actions are interpreted are as important as the actions themselves. This applies not only to the battlefield but to the local community, the greater military enterprise and your...
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“Wall Walk” Yourself and Your Team to Better Briefings and Papers
By: Colonel Michael Lawhorn I have delivered, and I have been on the receiving end of less than stellar briefings that usually involve a lot of tedious Power Point slides. Now there is plenty of advice out there both on personal briefing techniques...
When Organizational Change Goes Wrong
By Dan Sanders Five months into my Air Force operations officer tour, my boss and I reflected on how we were doing. I came to the conclusion that while we had made great strides in achieving his vision of unifying our team, and professionalizing...
#DAweek Somebody…Anybody…Revise the TACSOP
By: Jeff Meinders One of the few documents a unit uses to help describe how they fight is their tactical standard operating procedure (TACSOP) book. The Army’s manual on how to write an SOP, ATP 3-90.90, lists 32 questions to help guide the...
#DAweek: Preparing For Decisive Action
By: Jim Greer For 55 years after World War II the U.S. VII Corps prepared to defend the rolling hills, forests and villages of Germany against attack by the Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces. Then, in early November of 1990 they were ordered to deploy...
#DAweek: How Will We Train to Fight and Win in a Complex World?
By: General David Perkins “Military failures are a result of three things: failure to learn, failure to adapt, and a failure to anticipate.” The strength of the United States military – in fact, our asymmetric advantage – is...
Time To Change Mission Command Doctrine
By Regina Parker The Army let me study abroad in China this year to deepen my understanding of international relations, but I have also learned quite a bit about the Army itself. Last week, for instance, I was riding a train through Tianjin when my...
You Want the Best? Embrace Failure
By Brad Hutchison three The troops were ready: SHARP, OPSEC, SAEDA and CTIP training complete; field sanitation, environmental compliance, and ammunition handling teams trained and identified; all Soldiers who would come within the 385 days of...
Ten Important Lessons I Learned as the S3/XO
By Jason Gallardo 1.Build relationships- your ability to succeed will depend on your aptitude at working with your sister BNs, BDE, DIV, and post agencies. You have been told throughout your career that relationships are everything, but it becomes...
Mentorship: A Strategic Imperative
By Chip Bircher Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. —Jack Welch In the fall of 1915, a young lieutenant fresh out of West Point reported to Fort...
Victory From the Sidelines
By Christopher Manganaro Coaching a football team and leading a military unit have a lot in common. Both require an understanding of the “game,” practicing multiple plays for different scenarios, and building a quality bench of “players.” Whether...
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