Throw Archaic Reading Lists in the Burn-Pit

Announcing the Muddy Boots Forum

We don’t learn from digesting words. We learn from wrestling with literature: reading, writing, and reflecting. Engaging through discussion or written discourse enables us to learn even more. 

On behalf of Sergeant Major of the Army Weimer and the NCO Journal, the Harding Project would like to announce the upcoming Muddy Boots Forum! The SMA and the NCO Journal are partnering to flip the script on the traditional approach to the “books-that-make-a-good-leader” reading list. 

Anchored in the Army’s vast body of knowledge within its professional journals, this forthcoming interactive reading list aims to stimulate military thought, promote professional discourse, and strengthen the profession of arms.

Out with the old

Historically, a typical reading list curates literature leaders share with subordinates to broaden and shape their worldviews.  Leaders hope their soldiers read these books to learn principle lessons or become better decision-makers.

These reading lists may have their place, but I’m unsure where. Publishing these lists online at a .mil no one searches for in the first place is not it. While trying to meet the scrolling-soldier where they are by posting a reading list to social media may be better in terms of outreach, it still misses the mark in intentionality and development. This “fire-and-forget” method is quickly perceived as nothing more than a “check-the-block” obligation when soldiers stumble across their division commander’s reading list while searching for the staff duty phone number.

This standard practice is ambiguous and lacks depth. A cursory search for a leader’s reading lists will reveal several repeat titles, such as Team of Teams by General McChrystal and Do Hard Things by Steve Magness. These are fantastic books; it is easy to see why leaders want soldiers to read them. 

But who are we expecting to read them, and where is the engagement? If you told me to read A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard and never explained why, I could easily misinterpret this short read and think you want me to be a no-questions-asked, compliant soldier. We would be hard-pressed to find a Private Second Class who would want to read, reflect, and benefit from a common title like Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer. Even most young Captains would likely find this book discouragingly dense and tough to tackle.

If the leader does not provide guidance, the reader is left to assume that all ten to fifteen titles on the roster must be read–an unrealistic expectation.

It’s time to take these reading lists to the next step and start engaging with our soldiers.

In with the new

The Muddy Boots Forum launches this summer with Army University Press’ new website, Line of Departure. The Army’s most senior Noncommissioned Officers are taking the typical reading list to the next step and then some. This refreshing approach to providing influential reading material will do the following:

• Demonstrate that the Army’s senior enlisted leaders are serious about contributing to the Army’s body of knowledge.

• Leverage the Army’s professional discourse system to develop soldiers and address, discuss, or solve contemporary issues.

• Raise awareness of and generate interest in the Army’s journals.

• Produce relevant content that stimulates military thought and helps leaders shape doctrine, PME, or policy.

Over the next year, the Army’s top enlisted personnel will lead from the front, exemplifying what real and productive professional discourse looks like to the NCO Corps. Every quarter, five or more of our division CSMs or higher will publish an article for the NCO Journal’s Muddy Boots Forum. In conjunction with this written article, the CSMs will select one article from the journal’s archives they would like to share with the corps.

Both articles will have stimulating, thought-provoking, and challenging questions the author wants the reader to consider. Lastly, these CSMs will challenge readers to contribute their insights, experiences, or solutions and become part of the professional discourse ecosystem. The SMA and NCO Journal’s Muddy Boots Forum provides our senior enlisted leaders and the entire NCO Corps with the opportunity to make impactful change.

These articles might cover anything from leadership tips to warfighting advice, branch-specific challenges, and lessons learned from ethical dilemmas—anything is on the table. 

Below are some hypothetical examples of what we might see from our CSMs.

Example 1.

• Written Article: "The Character of the Warfighter"
  
  Questions: (1) Do you believe the core values and behaviors of the warfighter, as I have outlined in this article, have changed from 1775 to the present day? (2) Do you think they need to change? If so, what is different between the warfighter then and now? (3) How does a junior leader in today's Army develop these timeless characteristics in their soldiers? (4) How does a senior leader empower their juniors to do so and, in their unit, foster a culture centered around these fundamentals? (5) Why do these characteristics matter, and how do they impact our ability to fight and win our nation’s wars?
  
  Call-to-action: I, CSM Higher A. Tighter, challenge you to share your thoughts and experiences in a 1,500-word article submission to your branch journal on how you cultivate a warfighting culture and develop soldiers of strong character within your formation.

• Legacy Article: "Uniform Discipline: A Good Indicator of a Unit’s Deeper Problems?"
  
  Questions: (1) Do you think that uniform discipline is a good indicator of a unit's deeper problems? Why, or why not?  Are there better indicators? (2) What are the pros and cons of uniformity, and at what level is standardization a best practice? (3) If you found yourself in a peer-to-peer fight, would it be better or worse to be uniformed with the soldiers in your formation? (4) How can we empower junior leaders to use uniform discipline on a daily basis as a means to inspire intrinsic discipline in other parts of their soldier's lives? (5) If we look at SMA Preston's article through the 'minor infractions, lead to significant problems' lens, what other minor infractions do you see in your formation that may have been the root of a much larger problem? Or, is the problem that you need to start looking?
  
  Call-to-action: I, CSM Higher A. Tighter, want you to look around your formation and identify the root problems that lead to the proverbial hemorrhaging we seem to face daily. Share your experiences and approaches to how you will or do, take ownership of the profession, and stop these problems upstream by submitting them in a 1,500-word article to your branch journal as a unit or an individual. However you choose to submit, remember, we owe it to the future soldiers of the Army to share our hard-earned lessons and help them avoid making the same mistakes.

Example 2.

• Written Article: “Sharks and Minos: Integrating SUAS and Tanks”
  
  Questions: (1) What does it look like to integrate SUAS into a platoon of tanks? (2) How many should each platoon have, and what type? Why? (3) Does this require a change in force structure? How so? (4) Is it tethered to omit RF signal, or can we manage this risk in other ways? (5) What is the plan to field these assets down to the platoon level?
  
  Call-to-action: Tell the Armor Branch what right looks like. The character of warfare is changing quickly, and we need to outpace our adversaries. Submit your thoughts and ideas on integrating SUAS with our tank formations to Armor Magazine or Military Review. I, CSM O.T. Wae, challenge leaders to hold debates within the formation and challenge each other’s ideas. Submit your executive summaries to the Armor Branch in an article format.

• Legacy Article: “Battlefield Distribution” and “Velocity Management: A Status Report”
  
  Questions: Victory in war can fall on the Army’s ability to equip its troops on the frontlines as quickly as possible. Keep this fact and these questions in mind while you read these articles. (1) What lessons can we learn from this historic change in our logistics system? (2) What flaws are there in the current pipeline to equip our troops that are currently forward? How would you solve them? (3) What constraints does your formation face as a part of this pipeline? How can these be alleviated?
  
  Call-to-action: As we improve our processes to transform in contact, I challenge you, like MG Robison, to share your innovative ideas to help us address this continuously evolving problem. Whether you are the front-line troops receiving the equipment or the support troops delivering, we need to know where the pitfalls are. Submit these ideas to your branch journals. We are listening. 

This professional discourse is the journal’s superpower. The journals give everyone a voice from rank to rank, help the Army learn faster, solve contemporary problems, and ultimately link leaders to winning wars.

Join these leaders and the NCO Journal in overhauling the outdated prescription of literature. Tell us your favorite legacy article below and provide your own challenging and thought-provoking questions you want the reader to think critically about. My favorite from the archives is “The Army’s Command Sergeant Major Problem.” Much like A Message to Garcia, discussions about this Parameters article from 1988 can get spicy and incite developmental discourse centered around timeless leadership principles if done with thoughtful consideration. 

Let’s stop missing this easy and untapped opportunity to develop our soldiers and start being more thoughtful with our approach to the literature we prescribe. Follow Army University Press and the NCOJ on LinkedIn and other platforms to stay updated with the latest developments and participate in shaping the future of the Army.