The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander Reviewed by Dylan Nigh “We called ourselves the Wolverines. Our mission was marauding. We were five hundred miles behind enemy lines. I commanded the Wolverines. They called me Panther.” These succinct yet powerful words open the stirring work The Mission, the Men,…
An Officer Cadet and a Head Teacher: Reflections on the Reserve Commissioning Course By Vic Carr Last year I made an error. I posted in LinkedIn. I posted about being a middle-aged Headteacher, a female officer cadet, starting her reserve course at Sandhurst. Why was it an error? Not because I received a pile-on. On…
Standard Learning Credits: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sports Coach? By Melissa Ilic Education is dull. Listen in to the first hour of any military education course and you will hear this time and time again, an excuse for why someone hasn’t engaged in their personal development. But would we continue to file personal development under the…
The Leadership Book by Neil Jurd Reviewed by Sarah McEntee Most people with an interest in leadership, whether military or civilian, will likely find that their bookshelves are groaning under the weight of numerous tomes including those of heavyweights such as Patrick Lencioni and David Rock. I recommend that you add one more to your…
(Re)Serve to Lead: Advice on Leading a Reserve Subunit By Chris, Mike and Chris Much ink has been spilled around Regular subunit command in this journal, but none about Reserve subunit command. Reserve subunit commanders (henceforth referred to Officers Commanding – OCs) who are about to take over subunits deserve some advice written specifically for…
Imagine, Align, Communicate: How To Provide Vision By Major Paul Cooper “We need to destroy – not attack, not damage, not surround – I want you to destroy the Republican Guard. When you’re done with them, I don’t want them to be an effective fighting force anymore. I don’t want them to exist as a…
The Modern Regimental Sergeant Major By WO1 Lee Jones I write this as I reach the end of my non-commissioned career, finishing my time as RSM of the 1st Battalion, The Rifles. Before I left, I wanted to share my thoughts on what I think it means to be an RSM these days. Gone are…
Rifle vs Support Company: How Cultural Bias is Damaging the Infantry’s Specialists By Carl Brindley There are two thousand years of experience to tell us that the only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military is getting an old idea out. B.H. Liddell-Hart As someone currently serving as the Officer Commanding (OC)…
Get off Their Backs! A JNCO’s Guide to Avoiding Micromanagement By Ben Hayden I walked down the stairs to the company offices ready for the obligatory 1030 post-phys roll call. At 1020 I was welcomed by the sight of 72 Guardsmen, stood in the rain in three ranks, nearly ten minutes early on a wet…
The Five Dysfunctions of an Army Team How to build a cohesive team using Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team model By Joe Kay, Principal Consultant at The Table Group and former Army Officer When it comes to leadership and team performance training, the Army often leads the way. When I went through Sandhurst…