The Friday Formation

16 April 2026

🪖 The Friday Formation

This week’s dispatch on Army writing, leadership, and learning

Friday, 16 April 2026

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🗓️ Editor’s Note

April moves fast. The Iran conflict reshapes strategic calculus in real time. Unmanned systems are redefining what it means to hold ground. And the profession keeps asking its people to think harder, write better, and lead with more precision than ever before.

This week’s Formation covers the full spectrum: strategic competition with China, the IRGC’s financial center of gravity, unmanned systems doctrine, sustainment modernization, and the hidden career markets shaping officer trajectories. Plus a full slate from the branch journals and a strong showing from the NCO Journal.

The profession doesn’t wait. Get after it.

Chris

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🏛️ Featured Leadership Essays

🎙️ Ep. 176 — The Hidden Markets Shaping Your Career, with Judd Kessler

Host: Joe Byerly; Guest: Judd Kessler — From the Green Notebook

A behavioral economist joins Joe Byerly to unpack the informal, often invisible markets that govern officer career progression — essential listening for anyone trying to navigate the talent management system with clear eyes.

🔑 Leadership Initiative

Josh Bowen — 3x5 Leadership

A practical examination of what it means to take initiative as a leader — not just acting first, but acting with purpose and ownership in the face of ambiguity.

🧠 Brains, Heart, and Courage: What Leaders Really Build

Jakob Hutter — Military Mentors

Hutter reframes leadership development around three enduring attributes — intellect, character, and moral courage — arguing that what leaders really build in others is the capacity to act rightly under pressure, not just competently under orders.

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⚔️ Warfighting

🪙 The Foundational Metal of War: Aluminum, the Middle East War, and America’s Strategic Vulnerability

Morgan Bazilian, Jahara Matisek, and Macdonald Amoah — MWI

Traces how aluminum dependency links domestic industrial capacity to battlefield readiness and strategic exposure — a resource-competition argument with direct implications for how the U.S. sustains a protracted fight.

🤖 Aerial Drones Change How Wars Are Fought — Unmanned Ground Vehicles Will Decide Who Wins Them

James Chaney — MWI

Argues that while aerial drones have transformed tactics, unmanned ground vehicles represent the decisive next frontier — a forward-looking assessment of where robotic competition is actually headed.

💀 The Dead Zone and the Empty Battlefield

Kevin T. Black, Tarik Fulcher, and Joshua Ratta — MWI

Examines how sensor saturation and lethal drone coverage create a ‘dead zone’ that forces dispersion and rethinks how forces mass, move, and survive on the modern battlefield.

🛡️ Tactical Success, Strategic Failure: Washington Walks the Path to Defeat in Iran

Ryan Evans — War on the Rocks

A sharp critique arguing that U.S. tactical gains in the Iran conflict are masking a strategically incoherent campaign — a sobering read on the gap between winning engagements and winning wars.

🇮🇷 From Rejection to Acceptance: Why Iran Agreed to a Ceasefire

Arsalan Bilal — Small Wars Journal

Unpacks the political, military, and economic pressures that brought Iran to the ceasefire table and what the agreement’s terms reveal about the conflict’s trajectory.

🛢️ Oil Revenues as the IRGC’s Center of Gravity

Lance Gordon — Small Wars Journal

Identifies IRGC oil revenue as the financial engine sustaining Iran’s military and proxy network — and argues this economic center of gravity has been systematically under-targeted.

☠️ Silent Killers, Not Signals: Why States Use Poison in Assassinations

Naomi Rio and Glenn Cross — War on the Rocks

A rigorous analysis of state-sponsored poisoning as a covert tool — examining why poison is chosen over other means and what it signals (or deliberately obscures) about state intent.

🌍 The Limits of Leadership Decapitation

Ron MacCammon — Irregular Warfare Initiative

Challenges the strategic effectiveness of targeting enemy leadership and examines under what conditions decapitation actually degrades an adversary’s capacity to fight.

🌍 Syria Detention Crisis: Al-Hol and the Risk of Collapse

Sam David — Irregular Warfare Initiative

Assesses the security and humanitarian crisis at Al-Hol detention camp and the cascading risks if the situation deteriorates further — a looming irregular warfare problem with strategic consequence.

🗺️ Conflict Memory and Local War Trajectories

Steven M. Radil and Olivier J. Walther — Irregular Warfare Initiative

Explores how communities remember past conflict and how that collective memory shapes the likelihood and character of future violence — a ground-level lens on conflict recurrence.

🇵🇰 How the Baloch Insurgency Threatens U.S. Strategic and Economic Interests

Kiyya Baloch — Small Wars Journal

Links the Baloch insurgency to broader U.S. strategic equities in South Asia, including CPEC infrastructure and regional stability — an underreported conflict with outsized implications.

