🪖 The Friday Formation
This week’s dispatch on Army writing & leadership
10 October 2025
Editor’s Note
This week’s readings span innovation, ambition, marketing, irregular warfare, and the enduring lessons of history. Whether it’s learning from Boromir’s flaws, exploring how aesthetics shape resistance, or questioning how AI and narrative manipulation influence cognition, these pieces sharpen the mind and remind us that professional writing remains our most powerful weapon for change. If I missed something, send it my way—because the profession only strengthens when we write.
- Chris
⚔️ Warfighting
· Harmony and Chaos: Navigating the BSB–DSSB Tug-of-War – Tony Grajales (FTGN)
Explores the complex relationship between brigade and division sustainment commands and the leadership needed to manage it.
· Boromir and Faramir: A Cautionary Tale for the Ambitious Officer – MAJ Colin A. Sexton (FTGN)
Uses Tolkien’s characters to illustrate the dangers of unchecked ambition and the virtues of humility in leadership.
· Improvised Genius: Can the U.S. Match Ukraine’s Scrappy Innovation? – Paul Schwennesen (MWI)
Compares Ukrainian battlefield improvisation with U.S. innovation culture and challenges leaders to embrace risk.
· Not Just Desert Storm and Yom Kippur: The Iran–Iraq War’s Lessons for LSCO – Harrison Morgan (MWI)
Argues that LSCO preparation should include lessons from the Iran–Iraq War’s prolonged attrition and adaptation.
· Beyond FPVs: Learning All the Lessons of the Ukraine War – Sam Scanlon (MWI)
Encourages holistic analysis of the Ukraine conflict—beyond drone warfare—to improve training and doctrine.
· The Importance of the Battle of Kasserine Pass – Robert F. Williams (War on the Rocks)
Revisits a painful early WWII defeat to highlight humility and reform as the roots of future victory.
🔧 Delivering Ready Combat Power
· Army Marketing: From Debut to Remix – MAJ Ryan Crayne (AUSA Harding Papers)
Chronicles the Army’s evolving marketing strategy and how storytelling sustains recruitment.
· To Build the Nation’s Might – Dr. David W. Hogan (AUSA Special Reports)
Examines how historical mobilization efforts inform today’s talent and resource management.
· How to Train Your Dragon: Understanding China’s Web of Exercises and Security Ties – Jane Kaufmann & Chris Pagenkopf (MWI)
Dissects China’s expanding joint exercise network and its implications for U.S. engagement strategy.
· MWI Podcast: Five Questions for a General (MG Bill Rapp) – Host: CDT Donovan Scott (MWI Podcast)
Leadership reflections from a retired general on mentorship, adaptation, and institutional reform.
🔄 Continuous Transformation
· A Cat, a Hat, and the Benefit of Constraints – Joe Byerly (FTGN)
Argues that creativity thrives not despite constraints—but because of them.
· MWI Podcast: The Military Technological Arms Race in Ukraine – Host: John Amble (MWI Podcast)
Examines the fast-paced innovation cycle of modern combat and what the U.S. military can learn.
· Beyond Decision Superiority: The Role of Intelligence in Innovation & Adaptation – Michael Borja (War on the Rocks)
Explores how intelligence analysis must evolve to support innovation and future decision-making.
· Narrative Manipulation: Cognitive Warfare via LLM Poisoning – CW2 Remington D. Whiteside (MIPB)
Warns of emerging AI-enabled information threats and the battle for narrative dominance.
· Art and Irregular Warfare: Aesthetic Resistance and Symbolic Power – Dr. Robert Redding (IWI)
Explores how art and symbolism shape irregular conflict and strategic narratives.
· Imposing Costs in the Indo-Pacific: Lessons from Operation Spider Web – Alexander Richter & Ethan Chiu (IWI)
Examines cost-imposition strategies and deterrence in the maritime Indo-Pacific environment.
· Israel’s Irregular Warfare Paradox – Jacob Ware (IWI)
Analyzes the moral and operational tensions in Israel’s approach to irregular warfare.
📜 Strengthening the Profession of Arms
· No Fatties, No Beardos – Hosts: Alex Morrow & Drew Hammond (Mops & Moes Podcast)
An honest and humorous discussion of Army culture, stereotypes, and policy reform.
· Operationalizing the Spiritual Domain – Johnny Bates (Mops & Moes)
Highlights the often-overlooked spiritual dimension of holistic health and fitness.
· Porcupine Defense – Host: Tom Galvin; Guests: Ying-Chie Hsieh & Pete Roongsang (AUSA WAR ROOM Podcast)
Discusses deterrence through resilience and asymmetric defense strategies.
· The Chamberlain Order: Lessons in Courage and Initiative – Larry P. Goodson & Jim Gordon (WAR ROOM)
Reflects on moral courage and initiative as timeless traits of command.
· Project Management: Lessons for Military Professionals – Shane McNeil (WAR ROOM)
Shows how structured project management enhances mission command.
· Functional Fitness: Building Enduring Readiness – Paul Kearney & Dennis Halleran (WAR ROOM)
Connects physical readiness to leader resilience and unit cohesion.
· Episode 32: MAJ(P) Jacob Myers, Foreign Area Officer – Guest: MAJ(P) Jacob Myers (FAO Podcast)
Discusses cross-cultural leadership, diplomacy, and the FAO’s role in shaping international strategy.
📖 Resources & Calls
🧰 Weekend Loadout
Quick Read: Boromir and Faramir: A Cautionary Tale for the Ambitious Officer
Deep Dive: Narrative Manipulation: Cognitive Warfare via LLM Poisoning
Must-Listen: Porcupine Defense
🧭 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. Share this roll-up with your formation, and consider adding your own voice to the conversation.