Letter from the Editor
Col. Andrew Steadman, US Army
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History is replete with moments when technologies, tactics, or unexpected influences proved decisive in battle—for example, the invention of the machine gun, the “left hook” of Desert Storm, the clearing skies above Bastogne. While it is natural to credit the commanders, armies, and nations for leveraging these facets of warfare, it is also easy to overlook the education and training systems that shaped leaders and set conditions for their success.
It took forty years for the US Army to produce Gen. H. “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf and deliver him to his moment in history. Professional development is measured in decades, not days. If done right, it provides hard-earned experiences, bitter failures, and rigorous academic thought while promoting curiosity, candor, and critique. Militaries, and arguably nations themselves, might rightly be assessed according to how they invest in their military professionals and cultivate their growth.
In this, the United States has been unmatched because professional development is a permanent strategic commitment, protected from short-term operational changes and shifting priorities. The US Army’s learning and development domains—institutional, operational, and self-development—provide a diverse yet mutually supportive path that prepares leaders to serve at higher levels of responsibility and win our Nation’s wars.1
The core of this development model relies on extensive exposure to doctrine, challenging and realistic training scenarios, thorough after action reviews, personal research and reflection, and ongoing professional discourse. Face-to-face teaching, coaching, and mentoring occur throughout careers, during both the high and low moments of one’s service, and sometimes in the harshest of environments.
One crucial, yet underappreciated, feature of our professional development is the freedom to offer constructive criticism. An Army that cannot address perceived shortcomings cannot improve itself. Service members are permitted to challenge the effectiveness of Army plans, regulations, and programs in pursuit of greater efficiency and lethality. Indeed, the Army profession thrives because an unbroken line of leaders has valued the humble pursuit of knowledge and fostered an environment that is safe for rigorous debate and candid discussion.
For example, the examination of AirLand Battle unfolded in the pages of Military Review during the 1980s, with articles like “A Private’s Viewpoint on AirLand Battle.”2 In 2005, British Brig. Gen. Nigel Aylwin-Foster published a pointed criticism of US Army counterinsurgency operations in Iraq, fueling a reexamination of doctrine and strategy.3 And in 2017, “The Myopic Muddle of the Army’s Operations Doctrine” challenged the Army’s post-Iraq doctrinal transition to large-scale combat operations and multidomain operations.4 In these and many other instances, leaders addressed institutional vulnerabilities in a public forum and made the case for change.
The Army University Press (AUP) is a trusted home for this dialogue. Every year, millions of visitors download hundreds of thousands of journal articles, books, podcasts, and documentary films to grow themselves as leaders and develop their teams. This moderated exchange of insight inspires developmental conversations around the globe and shapes future Army leaders.
At AUP, our mission is to deliver content worth talking about. As a professional, your job is to use that content to build leaders and to cultivate vigorous and constructive debate at every level. As Army Doctrine Publication 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession, instructs, be humble enough to ask hard questions about your performance, decisions, and judgment.5 Invite feedback, reflect, and adapt. And when you and your organization reach new levels of effectiveness and lethality, share your insight with the force.
The only way to preserve the professional dialogue is to engage in it. We invite you to have the conversation, submit your work to AUP, and help provide the intellectual foundation that guides our force from vision to victory.
Notes 
- Army Regulation 350-1, Army Training and Leader Development (US Government Publishing Office [GPO], 1 June 2025), 5.
- Mark T. Schmidt, “A Private’s Viewpoint on AirLand Battle,” Military Review 66, no. 8 (September 1986): 67–70.
- Nigel R. F. Aylwin-Foster, “Changing the Army for Counterinsurgency Operations,” Military Review 85, no. 6 (November-December 2005): 2–15.
- Daniel J. Kull, “The Myopic Muddle of the Army’s Operations Doctrine,” Military Review Online Exclusive, 24 May 2017.
- Army Doctrine Publication 6-22, Army Leadership and the Profession (US GPO, July 2019), 6-3.
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