ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Risks to the international system have never been more evident, given Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific. Initial military observations from the Russia-Ukraine war reinforce then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley’s idea, expressed in his commencement speech to the West Point Class of 2022, that the nature of warfare is immutable.

The U.S. Army must prepare for the combined arms fight by retaining the world-class fundamental warfighting capability that the U.S. has come to expect from its Army. The nation and the military also should...

Picture this: I’m an Army lawyer sitting in an airport lounge, fielding a challenging legal question from a concerned commander. Typically, my go-to response would be, “Have you checked the Commander’s Legal Handbook?” This comprehensive guide has saved me more times than I can count, offering straightforward answers to myriad legal issues. But there I was, far from my usual resources, facing a question I needed to look up myself.

So, I turned to a tool I trust as a reliable starting point, found a satisfactory answer and managed to assuage my commander’s concerns for the moment. What was...

After 36 days of Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, I received confused looks when handing in my out-processing paperwork, which stated that my follow-on assignment was to Jerusalem. Many leaders at Cadet Summer Training, and other cadets, were surprised to hear that U.S. Army Cadet Command offers Army ROTC and West Point Academy cadets internship opportunities at the U.S. Embassy in Israel.

As a senior in Army ROTC at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I am honored and privileged to have interned with the U.S. Africa Command and, during the summer of 2023, to have...

Trust Is the Glue During Heated Combat

21 Days to Baghdad: General Buford Blount and the 3rd Infantry Division in the Iraq War. Heather Marie Stur. Osprey Publishing. 320 pages. $35

By Lt. Col. Tim Stoy, U.S. Army retired

21 Days to Baghdad: General Buford Blount and the 3rd Infantry Division in the Iraq War is a thorough analysis of the lightning-fast campaign fought by the 3rd Infantry Division in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Based on interviews with the division commander, Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, it covers the three weeks from the division’s crossing into Iraq...

Most would agree that much of what NCOs accomplish is done through teaching, coaching and mentoring.

While those three words are similar, they are different.

Teaching involves transferring knowledge to another person, such as providing instruction on how to perform a task.

Coaching involves helping someone improve or get better. An example would be helping a soldier prepare for their promotion board.

Mentoring takes place when there’s a relationship based on trust and respect, where the mentor is vested in the development and success of the mentee.

Typically, mentors have...

In May 1973, my father, Bob Gerner, told me to meet him at a restaurant for a late lunch. It was a cafe on Second Avenue in New York City. A tough man by any measure, my father completed training as an ironworker on high-rise construction projects. He was drafted into the Army in 1943. Over lunch, my father wanted to discuss his combat experience from nearly 30 years ago in World War II. He began to share his memories of fighting in Italy as a young sergeant in the 10th Mountain Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop of the 10th Mountain Division.

He said war’s unpredictability led him to the...

Leadership encompasses several skill sets, and not all of them are easily taught or learned. Leadership is both a skill and a practice. Leadership is more difficult and advanced than management or supervision, and it relies on the ability to influence and motivate others to achieve a common goal. It is a complex process requiring a variety of skills and qualities, including communication, delegation, decision-making and problem-solving, as well as humility.

All professions and employees value leadership, which is in short supply in many areas, to include politics, business and academia...

Intrepid Warriors on Dangerous Missions

Rangers, Scouts, and Raiders: Origin, Organization, and Operations of Selected Special Operations Forces. Michael Dilley. Casemate Publishers. 240 pages. $34.95

By Command Sgt. Maj. Jimmie Spencer, U.S. Army retired

The need for military special mission units in times of conflict is well documented. Military history is replete with examples of special operations missions that played a decisive role in the outcome of the conflict. Such units have been part of American history since even before the Revolutionary War.

Soldier and historian...

Today’s U.S. Army is in the midst of its most significant modernization transformation in more than 40 years. While the Army spent the first two decades of this century focusing on counterinsurgency operations in Southwest Asia and the Middle East, our near-peer adversaries narrowed and, in some cases, eliminated several advantages that made us the world’s premier military land power. To reestablish those advantages, the Army is modernizing at lightning speeds.

The increased lethality of future battlefields makes sustainment more critical than ever. Army sustainment describes the provision...

In the vast Indo-Pacific, where the theater spans more than half of the Earth’s surface and port access is not guaranteed, the U.S. Army’s maritime force is set to play an outsize role as it transforms for the future.

With a fleet of 74 watercraft systems and about 1,000 skilled maritime soldiers some call “boaties,” the Army is gearing up to support critical logistics operations for the joint force with its transoceanic ships, versatile landing craft and ship-to-shore capabilities that haven’t been on the front lines since World War II.

“In the Indo-Pacific, more than any other theater...

Physically exhausted and mentally depleted, soldiers in battle are expected to perform under arduous conditions. To prepare for this challenge, the U.S. Army emphasizes tough, realistic training, yet, outside of a training context and miles away from the support of other units, it is difficult to know how soldiers will respond in combat.

High-intensity warfare requires individuals to function against a backdrop of harsh reality: losing team members to enemy fire, experiencing extended periods of psychological stress and operating with minimal medical support at the front line.

Mental...

Physically exhausted and mentally depleted, soldiers in battle are expected to perform under arduous conditions. To prepare for this challenge, the U.S. Army emphasizes tough, realistic training, yet, outside of a training context and miles away from the support of other units, it is difficult to know how soldiers will respond in combat.

High-intensity warfare requires individuals to function against a backdrop of harsh reality: losing team members to enemy fire, experiencing extended periods of psychological stress and operating with minimal medical support at the front line.

Mental...

For two decades, one Army National Guard brigade has provided the nation with full-time protection against the most powerful weapons on Earth—nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The 100th Missile Defense Brigade (Ground-based Midcourse Defense), comprising largely Colorado, Alaska and California citizen-soldiers, along with a handful of active component air defenders, is only the size of a Regular Army battalion. It includes one missile defense battalion and administrative control of a space battalion. The brigade has maintained a nonstop wartime-like posture, ready to engage...

A young trooper strode confidently into his company commander’s office. As the commander’s radio operator, he was used to being summoned on short notice, but the expression on the captain’s face told him immediately that something was wrong. Saluting smartly, the trooper stood at attention as the commanding officer rose to his feet.

“The first sergeant told me this morning that you’re not reenlisting. We need you for the upcoming combat training center rotation. Report to the reenlistment NCO ASAP. He’s already got the paperwork ready. I don’t want to hear any more of this nonsense. That’s...

June 30, 1982, this then-17-year-old walked through the main gate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. It was the eve of Reception Day for the incoming Class of 1986, and, in anticipation of the next day’s events, I went on a reconnaissance of the academy grounds.

Abruptly, a red Jeep stopped, and a gruff colonel called out, asking me where I was going. After mentioning the academy’s Michie Stadium, he invited me into his Jeep, since it was a long walk up a steep hill. I would later learn he was then-Col. Robert Berry, head of the Law Department and the lead officer...