🔒 GRU Lessons for Digital Force Protection

Christopher Moede — Small Wars Journal

Draws operational security lessons from GRU tradecraft to inform how Army units should approach digital force protection against sophisticated adversaries.

🇮🇱 The Demise of Strategic Planning in Israel

Shimon Arad — War on the Rocks

A frank institutional autopsy of how Israel’s strategic planning capacity eroded over decades — and what that failure meant when put to the test in October 2023 and beyond.

🇨🇳 Strategy Without Hubris: How China Rose by Managing America’s Reaction

Luis Simón — War on the Rocks

Argues that China’s rise was enabled by strategic patience and deliberate management of U.S. perceptions — a framework that carries direct implications for how Washington should approach competition going forward.

🔭 PLA Army Places Growing Emphasis on Tactical Indirect Firepower with New Grenade Launcher

Joaquin Camarena — SSI

Examines China’s fielding of new indirect fire systems at the squad and platoon level and what this doctrinal shift means for U.S. forces who may face a PLA-equipped adversary.

🎙️ Intelligence Revolution

Host: Tom Spahr; Guest: Jeff Rogg — War Room

Explores how the intelligence community is being reshaped by AI, open-source collection, and data proliferation — and what that transformation demands of commanders and analysts.

🇺🇳 Three Rings

MG David S. Doyle and MAJ Lam Nguyen — Military Review

A practitioner’s framework for understanding the three concentric rings of influence that shape operational environments and how commanders can navigate each.

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🔧 Delivering Ready Combat Power

🤖 Transforming in Contact: The Army Needs an Unmanned Systems Command Now

James Peterson — Small Wars Journal

Makes the institutional case for a dedicated Army Unmanned Systems Command — arguing that the velocity of UAS/UGV integration outpaces the current organizational structure’s ability to manage it.

📡 NGC2 at the Tactical Edge

COL Tyler D. Olsen — Army Sustainment

Examines how next-generation command and control capabilities are being pushed to the tactical edge and what sustainment commanders must do to keep pace with the digital battlefield.

🏭 Forward Fabrication: Strengthening Autonomous Vehicle Support

CPT Jack Orion Harden-Ploeger — Army Sustainment

Explores how additive manufacturing and forward fabrication capabilities can sustain autonomous vehicle fleets in austere environments — a logistics adaptation for the unmanned future.

📦 Modernizing Army SSA

CPT Danielle M. Turner and CPT Timothy R. Maginn — Army Sustainment

A ground-level look at what it takes to modernize Army Supply Support Activities and the institutional and procedural barriers that slow transformation.

⚡ Sustainment Proactivity

2LT Nicholas R. Thierfeldt — Army Sustainment

Argues for a proactive sustainment mindset over reactive logistics — making the cultural and procedural case for anticipatory supply chain management at the junior leader level.

🚗 Replacing the Humvee

MAJ Scott Wolfe — Army Sustainment

Assesses the strategic and tactical implications of transitioning away from the Humvee platform and what the replacement calculus means for unit readiness and logistics planning.

🌐 Distributed C2

MAJ Adam Black and MAJ Nathan Tarter — Army Communicator

Examines the architecture and leadership requirements for effective distributed command and control — essential for units operating in degraded and contested communications environments.

📊 Data-Driven Future

Candy C. Knight — Army Communicator

Charts the Army signal enterprise’s shift toward data-centric operations and what leaders must understand about the infrastructure driving modern battle command.

🔧 Beyond the Immediate Fix

MAJ Ryan G. Tintera — Army Communicator

Challenges the Army’s tendency toward short-term technical patches and makes the case for deliberate, enduring communications architecture investment.

📡 Beyond the Static

SGT George Mattison — Army Communicator

An enlisted practitioner’s perspective on how signal Soldiers must evolve beyond traditional radio operations to serve as versatile integrators on the digital battlefield.

🔗 Integrating ATP

CPT Daniel M. Horoho — Army Communicator

A practical guide to integrating Army Technical Publications into unit training and operations — making doctrine work at the point of application.

❄️ Breaking the Ice

Rebecca Wright — Army AL&T

Examines Army acquisition challenges in the Arctic environment and how the acquisition community must adapt to support operations in extreme cold-weather conditions.

💻 Better Off With CEDS

Kelly Burkhalter — Army AL&T

Makes the case for the Common Equipment Data System as a readiness multiplier — and what full implementation could mean for Army property accountability and lifecycle management.

🎯 FODA Pt. 1: Fire and Forget — Fires in the Operational Deep Attack

LTC Westly T. Lafitte, CW3 Jerrad W. Rader, and CW2 Jon R. Delima — Field Artillery Journal

Part one of a two-part series examining fires integration for deep operational attack — with specific attention to targeting timelines, sensor-to-shooter chains, and long-range precision fires employment.

