REFLECT
Lessons Learned in Large Scale ACFT Testing
by Sarah Ferreira Since 2018, my unit has been executing the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) on a large scale, meaning that we test large groups of Soldiers continuously throughout a single duty day. We found that we can test a battalion size...
An Aversion to Ambition
by Brennan Randel What is it about open displays of ambition that can cause an eye-roll so deep it results in temporary blindness? Imagine a room full of combat arms second lieutenants on the first day of their basic officer leadership course. To...
A Leader’s Guide to Navigating Social Media in the Military
By Kristy Bell Social media has blurred the lines between our private and professional lives in an unprecedented way, and has also, in some ways, eroded the idea of a “non-partisan military” that shores up our democratic ideals. This came to the...
New York City Recruiting Battalion in a Time of COVID
By Lieutenant Colonel Whitney O. Jensen and Command Sergeant Major Latosha Ravenell Editor’s Note: A version of this article was first published on March 21, 2021 in the NCO Journal. A year ago, in March of 2020, the New York City Recruiting...
Choices
by Dave Leach “Do you want to continue?” the paramedic asked. I was just over three miles from the finish of the Ironman Florida 70.3 race and I was struggling. The 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling, and the 9 ½ miles of running in the...
Building on Crisis
by Matthew Schardt I am as eager as anyone to get beyond the human and economic suffering associated with the current pandemic. Thankfully, the promise of vaccinations gives me hope that life around the Army and the country as a whole will come to...
A Gut Worth Trusting
by Dilan Swift and Daniel Phillips Much has been written about Frederick the Great’s “Coup d’oeil.” In translation, “stroke of the Eye” was coined to define one’s ability to observe, intuit, and correctly act in each situation. As combat arms...
Balancing People First and Mission Always
by Jia Wu and Howard Zhou General McConville’s “People First” prerogative states, “Now with people as the Army’s top priority…the Army will deliver on our readiness and modernization priorities. When we care about people, we get them in the...
An Uncomfortable Conversation
by Thomas Krasnican If the military wants to retain the trust and confidence of the American people, its leaders – from the most junior to the most senior – will have to do something that might feel a little bit uncomfortable. If we want to uphold...
Leading from the Overflow
by Jason Reynado We need to talk about leader burnout. With over a year of COVID-related restrictions while trying to maintain normal mission demands, I’m sure many of us are feeling the threat of burnout or worse – already running on fumes. Like...
The Army Field Grade Starter Kit
“The Major runs on coffee and hate…and I think he’s out of coffee.” -Some Poor Staff Captain at NTC Last year I completed S3/XO time and there were a couple of things I wish I would have had in my cargo pocket when I walked...
What is Your Guitar Hero?
About a decade ago, I would spend hours a day playing my Xbox 360. I was hooked on one game in particular: “Guitar Hero”. In the game, players have to play hit songs by pressing buttons on a fake guitar. Each day I would continuously...
The Opposite of Fear is Love
The Opposite of Fear is Love is from Chapter 13 of Steven Pressfield’s The Warrior Ethos published by Black Irish Books. The greatest counterpoise to fear, the ancients believed, is love—the love of the individual warrior for his...
Your Landing Attitude and How to ‘Be’ in Transition
By Daniel Hodne Exiting an aircraft flying at 130 knots makes for an unnatural, turbulent, and adrenaline-charged experience. Career change, in many respects, shares similar qualities. In other words, the moment you’ve fully committed yourself to...
Turning Defeat into Development
By Joe Byerly On September 14, 1923, over 80,000 spectators packed into the New York City Polo Grounds to watch one of the most famous prizefights in boxing history. The heavyweight champion, Jack Dempsey, who stood at 6’1 and weighed around 185...
Lead Like a CHAMPION
Public Affairs Supervisor Advanced Leader Course, Class 501–17, posing after a physical fitness test. By SSG Alex R. Ramos The sport of boxing has had a rich tradition in my family. My father used to box, my uncles and cousins were pugilists,...
My Bid Farewell to the Army Blue
By Daniel Hodne This past November, my family and I returned to West Point, New York, for my Class’ 25th Reunion. While I stood alongside my classmates on “The Plain,” and watched the Corps of Cadets execute a...
Developing Deliberate Practices for Leadership Growth
“You are always practicing something, the question is,- What are you practicing” ...
Reflecting on Servant Leadership
By Joshua C. Bowen This past holiday season, I had the good fortune of celebrating Christmas with my family at my sister’s house in Bremerton, WA. She is a Navy Lieutenant (O-3) assigned to an aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, at Naval...
Do Leaders Need Emotional Intelligence?
Over the holiday break, I had the opportunity to catch up with with Dr. Joshua Spodek, author of the upcoming book Leadership Step by Step and discuss emotional intelligence. The term gets thrown around a lot in the military, but I...
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
The Evolving Art of Training Management
By David Hodne and Joe Byerly Has the Army lost the art of training management? Recently, I coauthored an article with Colonel David Hodne answering this question. It was published in the February 2016 issue of Army Magazine. Thanks to the...
Mentoring for Integration
Editor’s Note: I recently read LTC Ray Kimball’s book, The Army Officer’s Guide to Mentoring, and while the book in its entirety is a worthy read for self development, I thought LTC Kimball’s section on...
The Art of Giving Negative Feedback
A few years ago, Doctrine Man published a popular list that “decoded” officer evaluation reports (OERs). The sad thing about his humorous jab at OERs, though, is that it wasn’t too far off from reality. Generally speaking, we in the military don’t...
Who are You Calling a Minion? Leadership on Staff
I’m back at the point in an officer’s career again; the point where I am no longer directly leading soldiers. I’ve traded in my map board, weapon, and radio for a laptop, Microsoft Office, and a diet fueled by our brigade chaplain’s finest black...
The Two Most Important Qualities of Followers
When it comes to looking for lessons on leadership, I believe most of us stick within our own institutions. In doing so, we miss out on a great body of knowledge that exists throughout ALL of our Sister Services....
Learning from our Generals…When They Were in Our Boots
As a military officer, I believe that many of us like to think our good ideas are original and that the Army had to wait for us to come along before finally doing something “new” and “innovative”. This point is evidenced by the myriad of blog posts...
Preparing Leaders for the #Future of War: Leveraging Communities of Practice
This post first appeared on March 13, 2015 via the Strategy Bridge as part of the Preparing Leaders for the #FutureofWar Series. Recently, we tuned in for New America Foundation’s Future of War conference and watched as the military took some hits...
Improving the Military with a Little Innovation
When I think of innovation, my mind tends to wander over to stories such as the junior officer who revolutionized gunnery in the U.S. Navy, Steve jobs introducing the very first iPod, or hover tanks. Okay, hover tanks aren’t a thing...
Don’t Be a “Water Bucket” Leader
by: Joe Byerly Command in the U.S. Army, regardless of echelon, is one of the greatest privileges (and stressors) bestowed upon commissioned officers. Unfortunately, many of us seem to stumble through these small windows of our military...
No Details, No Paper, and No Regrets
“I had a sort of a motto, “No details, no paper, and no regrets.” No details-don’t go about setting machine guns on different sides of bushes. That is done a damn sight better by a platoon commander. Then, no paper. You...
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Podcast
Listen to our latest episode.
Store
Support our work.
Get Involved
Learn how to partner with us.
Lead with the best version of yourself.
Sign up for our emails.