The Friday Formation
19 December 2025
🪖 The Friday Formation
This week’s dispatch on Army writing, leadership, and learning from every front
19 December 2025
🕯️ Editor’s Note
This is the week of light.
Christmas, Hanukkah, and the winter solstice all remind us that even in the longest night, light persists. Sometimes it arrives quietly through discipline practiced in secret, through leaders preparing their formations while no one is watching, or through professionals who continue learning when the tempo slows.
This week’s Friday Formation leans into that spirit. It asks us to reflect on integrity, preparation, adaptation, and renewal. These readings are not about spectacle. They are about stewardship of the profession during the quiet season, when habits are formed and foundations are reinforced.
If I missed something worth carrying into the new year, send it my way. Light spreads best when shared.
-Chris
⚔️ Warfighting
• Training Like It’s 1993: We’re Still Not Doing Enough to Integrate Drones – John Spencer (MWI)
A pointed critique of how legacy training approaches are holding back drone integration at scale.
• Europe’s Positional Defense Opportunity – Sandor Fabian (MWI)
Examines how European defense posture may evolve toward layered and resilient positional defense.
• The Death of the Triangular Patrol Base – Charlie Phelps and Benny Jenness (MWI)
Challenges long-held assumptions about base geometry and survivability in modern conflict.
• Urban Warfare Project Podcast: The 2008 Mumbai Attacks – Host: John Spencer; Guest: Liam Collins
A sobering case study on urban terror, response timelines, and adaptive adversaries.
• Are Drones a Maneuver Force? – Kenton G. Fasana (Military Review)
Explores whether drones should be treated as enabling tools or maneuver elements in their own right.
• Dispersion as Uncertainty – Col Benjamin Buchholz (Military Review)
Argues dispersion is not just tactical positioning but a method of imposing uncertainty on adversaries.
🔧 Delivering Ready Combat Power
• The LOGSTAT: The Multifunctional Logistician Shaping the Future – Host: CPT Garett Pyle; Guest: CSM Summer Reign Riley-Fernando
A discussion on logistics leadership, adaptability, and sustaining readiness across domains.
• Global Medic 25-01: LSCO Readiness – BG Todd W. Traver (Pulse of Army Medicine)
Examines medical readiness challenges in large-scale combat operations.
• The Medical Intelligence Divide – LTC Alissa Byrne (Pulse of Army Medicine)
Highlights gaps between medical data, intelligence, and operational decision-making.
🔄 Continuous Transformation
• Microinsurgency: Introducing a Distinct Category of Intrastate Conflict – Michael F. Trevett (IWI)
Defines a smaller, faster form of insurgency that challenges traditional response models.
• Japan’s Strategic Challenges – Ryota Akiba (IWI)
Connects historical experience to contemporary comprehensive defense planning.
• The Cod Wars and Lessons for Maritime Counterinsurgency – Kevin Blims (IWI)
A reminder that unconventional conflict often occurs below the threshold of war.
• What Determines Success in Guerrilla Warfare? – Host: Kyle Atwell; Guest: Alisa Laufer
A podcast on legitimacy, population dynamics, and endurance.
• Chasing True AI Autonomy – Vitaliy Goncharuk (War on the Rocks)
Examines how mindset, not technology, is often the limiting factor in AI adoption.
• Anchoring Intelligence in Ground Truth – Nicholas Krohley (War on the Rocks)
Addresses intelligence challenges in an era of synthetic media and deception.
• A BETTER PEACE: The WAR ROOM Podcast – Transformation – COL Johnny Ives, COL (Ret) Tom Spahr (U.S. Army War College War Room)
A discussion on the Army’s continuous transformation, using AI and data to improve lethality and decision-making.
📜 Strengthening the Profession of Arms
• Would You Do It in Secret? – Joe Byerly (FTGN)
A timely reflection on character, integrity, and leadership when no one is watching.
• How to Make a Great Cup of Coffee – Host: Joe Byerly; Guest: Carl Churchill
A deceptively simple conversation about craft, presence, and doing small things well.
• Dawn of Transformation – SGM (Ret.) Wascar A. Diaz (NCO Journal)
Reflects on change, continuity, and leadership across generations.
• How Canceling PT Made Me the Officer I Am Today – Erik Davis (CJO)
A candid reflection on leadership judgment, trust, and context.
• Diamond in the Swamp: JRTC – Seth Lynn (CJO)
Lessons learned under pressure and in discomfort.
📖 Resources & Calls
CSA Recommended Articles – Army University Press – The Chief’s reading list.
Call for Papers – Army Civilian Journal - Invitation to contribute.
Professional Writing Playlist (YouTube) – Talks and discussions on military writing.
Professional Military Writing – Military Review – Why writing matters.
🧰 TL;DR
Short reflections: Would You Do It in Secret?
Deep reads: Training Like It’s 1993
Listen while traveling: What Determines Success in Guerrilla Warfare?
🧭 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.