🎯 FODA Pt. 2: Deep Attack Execution

LTC Westly T. Lafitte, CW3 Jerrad W. Rader, and CW2 Jon R. Delima — Field Artillery Journal

Part two completes the operational deep attack framework, detailing execution sequencing, coordination requirements, and lessons from exercise and rotational training.

🎙️ LogStat: Modernizing the Army Food Program with CSDV

Host: CPT Garett Pyle; Guest: COL Adam Seibel

Digs into the Consolidated Standard Dining Vessel initiative and what it means for how the Army feeds Soldiers in garrison and field environments — a logistics modernization story with direct quality-of-life implications.

🎙️ On the Impossible Mission: The Office of Security Cooperation and U.S. Forces

Host: Stephanie Crider; Guests: LTG (ret.) Robert L. Caslen and Katelyn K. Tietzen-Wisdom — SSI Podcast

A candid assessment of Security Cooperation offices — what they’re being asked to do, whether the mission is resourced for success, and what reform might look like.

🔒 Revamping U.S. Military Assistance

Peter W. Aubrey — Small Wars Journal

A systematic critique of U.S. military assistance programs and a reform agenda for making security cooperation more effective, accountable, and strategically coherent.

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🔄 Continuous Transformation

📚 Want a Lethal, War-Winning Army? Read Ulysses S. Grant’s Memoirs

Rudy Weisz — MWI

A compelling argument that Grant’s Personal Memoirs remain one of the most underutilized leadership and strategy texts available to the Army — drawing direct lines from Grant’s experience to the challenges of large-scale combat today.

🔭 What Is Strategic Rivalry? Why Should We Care?

Antulio J. Echevarria II — SSI

A foundational conceptual piece that defines strategic rivalry with precision and explains why the term’s imprecise use is causing strategic confusion in policy and planning circles.

🌐 Strategic Hubris

Marshall McGurk — War Room

Examines how strategic overconfidence has repeatedly driven powerful states into avoidable failures — a cautionary analysis with direct relevance to current U.S. competition with China and Russia.

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📜 Strengthening the Profession of Arms

🪖 Enhancing Individual Physical Training

CSM John P. Rivera Jr. — NCO Journal

A senior NCO perspective on building physical training cultures that develop Soldiers beyond the ACFT — emphasizing resilience, sustainability, and the link between physical readiness and mission performance.

🪖 Transforming the Sergeants Major Course

SGM Lisa Walker and SGM Jennifer Fulkerson — NCO Journal

An inside view of how the Army’s capstone NCO course is being redesigned to develop senior enlisted leaders for the complexity and pace of 21st-century conflict.

🏍️ Rethinking the Army’s Motorcycle Program

SGM Rene O. Aleman — NCO Journal

A frank assessment of the Army motorcycle safety program’s current state and a practical reform agenda focused on actually reducing rider risk rather than checking compliance boxes.

🎖️ A Staff Officer’s Guide to the Galaxy

Hunter Whitney — Center for Junior Officers

An honest, practical guide for junior officers entering the staff world — demystifying the processes, relationships, and rhythms that determine whether a staff officer thrives or just survives.

👁️ Leadership Presence and the Perception You Carry

Jakob Hutter — Center for Junior Officers

Explores how junior leaders develop and manage their professional presence — the often-unspoken signal that shapes how Soldiers, peers, and seniors read their competence and character.

🎙️ Mops & Moes: Is Walking Exercise?

Hosts: Alex Morrow & Drew Hammond; Guest: John — Mops & Moes

A deeper-than-expected conversation on the science and profession of physical fitness — whether walking counts, what it counts for, and how leaders should think about movement as part of a holistic readiness approach.

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📖 Resources & Calls

· CSA Recommended Articles – Army University Press – The Chief’s reading list.

· Professional Writing Playlist (YouTube) – Talks and discussions on military writing.

· Professional Military Writing – Military Review – Why writing matters.

· Army FAO Association Podcasts – Foreign Area Officer perspectives on the global operating environment.

🧰 TL;DR

· Quick Read: Want a Lethal, War-Winning Army? Read Ulysses S. Grant’s Memoirs

· Deep Dive: Aerial Drones Change How Wars Are Fought — Unmanned Ground Vehicles Will Decide Who Wins Them

· Listen: LogStat: Modernizing the Army Food Program with CSDV

🧭 About the Harding Project

The Harding Project is Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy George’s initiative to strengthen the profession through professional writing and public discourse.

The one-stop shop for all branch journal articles is the Line of Departure website – check it out to get your daily dose of Army professional development! If you have good ideas or lessons to share with the rest of the force, please pen them and send them our way at submissions@hardingproject.com.

We’re renewing professional writing across the force—one Friday at a time. Read. Reflect. Act. The profession doesn’t stand still, and neither should we.