Ignite a Renaissance in Military Scholarship and Writing

A Call by Military Review's Editor-in-Chief

In his opening editorial of the November-December issue of Military Review, Colonel Todd Schmidt reviews the Army’s current efforts to renewal professional writing in the Army.

He applauds action undertaken by the Army to renew professional military writing.

Over the past year, the team at Army University Press has been calling for a renaissance, revival, and reawakening of thought, scholarship, and writing within the community of military professionals. Contributing to the professional body of knowledge is a fundamental part of being a “professional.” Our pleas for making scholarship, writing, and intellectual engagement an Army priority have been echoed on the pages of other complementary outlets such as the Modern War Institute.¹ Our call was heard, and action is now in progress.

On the important role of TRADOC in renewing professional military writing:

The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, charged with the mission of developing future leaders, will guide this effort on behalf of the Army, ensuring the allocation of resources required to meet the goals and objectives of the CSA. Requirements will include updating twentieth-century policy, providing modern capabilities, and extinguishing archaic thinking about how the Army engages the profession in the twenty-first century.

On the importance of transforming to a web-first, mobile-friendly format supported by social media:

If the Army is to truly engage with twenty-first-century audiences and capabilities, we must remove antiquated, if well-meaning, barriers to utilizing safe, modern, mobile-friendly, online website platforms and social media. We must ensure the body of knowledge related to military affairs is easily accessible and optimized for internet search engines. Likewise, the Army must improve its understanding of how current and, most importantly, future military students learn; how they research, read, and write; and how to incentivize quality scholarship and professional contribution.⁴

On the criticality of writing from all echelons of the Army:

The real work will be done at the lowest levels, as soldiers engage in forums that inform the force, connecting with peers across the institution to share lessons learned, write, engage in scholarly discourse, improve military doctrine, optimize training, and achieve these objectives on platforms, outlets, and mediums that require enabling, twenty-first-century policies.

He ends his call by re-printing his first call-to-action:

At the beginning of 2023, Army University Press laid out a challenge to military professionals. That challenge is now supported by our CSA. I will end my letter for the last 2023 issue of Military Review the same way I ended the first:

I challenge those who subscribe to the moniker of military professional to write, to share, to engage, to think. Help the profession improve. Cast off and banish
any hint of anti-intellectual cynicism or undertone that shames those that seek
education and professional development. You can start … by working with Army
University Press, submitting articles or book reviews for publication. Contact us
and let us help you reach the full calling and requirement of a true military
professional. Write!⁶

Read the whole thing—and the whole November-December Military Review here.