Back Azimuths
It’s All About … Ships
Francis B. Burns
Deeds Publishing, Athens, Georgia, 2022, 258 pages
Book Review published on: June 7, 2024
Military reading lists are heavily populated with books whose authors offer views on key attributes of leadership or personal attributes important to the profession of arms. Some of these offer profound thoughts; others offer little beyond self-promotion and pontification. In his new book Back Azimuths: It’s All About … Ships, Francis Burns, a retired Army colonel, certainly falls into the former category. He offers profound, thought-provoking insights from his life and thirty-plus year military career in a format that is logical, easy to read, and encourages self-reflection.
Burns grew up the second youngest of nine siblings in Leominster, Massachusetts. He was an active athlete in his youth and enlisted in the Army Reserve as an infantryman prior to attending the University of Massachusetts. Upon his college graduation in 1986, he commissioned into the active Army as an infantry officer and served three decades in a variety of assignments. Experiences from his childhood, reflections upon his Catholic faith, and experiences in the Army inform each chapter of the book.
His title references orienteering with a compass; someone who is lost can use a compass to determine a directional azimuth to a known fixed point or landmark, and then determine a “back azimuth” to ascertain their location. In much the same way, Burns seeks to provide a fixed point of reference upon which the reader can reflect to improve his or her practice of the “ships.” “Ship” is the suffix that references the practice of the root word, leadership. Burns’s “ships” form a list of desired qualities that someone who finds themselves leading others should emulate. They are also the titles of his chapters, for example, “Leadership,” “Mentorship,” and “Sportsmanship.”
Burns wrote chapters on twenty-one different “ships.” Some of these reflect traditional military attributes, such as leadership, mentorship, and marksmanship; others, such as worship, stewardship, and discipleship, describe attributes of personal faith. Partnership, ambassadorship, and membership are some of the more broadly personal attributes which also merit a chapter.
The organization of each chapter is one of the book’s greatest strengths. Each chapter contains well-organized thoughts and words of wisdom supported by personal examples. Burns begins with a short definition of the “ship” in the chapter’s title. He follows with a verse from the Bible that frames key attributes of the “ship.” After this, the chapter is subdivided into four sections. In the first, “Insight,” Burns offers his elaborative thoughts about the topic of the chapter. In the second, “Inspire,” he adds an anecdote describing how a person he admires demonstrated this “ship” in his or her life. These include members of his family, or a well-known historical personality. “Ignite,” the third section, offers the reader suggestions on ways to apply these attributes in his or her life. The conclusion of each chapter offers a few points for personal reflection and questions for contemplation, with space to write answers to the questions.
Burns wisely includes followership among his chapters. This chapter begins with Isaiah 6:8, in which Isaiah responds to the Lord’s call by exclaiming, “here I am, send me!” Burns commanded a battalion of basic trainees at Fort Benning (now Fort Moore), Georgia, in which he would quote that verse in graduation speeches to underscore the importance of volunteering to do hard things. He followed with the “ignite” portion, in which he gave a speech at the retirement of a general officer who had always shown the importance of character in both leadership and followership, which Burns describes as two sides of the same coin. He closed with an ancient Roman poem of a soldier’s visit to his brother’s grave, who had died in battle for the empire. The poem praised his brother’s service and sacrifice.
Burns also includes a chapter on ambassadorship. This chapter reminds the reader to remember whom he or she represents and ensure to act accordingly. Burns includes several emails to his family from his time in Iraq. These communicated not just his purpose in being there but also his emotions and thoughts of the conditions he observed. He describes the therapeutic importance of this communication, as it enabled him to transcribe his thoughts on paper. They also help communicate connectivity between day-to-day activities and concerns, and a broader, long-term purpose.
Back Azimuths is a thought-provoking exercise in self-reflection and self-improvement. Burns wrote the book in such a way that one can easily read the whole thing in a weekend or read at a slower pace and incorporate the lessons contained therein. The insights encourage the reader to think deeply about how to live in a much more intentional manner, a worthy goal.
Book Review written by: Lt. Col. David C. McCaughrin, U.S. Army, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas