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My latest this AM with @warontherocks.bsky.social. Of note: "[Military officers] will be active participants with choices to make about the degree to which they continue to serve civilians intent on undermining the liberal values enshrined in the Constitution." 1/ warontherocks.com/2025/12/the-...

As a historian of the 18th c and an American, I've always known 2026 would be a critical moment. This doc is worth watching, and thinking through. Begins and ends w Indigenous contexts, conveys the horrors of a civil war wrought w racism + the ideals of liberty and equality we keep reaching for. 1/

Margo Price reminding us “don’t let the bastards get you down!”

The weekend begins.

Powerful visit this weekend to museums and memorials in Montgomery, Alabama.

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

Just noting that Alabama is one of the most biodiverse places in the country and its freshwater biodiversity is some of the highest in THE WORLD, comparable to THE LITERAL AMAZON, but they want to build water-guzzling data centers for AI here b/c land is cheap.

Hi folks! A few thoughts on this essay, and the questions that we *should* be asking, rather than the ones this Army officer seems inclined to answer. I haven’t done a CMR thread in a while so I’m overdue. 🧵

Just a random reminder that the “this” in “This We’ll Defend” is the U.S. Constitution. Our oath is clear on the matter; there is no professional alternative.

Sharing this recent podcast by me on how civil-military relations (ideally) should work in liberal democracies. See here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsma...

It’s been almost axiomatic for a long time that John Boyd can’t be fully understood because he never wrote anything down. That argument no longer holds. “Snowmobiles and Grand Ideals” is the definite Boyd, in his own words, from start to finish: www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/...

The federal government shutdown continues. Republicans and Democrats appear no closer to an agreement to end it. Many federal workers are missing full paychecks and don't know when they will resume.

Walking into Day 22 of Government Civilian Appreciation Month at the headquarters …

Ok…I’m stealing this thread and sharing (with attribution) with every student and advisor where I teach.

See Putin as "a dictator who’s bet everything on a failed invasion, a country losing its sphere of influence, and an economy that’s rapidly cooling. A realistic view of his power would strip Putin of his biggest leverage: the perception of his invincibility.” Smart piece by Andrew Ryvkin.

If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education. We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.

Army Times article on the creation of U.S. Army Transformation & Training Command (T2COM) in Austin, TX, and the legacies of TRADOC & AFC which it replaces. www.armytimes.com/land/2025/10...

Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."

So it begins. U.S. Army Futures Command and U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command have cased their colors. Born from both, with an even larger mission, is U.S. Army Transformation & Training Command (T2COM); responsible for Force Design, Force Generation, and Force Development.

The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy. www.chosun.com/english/nati...

I tend to think that we think of deterrence in too limited a way. We ignore entanglement, norms, awareness of non-bilateral relationships, restraints, all manner of behavioral psychology factors, etc. I think many scholars and diplomats think about this…but no one who learned it in PME. 😉

A profession; if we can keep it.

The weekend begins.

I think it's probably time for a deep #Profession rethink like post-Vietnam.

Polish and Dutch fighters, directed by Italian early warning aircraft, German air defenses on alert. Dutch PM: “I’m glad that Dutch F35 fighter jets were able to provide support. The Netherlands stands shoulder to shoulder with our NATO ally Poland.” Common defense working as designed.

🧵 worth reading on challenges facing academic journals

This is roughly equivalent to World War I conditions, with an extension of a few kilometers here or there. Supplies had to be brought up at night or by foot, MPs got good at noting artillery patterns to help move traffic along, and logistics governed the pace of everything

The weekend starts now. Everything just got better. This we’ll defend…

1/ I worked at DoD. I literally cannot imagine lawyers coming up with a legal basis for lethal strike of suspected Venezuelan drug boat. Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable. Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️

Why is it so hard to study war seriously in American academia? From Clausewitz to West Point’s new major, I dive into the fragmentation, disappearance, and possible revival of war as a subject of tactical, operational, and political thought. My Latest⬇️

An Army veteran, known in his community for the work he did trying to get people to safety after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, was arrested for his protests against ICE. The charge is alarming. Latest by @aglantz.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

“…I am infuriated that the Air Force plans to grant military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt. She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it.” My latest in @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...

What looks like containment today may become a crisis tomorrow.

Huntington's theory of "objective civilian control," the separation of military and civilian spheres reinforced by an "apolitical" professional ethos, remains a lodestar for the American military. Yet its foundation is flawed and, as events in DC show, continues to do more harm than good. My latest⬇️

This is a good discussion to be had. I think its not quite as binary as this, but expected the military to solve it IS a potential threat to civ control. (See #OnObedience and linked article)

A terrorist targeted federal workers last week. There wasn’t much reporting on it. But I’m not finished thinking about it! 🧵 An anti-vaxxer fired more than 500 gunshots into CDC Atlanta, shattering 150 “blast-proof” windows on 6 buildings. Employees were pinned down in terror.

The Pen and the Sword podcast is now up! Check out episode 1, “Writing as a Community with Nathan Finney” at the link below. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t....

My take is that senior officers are completely unprepared for this moment. When demo is healthy, there is little tension btw adhering to civilian control & serving democracy Faced w/ the manifest clash in principles these missions present, they are doing what's familiar--following orders.1/

I’m quoted in this story and would like to expand on what I’m talking about in terms of this not being how the NG has been used, historically. Though first I should note that Joe Nunn is right on all counts. I’m just adding a little historical context. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

So glad @chrisgingram.bsky.social revived this podcast. It’s going to be great to listen to him talk with @milwritersguild.bsky.social members about their work and lives!

I had a great discussion with @nathankfinney.com about the military writing community, editing multi-author books, and informal professional networks. Check out the podcast, and stay tuned for more soon!

Excited to see #howthefewbecametheproud as one of the 4 recommended general histories by the Corps’ History Division in its new history of the Corps! Link to the book to download in the comments

I write serious history—via biography—for a non-academic audience. So I'd like to say something about Ken Burns's remark, something that also explains why AI can't write history. Pardon me for citing the example of one of my books, "Custer's Trials," on one of history's best-known figures. 1/12

"If history is going to be scientific, if the record of human action is going to be set down with the accuracy and faithfulness of detail which will allow its use as a measuring rod and guidepost for the future of nations, there must be set some standards of ethics in research and interpretation."

Army Europe chief unveils NATO eastern flank defense plan www.defensenews.com/land/2025/07...

Using Alt Text to provide the recipe needs to be normalized.

New doors; new opportunities. Excited to start the new job today in Austin, Texas. The future looks bright.

I missed this great thread about Marcia McNutt’s assertion that defending science from attacks is partisan. My conclusion is that there aren’t scenarios where it is a partisan political position to counter lies with the truth.