REFLECT
My “Why”: The Army Family
By Mike Everett We’ve all been asked numerous times: Why did you join? The answer early in my career was “to pay off my college debt.” There may have been other reasons—the challenge, love for country, and a meaningful career. But, initially, the...
How to Quit Climbing the Envy Ladder
By Joe Byerly One of the pitfalls of ambition, if we’re not careful, is that we start looking outward too much, always measuring our life against the lives of others. They have a nicer house. A cooler job. A better car. Even their vacations look...
Make the Best Decision for You: Why I Stayed in the Army
by Dave Leydet As I sat in my high school algebra class, the principal’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center,” he announced. I thought to myself, That’s odd; why are they telling us about a random...
Kids, COAs, and Career Crossroads: the Coordinated Chaos of being Dual-Military
By CPT Alex Weisser “Until I get too old or too ugly; Uncle Sam will tell me when to leave.” That’s what I tell people when they ask me how long I plan to stay in the Army. To an extent, my tongue-in-cheek saying is heartfelt. I enjoy Soldiering....
Retiring at 20: Why I Chose Family Over Competing for Battalion Command
Three years ago, with palms sweating, I walked into my senior rater’s office for a counseling session. I told him, “I don’t want battalion command and plan to retire at the first opportunity.” It took months to gather the courage to say those...
Sometimes, They Have to Touch the Stove
By Joe Byerly Now that I’m a parent of kids who are getting older, I find myself wanting to play more “life defense”—to protect them from the bruises and blows of growing up: failure, misfortune, consequences. I think we all do this to...
Letting Go of the Uniform, Not the Lessons
By: Joshua Risner In the Right Place I turned 15 on 9/11. I was raised in a patriotic household in rural America, by a family that valued and demonstrated service to others, to the community, and to the Nation. Like so many others, 9/11 was the...
Three Lessons for the Commissioning Class of 2025
by John Geracitano Sixteen years ago, I was a struggling lieutenant—well-meaning but clueless. Despite caring deeply about my unit’s success, its soldiers, and my leadership role, I couldn’t grasp the “big picture.” Navigating the many demands of...
Because the Plot Demands It: On Roles, Responsibility, and Character
By Joe Byerly I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the various roles we play in life—and the responsibilities, behaviors, and costumes that come with them. Every role, from parent to spouse to commander to CEO, comes with a contract. Sometimes...
The Case for Sharing Your Personality Test Results at Work
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ian Thompson By Jared Massie All service members should take a personality test. This helps you see yourself as others do and generates positive cycles of self-reflection. Additionally, personality tests cultivate an...
Do I Make Good Decisions?
By Joe Byerly Do you make good decisions? If you think the answer is yes, how do you really know? A decision may seem sound at the moment, but time can reveal a different outcome. I can think of several decisions that felt right initially but led...
Was My Military Career Worth It?
By Joe Byerly I recently grabbed a drink with some friends in Southern Pines, NC. As I sat sipping my beer, one of them turned to me and asked, “Now that you are at the very end of your military career, was it worth it?'” He and his...
CrowdStrike, COVID, and System Fragility: Takeaways for Today’s Leaders
By John Geracitano On July 18th, a software patch from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike tore through Microsoft operating systems, exposing the fragility of our technological networks. This incident didn’t just crash Windows computers; it required...
Shared Humanity and Mutual Benefit: Lessons from Baghdad
John “Dragon” Teichert Life is not a solo sport; neither is leadership or innovation. We all need the equipping, encouraging, and emboldening that comes with strong, trusting relationships. All too often our rugged independence, a positive...
The One Question That Every Leader Should Ask
By Jason W. Hughes “Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.” – Andy Stanley The Question: How can I be a better leader for you? Oftentimes, we think our leadership...
Bigger Sibling’s Advice for Post-Platoon Leader Life
As I prepared to move across the hallway and take over as our company’s Executive Officer (“XO”), I was sick-to-my-stomach nervous. Sure, I had been reasonably successful as a Platoon Leader, but what on earth did I know about running a company? It...
Do You Only Have Chauffeur Knowledge? Here’s How to Gain Expertise
by John Geracitano Famed physicist Max Planck gave countless speeches on his research in the company of his trusty chauffeur, who listened to each one. They once switched roles for fun, and the chauffeur gave Planck’s speech without fault. But when...
SITREPs to Startups: Initial Lessons Post-Transition
By Christina Plumley In January, I left Active Duty after 10 years in the Army. Like many transitioning junior officers, I intended to use the GI Bill for graduate school. I leveraged a variety of veteran transition programs, made plans and...
Hygiene for Leaders: Beyond Soap and Water
(Kim Ki Sam/Stars and Stripes) By Jamison Geracci and Jon Ayers Many servicemembers know that during their military separation process, they should get checked to see if they suffer from sleep apnea. The benefits of this are twofold. First, the...
Confessions of a Fixed-Mindset Leader
By Brandon Frei “I have not failed once… When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” -Thomas Edison The Army I grew up in was full of leaders who were rewarded for accomplishing the...
