My Turn at the Desk

As I conclude my time leading the Harding Project, I’ve found no better words than those of its namesake. In 1938, Lieutenant Colonel Forrest Harding wrote a farewell to the readers of Infantry Journal. His “Valedictory,” excerpted below, reminds us that the hard work of editing, publishing, and stewarding professional discourse is always personal—and always worth it.

Shortly after this issue rolls from the presses we shall clear our desk for the first time in four years and bow our successor to the chair that sits before it. Our feelings at this little ceremonial will be mixed. We shall experience a distinct sense of relief in the knowledge that we have no more editorials to write, manuscripts to reject, queries to answer, deadlines to make. But there will be regrets. We shall miss the bimonthly kick of seeing each new issue in its finished form, the attainment of successive circulation objectives, the fan-mail comment approving new departures, the satisfaction of seeing an important Infantry enterprise grow under our direction; and most of all we shall miss the many contacts with our fellow Infantrymen that go with the office we have held. During our four years as editor of The Journal and Secretary of the Infantry Association we have come to know the Infantry of the lire components as it is given to few to know it. This alone is compensation for the grief that goes with the job.

For the gains made during the four years of our editorship we make grateful acknowledgement to those who are responsible for them. On the editorial side we have been fortunate in having had Captain C. T. Lanham and Staff Sergeant J. R. Ulmer as associates. As a diagnostician and operating surgeon of manuscripts we believe Captain Lanham to be without a peer among military editors. Sergeant Ulmer’s special aptitude is for handling production, make up, and layout. Both of our associates have been prolific in ideas for the improvement of The Journal. Their aim has been to make ours the best magazine in the military field both in content and appearance. The files of The Journal carry the evidence of their talent and their craftsmanship.

On the business side, the efficient organization headed by Mr. A. S. Brown, the office manager and bookkeeper, has shown notable zeal in promoting the interests of the Association and in serving its patrons. We inherited this organization from our predecessor along with a financial position based on real values. We have carried on with the same people and followed the sound policies of the previous administration. In brief, we have built on the solid foundation laid by Colonel Camp with the workmen he turned over to us.

Besides Mr. Brown, who has served The Journal faithfully and well for nineteen years and bids fair to continue to serve it for nineteen more, two other key men have made important contributions to the growth of the business. These are Technical Sergeant C. R. Miller, our one man circulation department, and Mr. N. J. Anthony, private secretary to the editor and office factotum. Sergeant Miller's industry and system and Mr. Anthony's initiative and general usefulness have kept the wheels turning smoothly in a period of expansion.

But it is not only to the immediate Journal family that we would pay tribute in our farewell editorial. We have had other help in our effort to increase the usefulness of our Infantry magazine. Many have worked with us to get The Journal into the hands of an ever-increasing number of those who have need of the military instruction that the editors put between the covers. The boosters are not all Regulars. Neither are all of them Infantrymen. The three components and most of the arms and services are represented on the long list of officers who have brought in the new subscribers. From time to time we have spoken of the services rendered to the Infantry by these gentlemen. In this, our last editorial, we wish to make acknowledgement of our personal debt to them for carrying, in our time, the circulation of The Journal to heights once thought unattainable.

When we started the Harding Project, the Army’s journals less content, less often, and more erratically. The force had fewer outlets to share what it learned—and fewer reasons to try.

Today, they stand renewed. Every branch journal now publishes on the Line of Departure, a web-first, mobile-friendly platform launched last fall. Together, they release more than two new articles a day and reach over 15,000 unique readers a month. The journals are once again part of professional development, with updated guidance in Army regulations and a citation requirement in NCO education. And behind the scenes, Harding Fellows are now embedded in the editorial process, building a new generation of editors-in-chief (Apply today!).

None of that happened alone. This effort would not have been possible without Captain Theo Lipsky, my co-founder; Sergeant First Class Leyton Summerlin, the first deputy director; Sergeant First Class Marcel Blood, the current deputy; and Captain Sarah Chamberlin, the Substack editor. Our partners at Army University Press—Colonel Todd Schmidt, Colonel Andrew Morgado, and Dr. Don Wright—brought rigor and reach. The Modern War Institute’s team, especially Colonel Patrick Sullivan and Mr. John Amble, gave us a launchpad. I also thank the Harding Fellows and everyone else who believed in and invested in this effort. And this work would not have gone far without the support of General George, General Brito, Lieutenant General Beagle, and Sergeant Major of the Army Weimer.

Like Harding, I’ll miss the “bimonthly kick”—though ours came faster, on your phone, not in print. But I’m confident in what comes next. Major Kyle Atwell now takes the guidon with continuity provided by Sergeant First Class Blood.

The desk is in good hands. Thanks for reading, and for writing.