The writing theme for 2022 is "Insights from Two Decades in Afghanistan”
The intent of this year’s DePuy competition is to highlight from a “boots on the ground” perspective what specifically the U.S. Army should learn from its twenty-year experience in Afghanistan.
Possible topics might include the following: What faulty assumptions did leaders at all levels make that should be avoided in the future? What lessons should future senior military leaders learn from Afghanistan? How did the perception of success affect operational planning and assessments of progress? To what degree was Afghanistan a failure of mission-command or counterinsurgency doctrine? Any other salient topics that might be gleaned from an individual’s experience and point of view.