[April 8, 2020] It is a long-held belief that war brings out both the best and worst in people. For those of us who experience combat, most would readily agree. However, war is certainly not the only thing that brings out the best and worst; all large-scale events have similar outcomes on people. I have found that people… Read More »
[March 26, 2020] It has been said that among the most important lessons of history is that we do not learn very much from the lessons of history. On July 3, 1990, I was standing at the Copse of Trees on the Gettysburg Historical Battlefield with several U.S. Army officers. We were part of a Staff Ride to… Read More »
[March 23, 2020] I was watching a little television yesterday, and while catching up on the news (all about the Coronavirus-COVID19), one of the announcers said that “now is the time for leadership.”1 After seeing what many young folks are doing by ignoring commonsense warnings about the pandemic, I would have added that now is the time for… Read More »
[March 8, 2020] The Company Commander at my first unit in the U.S. Army was a jerk. The story is common; the world revolved around him, he was smarter, more reliable, better looking than the rest of us (at least he thought so), and he was “going places” in the Army. When the boss is a jerk, our… Read More »
[December 13, 2019] The purpose of a coach is to provide a vision, to cheer lead, to guide, to push, and to teach us what is essential. A coach’s job is to motivate people beyond the ordinary and to make them better. For a leader, it is of the utmost importance that we also coach others to be… Read More »
[December 10, 2019] Why do soldiers fight? This age-old question is as valid yesterday as it is today. When I was young, I had the honor of being around recently-returning Korean War veterans. I would listen a great deal and hear them tell the tales of why they fought. This subject is in two parts. The first, today,… Read More »
[December 4, 2019] As young boys in the 1950s, we listened intently to returning Korean War veterans to get some idea of what war was like. We asked stupid questions of these veterans. Who were the best fighters? Did you kill any Communists? Were you a hero? There was something that drove us to understand what it took… Read More »
[September 13, 2019] In the hottest part of the Summer of 1983, over 200 U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenants were on a 25-mile forced-march in the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Fort Benning, Georgia. At the 19th mile point, I’d never been so exhausted in my life, when our Battalion Commander drove up beside us in his jeep to say,… Read More »
[August 17, 2019] Several of my friends and I got together the other day to review some of the progress we’ve made on military veteran issues in the state of New Jersey. Unexpectedly, our conversation turned to our time in the U.S. Army (one in the U.S. Navy) and the quality of new officers. What we decided was… Read More »
[August 11, 2019] “Did leadership begin with the caveman?” A kid about 9 or 10 years old asked me that question a few years ago when I went to visit an elementary school class. My visit was meet a veteran day, and I was chosen to say a few words about what being a vet was all about. … Read More »