The Friday Formation
20 March 2026
🪖 The Friday Formation
This week’s dispatch on Army writing, leadership, and learning
Friday, 20 March 2026
🗓️ Editor’s Note
March closes with a full slate — drones, algorithms, the Arctic, the Middle East, and the enduring questions of what it means to lead.
This week’s Formation covers the proliferation of unmanned systems across every domain, the strategic stakes of algorithmic advantage, and the human dimension that no technology can replace — resilience, courage, and the willingness to start something new.
Read widely. Think critically. Close the month strong.
Chris
🏛️ Featured Leadership Essays
Ep. 174 – The Courage to Start Something New (with Andy Yakulis)
Host: Joe Byerly; Guest: Andy Yakulis — From the Green Notebook
A conversation about the mindset and courage required to step into the unknown — whether that’s a new assignment, a new organization, or a new chapter of life after service.
You Can’t Stockpile AI: Military Advantage in the Age of Algorithmic Diffusion
Kyle Dotterrer — Modern War Institute
Challenges the assumption that AI creates durable military advantage, arguing that algorithmic diffusion means advantage is fleeting — and that how the Army adapts its processes matters more than any single capability.
Inside Recruiting Company Command: Leadership Beyond the Numbers
Tanner Cook — Center for Junior Officers
A ground-level look at what company command in a recruiting context actually demands — and what it teaches about leading people through ambiguity and mission pressure.
⚔️ Warfighting
🪖 Who Owns the Drones? Why Modernization of Army Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Should Be a Maneuver Responsibility John Dudas — MWI
Makes the doctrinal and organizational case for placing small UAS modernization and employment authority within maneuver formations — a timely argument with major implications for how the Army equips and trains.
🪖 India-Pakistan Drone Warfare Tahir Mahmood Azad — IWI
Examines the emerging drone competition between India and Pakistan and what it signals about the proliferation of UAS in regional conflict.
🇹🇼 Taiwan’s T-Dome and Drone Warfare Ben Biedrzycki — SWJ
Assesses Taiwan’s T-Dome counter-drone system and its implications for the air defense calculus in a Taiwan Strait contingency.
🪖 Kurdish Resistance Drones and Iran Zak Kallenborn — IWI
Traces how Kurdish resistance groups are leveraging drone technology against Iranian forces and what it means for non-state UAS employment.
🚫 Don’t Count Launches: Misreading Iran’s Drone Capacity Kelly A. Grieco — War on the Rocks
A methodological critique of how analysts are counting Iranian drone launches and why raw numbers badly misrepresent operational capacity and strategic intent.
🪖 The Menace of Misunderstanding: Learning the Wrong Lessons from Ukraine’s Drone-Saturated Battlefields Charles S. Oliviero and Phil Halton — MWI
Challenges prevailing narratives about drone warfare in Ukraine, arguing that misreading its lessons risks catastrophic tactical and doctrinal miscalculation.
🎙️ Interview: Ami Ayalon on Iran, Gaza, and the Israeli Navy Interviewers: Christopher Booth & Walker Mills; Interviewee: Ami Ayalon — IWI
A frank conversation with the former head of Shin Bet and Israeli Navy commander on the strategic logic of the Iran conflict and what it demands of leadership.
🛡️ The Value of Euro-SOF Ned Marsh — SWJ
Makes the strategic case for European Special Operations Forces as a distinct and undervalued asset in the transatlantic security architecture.
🎙️ Non-State Special Operations Darrell Driver and Craig Whiteside — War Room
Examines the rise of non-state actors capable of sophisticated special operations and what that means for doctrine, partnerships, and competition.
🇺🇦 Bailing Out Russia for Peace Is a Losing Proposition Emma Isabella Sage and Savannah Taylor — War on the Rocks
A sharp critique of the logic behind offering Russia economic relief as a peace incentive, arguing it rewards aggression without changing Russian strategic calculus.
🇲🇪 Drinking from the Bitter Chalice in the Middle East Again Steven Simon — War on the Rocks
A historically grounded assessment of U.S. strategic entanglement in the Middle East and the recurring costs of misread exits.
🇨🇳 How Does the Iran War Affect China’s Energy Security? Yun Sun — War on the Rocks
Links the Iran conflict to Chinese strategic calculations, tracing how energy dependency shapes Beijing’s posture and risk tolerance.
⚔️ Double-Edged Swords: How Military Purges Shape Authoritarian Appetite for War Jun Sudduth — War on the Rocks
Examines the counterintuitive relationship between leadership purges in autocratic militaries and the resulting shift in risk appetite toward conflict.
🌍 Reckoning: America’s Middle East Strategy Irina Tsukerman — SWJ
A broad strategic reckoning with U.S. policy in the Middle East and the compounding consequences of strategic drift.
