Intellectually Investing in the Army Profession in 2024 and Beyond
Col. Todd Schmidt, PhD, U.S. Army
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The beginning of each year provides opportunity for reflection as well as a look forward. As we think about the experiences, accomplishments, and lessons of the past year, we have a blank slate to set goals for the coming year in every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Questions that may be routinely asked are, “What professional accomplishments do I want to achieve in 2024?” or, as I would challenge, “What intellectual investments do I want to make in the Army Profession in 2024?”
At Army University Press (AUP), we have been working hard to ensure 2024 brings the profession a lineup of intellectually stimulating products and productions that can augment your professional military education and development. Foremost, with the chief of staff of the Army’s (CSA) priority on reinvigorating professional military writing and discourse, AUP is excited to host the “CSA’s Recommended Articles” page on the AUP website. Whether you are an aspiring author or a practiced writer and regular contributor, we hope to see your article recommended for reading across the Army community. Just as importantly, we look forward to implementing the guidance and instruction from the CSA to incentivize professional writing and ensure ease of accessibility to our professional scholarship.
Additionally, over the past year, we have been diligently working with leaders, units, and professional communities of interest to publish and produce some truly exceptional scholarship and films in the coming year. First, working with divisional units, you will see special sections featured in Military Review throughout 2024, starting with the Arctic Angels of the 11th Airborne Division in this January-February edition. Army University Films will also be producing a film featuring the 11th Airborne Division and the militarization of the Arctic through collaboration with divisional leadership and the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies. If you think your division and unit should be featured in a special section, contact us!
Second, we are excited to publish at least three special editions of Military Review in 2024. We will feature a special edition on space and missile defense with a foreword by Gen. Charles Flynn, U.S. Army Pacific commanding general. This edition will feature scholarship by thought-leaders of this community, both in the United States and from our allies and partners in NATO. As space is increasingly militarized and contested, readers will have the opportunity to learn about and explore some of the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this critical warfighting domain. A second special edition currently being developed will be dedicated to commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of NATO and the eightieth anniversary of D-Day. If you are interested in writing on either topic, please contact us at your earliest convenience.
Third, there is a heated intellectual debate surrounding the twenty-first century doctrinal role and definition of special and irregular warfare occurring at the strategic level of the military. AUP is excited to publish and produce a special edition on special warfare and will feature a number of articles that explore conventional and unconventional thinking on this important topic. With special operations forces potentially reduced in the coming years, what are the arguments, logic, and rationale for such reductions, given lessons learned in the past several years of observing conflict in Ukraine, Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan? What are the counterpoints to these arguments? We will feature these scholarly debates in upcoming editions of Military Review, as well as produce films on irregular warfare, the evolution of the Security Force Assistance Command, and the roles both play across the spectrum of conflict and large-scale combat operations.
Fourth, additional films and articles scheduled for release in 2024 will feature a commemoration of the 10th Mountain Division’s eightieth anniversary and the role of light infantry in future warfare. Two forthcoming films will focus on the challenges and threats of North Korea, one focused on the first year of the Korean War and one focused on the current and future regional threat of North Korea. A third film will focus on national security strategy and policy process, diplomatic and interagency operations, and U.S. embassy planning, featuring a growing exercise called the Peace Game. In collaboration with the Fires Center of Excellence and Maneuver Center of Excellence, AUP will produce and release films on the evolution of fires over the past thirty years, a history of the Battle of Hue, and the Battle of Hill 66.
This is just a short list of the many products and productions to expect from AUP in 2024. A new and exciting nonresident fellowship will be launched. New books will be published. New staff rides from the Combat Studies Institute are under development. Military Review will begin featuring leading commentary and thought-provoking opinion pieces to accompany our traditional journal articles. The NCO Journal will be featuring incredible podcasts and articles by the “backbone of the Army.” AUP will continue to support the Leavenworth National Security Consortium by encouraging and facilitating collaboration with our civilian and military partners and academic institutions. Our website will continue to improve and provide greater support and resources to visitors. Our social media accounts will help bring awareness and announcements of all our latest and greatest products and productions in a timely manner. And there is even more to come.
Most importantly, however, what will be YOUR contribution and intellectual investment to the Army Profession in 2024? We invite you to review a book, write an article, submit a manuscript, contact us with your ideas for improving our products and productions, and let us know how we can better augment professional military education. If you have not already, we encourage you to join, follow, like, and subscribe to our social media and, especially, our Army University Press YouTube channel!
As you reflect on 2023 and look forward to 2024, we hope you will join us in making important investments in our Army Profession. Make your mark. Help bring about positive change. Share lessons. Share ideas. Share your opinion. Join the professional discussion and help improve and advance our military discourse. If this letter inspired you or provoked an idea, do not hesitate to contact us and discuss how we can work together. Happy New Year from the Army University Press!
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