May-June 2025

Volume 105, Number 3

 

Download the PDF of the March-April 2025 Cover

 

Table of Contents

Download the PDFTable of Contents

 

This We’ll Defend: Our Promise to America

Gen. Randy A. George, U.S. Army Chief of Staff

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer

 

2025 General William E. DePuy Special Topics Writing Competition

This year’s theme: “The challenges of planning for security in a world that is increasingly borderless, multicultural, and economically interdependent.”

 

Write for Military Review: Suggested Writing Themes and Topics 2025

 

Letter from the Editor

Col. Andrew Morgado, U.S. Army

 

Pathways to Becoming a Transformational Leader

Lt. Gen. Milford H. Beagle Jr., U.S. Army

 

A Fighting Heart for the Army's New Look

Col. Richard W. Whitney, U.S. Army

In celebration of the U.S. Army's 250th birthday, Military Review looks at our past with an article from 1955 that considered factors from that time that influenced soldier morale.

 

Fortifying Operational Readiness in the Pacific: A Strategic Blueprint

Brig. Gen. Eric Landry, Canadian Army

Lt. Col. Cynthia Holuta, U.S. Army

Lt. Col. Callum Muntz, Australian Army

Maj. Benjamen Kochheiser, U.S. Army

I Corps' focus on building operational readiness in the Pacific demands a tailored strategy to address regional challenges and maintain a credible deterrence. By prioritizing protection, bolstering posture, and ensuring sustainment while cultivating partnerships and engaging strategically, the U.S. Army can effectively fortify its operational readiness in this pivotal theater.

 

Strengthening the Backbone: Reexamining the Operational and Strategic Role of Today's NCO

Maj. Eric T. Kim, U.S. Army

Maj. Mathew Rigdon, U.S. Army

Command Sgt. Maj. Edward A. Cummings, U.S. Army

The expertise of senior NCOs, developed from decades of warfighting experience at the tactical level, is underutilized at both the operational and strategic levels. These professionals should serve at the highest levels of command, and the Army should adjust its policies and open assignments at those levels to help meet future challenges.

 

Operational Myopia: A Fatal Fallacy

Col. Daniel Sukman, U.S. Army

The joint force lacks a unified theory of success for the strategic level of war, and it must look beyond the operational level of war. A strategic-level concept should broaden the aperture of tenets beyond victory in battle and center on how the joint force will attain victory in war to achieve the strategic ends of the Nation.

 

Artistic watercolor portrait of U.S. soldiers from various historical eras, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World Wars, and modern-day conflicts, showcasing the evolution of military uniforms and service members.

No Future for an "Indispensable" Service: The Challenges of Resource-Constrained Army Transformation, 1945–1950

Maj. Spencer L. French, U.S. Army

As the Army transforms many of its more technical functions and organizations in the aftermath of the Global War on Terrorism, it is experiencing a shortage of high-quality talent, competing mission sets, and fiscal constraints, much like it did from 1945 to 1950. It must carefully consider the significant challenges inherent in resource-constrained transformation and the potential for failure.

 

Exploring Mental Models in Finance: How the Psychology of Money Assists Thinking About War and Strategy

Capt. Stein Thorbeck, U.S. Army

Any academic field can offer insight and strength of decision to senior leaders, and financial mental models can help improve their thinking about war and build their strategic acumen.

 

Rethinking Retreat: Retrograde Operations in the Indo-Pacific

Maj. Patrick Smith, U.S. Army

The joint force must consider methods of retrograde to shape advantages in time, space, and force to chart an informed operational approach in the Indo-Pacific.

 

An Experiment: Eighth Army Operational Effects Directorate

Col. Mark Osano, U.S. Army

Maj. Alistair Fider, U.S. Army

Maj. Avron Bloom, U.S. Army

Chief Warrant Officer 4 DeJuan Roberts, U.S. Army

The organization of staffs inherently challenges the conceptualization and implementation of multidomain operations, but Eighth Army addressed this issue by creating an operational Effects Directorate, combining its lethal and nonlethal sections under one director unified by the targeting process with a multidomain and multidimensional view.

 

Security Force Assistance as a Tool of Strategic Competition

Maj. Erin Lemons, PhD, U.S. Army

Maj. Ben Jebb, U.S. Army

The strategy of binding international partners to Washington through an intricate constellation of security force assistance (SFA) programs will continue to remain a pillar of U.S. national security. Accordingly, it is imperative to discern if SFA is a viable approach for furthering U.S. interests and what conditions make SFA programs successful.

 

Awake Before the Sound of the Guns: Preparing Advisors for Conflict

Maj. Robert G. Rose, U.S. Army

In conflict, advisors' true value comes from their ability to assess, liaise, and support. However, they are seen primarily as a force for competition below armed conflict, and they are often not preparing for conflict when they are employed as a competition force.

 

Integrating EMDR Therapy and New Technologies to Enhance Combat Resilience

Dr. Chrysanthi Lioupi

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, along with other innovative technologies, has emerged as a valuable therapeutic approach within military mental healthcare to treat trauma-related disorders.

 

Major Jonathan Letterman Revisited: Anticipating Casualty Evacuation Needs in Large-Scale Combat Operations

Col. James Nicholson, U.S. Army

Tyler Fox

With the U.S. transition from counterinsurgency to large-scale combat operations, the Army must relearn the challenges of mass casualty movement. Analysis of recent Warfighter exercises provides valuable context for medical personnel, staff officers, and maneuver commanders in this regard.

 

The Wars of the Roses: The Medieval Art of Graham Turner

Allyson McNitt, PhD

The author critiques a book by Graham Turner that details the history of the Wars of the Roses alongside a unique and comprehensive collection of over 120 of his paintings and drawings.

 

The Birth of the U.S. Army

 

 

Back to Top