#DAweek: How Will We Train for a Hybrid War
By Peter Apps Should tensions with Russia ever “go hot” in Eastern Europe or the Baltic states, the potential consequences could be catastrophic. For all the attention that will inevitably be paid to hotline diplomacy and presidential, however, it...
Mission Command and Detailed Command – It’s Not a Zero-Sum Game
By Alan Hastings Recent debate among military professionals on the subjects of mission command and detailed command has highlighted a common misunderstanding about each’s role in tactical operations. While we cannot expect to seize, retain, and...
An Old Marine’s First Ten Thoughts on Combat
Editor’s Note: It’s an honor to feature this guest post. Below are Lt. Gen Van Riper’s reflections on combat after he retired from the Marine Corps in 1997. By Lieutenant General Paul K. Van Riper, USMC (ret) Pray before...
Using ‘Mental Models’ to Outthink the Enemy
From ARMY Magazine, Vol. 66, No. 9, September 2016. Copyright © 2016 by the Association of the U.S. Army and reprinted by permission of ARMY Magazine. By the end of August 1944, Gen. George S. Patton Jr.’s Third Army had left a swath of...
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...
Finding the Path Towards Mission Command: An Exercise
By Joe Byerly Following my time in company command, I had the privilege of teaching future company commanders and first sergeants at the Cavalry Leader’s Course at Fort Benning, GA. During this assignment, I quickly learned that one of the...
Leader Development: Ends, Ways, and Means
This is the final installment of a series on leader development. For the previous posts, please read Leader Development: The Leeroy Jenkins Model and The Maker’s Motto. Over the last several weeks I’ve discussed leader development...
The Weekend Safety Brief Must Go!
By: Joe Byerly One of the first principles of the philosophy of Mission Command is “Build Cohesive Teams Through Mutual Trust,” and I would argue that the antithesis of this is standing in front of the formation every single Friday reading off...
Leader Development: The Maker’s Motto
Author’s Note: This is the second installment in a series on leader development: For the previous post check out Leader Development: The Leeroy Jenkins Model “If you can’t open it, you don’t own it.”...
Flattening the Decision Cycle in Tactical Units
If you look in the Army’s manual on Mission Command, it says the philosophy is based on 6 principles: Build cohesive teams through mutual trust Create shared understanding Provide commander’s clear intent Exercise disciplined initiative...
Building Mutual Trust: Candor, Clarity, and Curiosity
by Ryan Cornell-d’Echert In our organizations, how comfortable are people admitting they do not know? How often do we respond with, “Sir, I don’t have that information. I’ll take it as a due-out,” or “Ma’am, we should have thought of that. We’ll...
A Brittle Force: Grappling with Surging Military Suicides
by Greg Wall and Jacob Mays As we near the end of the calendar year, it seems that 2023 is likely to go down as the deadliest year in history for self-directed violence in the US military. In 2022 the DoD reported the highest Q1 suicide rate since...
Social Media is an Essential Tool For Modern Army Leaders
By Michael Everett Leaders in the 2023 military need to interact on social media. Period. Whether you like it or not, modern leadership has spilled over into the digital domain. If you fight the social media current, you will almost certainly meet...
Prioritizing Realistic Tactical and Operational Training for Maintainers
by Melissa Anne Czarnogursky Behind every Army vehicle, weapon, night vision device and communication equipment is a maintainer ensuring our fighting force is prepared to execute complex operations on an ever-changing battlefield. Equipment...
Improve Your Reporting in Five Simple Steps
by Jacob Loftice Reporting drives military operations. It consists of developing and providing various information that guide leaders’ understanding of their formations’ capabilities, priorities, and assessed risk. Despite how common and important...
Welded Into a Fine Unit of Teamwork: The Role of Recreational Sports
By Shayne Harrell In December of 1946, my grandfather, Private First Class Peyton E. Harrell, received a letter of appreciation from Colonel Percy E. LeStourgeon, commander of the 349th Infantry Regiment. The letter recounts the outcome of the 88th...
Rowing Well, and Living Better: Leader Influence on Officer Retention
by M. Caleb Bloom The first time I heard the phrase, “Row well, and live,” I did not know what it meant. I was a First Lieutenant on a Battalion-level staff after finishing my time as a Platoon Leader. The Battalion was only a few months into a...
Security Force Assistance Brigades: In Competition, Crisis, and Conflict
by Brian M. Ducote, Jim Gallagher, and Jason Elmore The thought of U.S. Army advisors often conjures images of an American Soldier in a foreign land, standing side by side with an inexperienced recruit. The advisor demonstrates the finer points of...
Train Small to Win Big: Rethinking Our Training Plan for Lethality
By Jake Murphy It is all too easy to forget that higher echelons exist to set the conditions for small units, in both tactical and garrison environments. To combat this, it is critical to trust subordinate leaders to effectively lead their...
Operationalizing and Prioritizing Leader Development Programs
By Derek Prario Particularly in the time of preparation, modernization, and ‘culture reset’ that we find ourselves in, an effective military leader must develop others for future battles. The mandate to ‘develop leaders’ is essential and commonly...
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