📋 Fact-Checking the Commander in Chief Tom Ordeman Jr. — SWJ
A careful examination of executive claims about military operations and what civil-military accountability requires in response.
🔧 Delivering Ready Combat Power
🚛 Automated Vessel Selection and Combat Sustainment MAJ William Kirschenman, Dr. Brandon McConnell, and Dr. Russel King — Army Sustainment
Examines how automated vessel selection algorithms can improve distribution efficiency and reduce friction in theater sustainment operations.
🛡️ The Chokepoint We Missed: Sulfur, Hormuz, and the Threats to Military Readiness Morgan Bazilian, Macdonald Amoah, and Jahara Matisek — MWI
Draws attention to sulfur as an overlooked strategic vulnerability: disruption at Hormuz threatens the chemical supply chains that military readiness depends on.
🧠 Shared Understanding at Machine Speed: Preserving Coherence in AI-Enabled Joint Operations Richard L. Farnell — MWI
Addresses the command and control challenge of maintaining shared understanding across a joint force when AI systems are operating faster than human cognition.
🛡️ Field Artillery Strategy 2030 Field Artillery Journal
The Field Artillery branch’s strategic vision for 2030 — how fires must modernize to remain the decisive shaping and suppression force on the future battlefield.
⚗️ Commander’s Gamble CPT Kassi Gulliford — Army Chemical Review
Examines the calculated risks commanders must take when operating in CBRN-contested environments and how doctrine must adapt to keep pace with the threat.
🎙️ LogStat: JRTC Trends at the BDE & Below Host: CPT Garett Pyle; Guest: LTC Dan Cole
Draws out sustainment and logistics observations from JRTC rotations — actionable lessons for brigade-level leaders preparing for their own rotations.
🎙️ Mops & Moes: Fitness Philosophy, Part 2 Hosts: Alex Morrow & Drew Hammond; Guest: Michael Blevins
Continues the conversation on building a durable physical training philosophy — what separates Soldiers who sustain performance from those who plateau or break down.
🔄 Continuous Transformation
🧠 You Can’t Stockpile AI: Military Advantage in the Age of Algorithmic Diffusion Kyle Dotterrer — MWI
Challenges the assumption that AI creates durable military advantage, arguing that how the Army adapts its processes matters more than any single capability.
🌊 Retreat at the Bottom of the World: U.S. Polar Policy’s Arctic Surge and Antarctic Drawdown DeLaine Mayer — MWI
Examines the strategic tension in U.S. polar policy — surging in the Arctic while drawing down in Antarctica — and what it signals about prioritization and risk.
🇨🇳 The New Reserve Personnel ID Card: How the PLA Is Streamlining Mobilization Joshua Arostegui — SSI
A detailed look at PLA reserve mobilization reform and what the new personnel ID card system reveals about China’s intent to field a more responsive reserve force.
🔭 Narrative as a Weapon John Wirges — SWJ
Examines narrative as a distinct instrument of warfare and how adversaries are weaponizing story to shape perception, will, and behavior at scale.
🔭 Beyond the Menu of Options: A Taxonomy for Information Security Strategies Nazar Syvak — SWJ
Proposes a structured taxonomy for information security strategies that moves beyond ad hoc responses toward a coherent framework for protecting the information environment.
🧠 Insomnia, Trauma, and Substances Jonathan Kenigson — War Room
A clinically grounded examination of the interconnected challenges of sleep disorders, trauma, and substance use in the military population — and what leadership must understand about their intersection.
📜 Strengthening the Profession of Arms
📋 Team Cohesion Josh Bowen — 3x5 Leadership
A practical exploration of what builds genuine team cohesion and how leaders can cultivate it deliberately rather than hoping it emerges on its own.
🪖 The Drone Battlefield CSM Jermaine Baldwin — NCO Journal
An NCO leader’s perspective on what drone proliferation demands of small-unit leaders at the tactical edge.
🇧🇷 Brazilian Leadership Lessons SGM Mauricio da Silva Souza — NCO Journal
Leadership principles from a Brazilian Army perspective — a cross-cultural look at what makes NCOs effective across different military cultures and contexts.
💪 Resiliency CSM Richard C. Ryles Jr. — NCO Journal (Muddy Boots)
A hard-earned NCO perspective on building personal and organizational resilience — what it actually looks like at the ground level and how leaders model it under pressure.
📖 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.
• Army Foreign Area Officer Association Podcasts – FAO professional development listening.
🧰 TL;DR
Quick Read: You Can’t Stockpile AI: Military Advantage in the Age of Algorithmic Diffusion
Listen: Ep. 174 – The Courage to Start Something New (with Andy Yakulis)
🧭 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.