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Letter from the Editor
Col. Andrew Steadman, U.S. Army
Write for Military Review: Suggested Themes and Topics for 2026
2026 General William E. DePuy Special Topics Writing Competition
This year’s theme: “As the Transformation and Training Command, the Combined Arms Command, and Army University look to modernize professional military education (PME), what should their leaders consider?”
Leadership in LSCO: Leading and Training Conscripts, Lessons from Ukraine, NATO Allies, and Our Own Past
Maj. Callum Knight, British Army
Whenever the United States has engaged in large-scale combat operations, it has had to resort to conscription to generate the numbers of troops it requires to fight and to win. However, there are many lessons and insights available to assist Army leaders with recruiting, training, and leading the latest generation of citizen-soldiers. This article won third place in the MacArthur Military Leadership Writing Competition.
Looking on the Conflict on the Horizon: From “Peace First” to a “Be Ready” Perspective
Angela Nogueira Neves, PhD
Tassio Franchi, PhD
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, European governments have begun to promote the new civic message of “be ready,” preparing their citizens to potentially mobilize for a major conflict.
Red Skies Ahead: Russia Planning for Its Drone-Driven Army of Tomorrow
Dr. Ian DuPont
Ben Vranian
Bryan Powers
Tactical drones have become a mainstay and the ultimate combat enabler of the Russia-Ukraine battlefield. Russia is already expeditiously incorporating numerous lessons learned from the impact of tactical drones and is planning for its drone-supported Army of the future.
Prolonging the Fight: Enhancing Unit Survival Skills for the LSCO Environment
Capt. Denton Knight, U.S. Army
Large-scale operations in the modern battlespace will increase the likelihood of isolated companies or battalions cut off from brigade or division support. Units must train on survival skills and be adequately equipped to meet those challenges.
Saving Lives with Data: The Joint Trauma System is an Integrated Battlefield Trauma System that Saves Lives While Increasing Lethality
Col. Jennifer M. Gurney, U.S. Army
Dr. Alexander Miller
When leveraged effectively in combat, data can save lives, increase morale, and improve combat readiness. However, it must be readily available, of high or sufficient quality, properly analyzed, and nested with the proper trauma system to allow for collection, analysis, feedback, and response in operations.
The U.S. Army in an Increasingly Borderless War: Challenge of Planning for Security in a Competition with China in Africa
Lt. Col. Felipe Galvão Franco Honorato, Brazilian Army
The United States must adapt its planning approaches to confront the realities of borderless competition, engage successfully in multicultural environments, and address the impacts of global economic interdependence on military operations. This article was an honorable mention in the DePuy Writing Competition.
A Choice to Lead: Generative AI in Army PME
Lt. Col. Peyton Hurley, U.S. Army
The U.S. Army must change how it thinks, plans, and leads in an information age shaped as much by the systems that interpret and analyze data as by the data itself. It cannot afford to treat generative AI as a curiosity or wait for perfect policy but must adapt now before the next fight begins.
Planes, Trains, Automobiles … and Now Helicopters: Integrating Air Support for Faster Resupply and Distribution
Maj. Mikhail “MJ” Jackson, U.S. Army
Reliance on ground-based resupply alone is operationally risky and tactically insufficient in an era where contested logistics is the norm, especially in the vast and austere geography of the Indo-Pacific theater. For sustainers to truly enhance the maneuver fight, they must expand their approach to distribution with the deliberate integration of rotary-wing and fixed-wing air support.
The Energy Requirements for Processing Data on the Future Battlefield
2nd Lt. Aaron Lawrence, U.S. Army
Dr. Vikram Mittal
Data will soon be as vital as bullets or diesel fuel. However, data processing requires energy that forward-deployed units must now supply, and the increasing numbers of advanced autonomous systems being fielded will demand far greater energy to transmit, store, and process information.
Leading by Letting Go: Integrating Organizational Unlearning and Adaptive Leadership
Maj. Ben Garlick, U.S. Army
Organizational unlearning is an essential but often overlooked component of adaptive leadership. Without the ability to deliberately shed ineffective mental models and routines, leaders and organizations struggle to fully adapt to complex challenges. This article won second place in the MacArthur Military Leadership Writing Competition.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constabulary Operations in the Eastern Arctic: Implications for Arctic Security
Cpl. Mark Southern, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The constabulary operational success of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the eastern Arctic in the early twentieth century can provide a model for the twenty-first-century Canadian security establishment to meet current Russian threats in the region.
Causing Dysfunction: Dilemma Engineering as a Strategic Deterrence Framework for China
Lt. Col. Thomas Haydock, Washington Army National Guard
The United States can exploit China’s tensions through dilemma engineering, a strategy to achieve deterrence by amplifying internal tensions, pressing on dependencies, creating internal dilemmas, forcing a rival to turn inward, and degrading its capacity for external aggression.
Moral and Spiritual Injury in War: Russo-Ukraine, Israel-Iran, and Beyond
Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, PhD, U.S. Army, Retired
The author critiques a book by Timothy S. Mallard that reminds readers that the consequences of war can be more than physical and psychological; they can also be moral and spiritual.
The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces
Robert F. Williams, PhD
The author critiques a book by Seth Harp that probes a mysterious double homicide involving a member of the Army’s highly secretive Delta Force.
America at 250: The Birth of Our Nation
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