This article first appeared in Foreign Policy on September 21, 2017 under the channel Best Defense, Tom Ricks's take on foreign policy.
The first step in the Ancient Greek model that provides the backbone and inspiration for this site is to READ. Here, authors Tom Ricks and Mike Hennelly pressent an article that criticizes, possibly for all the right reasons, the most recent Army Chief of Staff's reading list. On Facebook, Doctrine Man counters this article by saying that it is not precisely the book one reads. Instead, it is the act of reading, reading often, and then reading some more that carries merit. Possibly there is room for both truths. I am of the opinion that the Army as a profession is under-read. We are so caught up in the daily grind that reading becomes an afterthought. How many have read the new FM 3-0? For us, aviators, how many have read FM 3-04? I throw out this challenge to each of you, 1) read the Foreign Policy article, 2) look up the Chief of Staff's reading list and scan the titles offered and 3) contemplate the comments from Doctrine Man and generate your own opinion. We await your return.
Photo credit: J-R Drahi/Armée Terre.