"Responding to Rickover’s critique that the officer-heavy faculty was academically weak, it set out to attract and retain prominent civilian scholars... and, ultimately, became an elite academic institution itself." Academic freedom in @usniproceedings.bsky.social : www.usni.org/magazines/pr...

Everything just got better. Cheers, kind people.

if you are "using AI for writing," you are not writing. i do not know how to make this any simpler

Superb essay by Frank Hoffman on the rise and fall of the end of major war thesis.

The MWG Awards submission window is open through 6/30! 2025’s Creative Writing Category: 🏆Winner: Fig Wasps by Robert Miner. www.militarywritersguild.org/fig-wasps 🌟Honorable Mention: Floaters by Pat Mulderrig www.militarywritersguild.org/floaters Apply: www.militarywritersguild.org/awards

Remembering the ones who gave their lives in the hope of securing a better world for us all.

This. #MilitaryEthics

Awards Program submission window open through 6/31! Apply: www.militarywritersguild.org/awards Check out last year’s Professional Category: Winner: Ryan Pallas www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/beyo... Hon. Mention: @nathankfinney.com www.fletchersecurity.org/reimagininga...

The real Thucydides Trap was the power we squandered along the way.

🚨 The Professor Richard H. Kohn Fellowship: Fully funded opportunity for 3 military & veteran writers •One‑week intensive retreat for writers to turn operational experience into policy‑shaping work. • Focused writing time • Expert coaching • Peer review • Support publishing

shankskaurin.wordpress.com/2026/05/15/i... The Inroduction continues with the backstreet for #RethinkingMilitaryHonor #honor #Profession #MilitaryEthics #ethics

Not to put this one person on blast - a lot of folks say this - but you can't actually "just end the war." Iran has to agree to end the war. You can unilaterally stop bombing - we did! - and the war might not end. Iran is going to demand *payment* to end the war, in the form of concessions.

Don’t miss this great opportunity for a funded writing fellowship if you are a Member of @milwritersguild.bsky.social! (And if you are a military writer who is not a member yet, don’t miss the next opportunity to join us!!)

Great writing fellowship (funded) opportunity for MWG members!

🚨 Now out in @bjpols.bsky.social w @busbyj2.bsky.social @jordantama.bsky.social @ckafura.bsky.social: Do American foreign policy elites know what the public wants? Partnering with @global-affairs.bsky.social, we show that elites systematically misread the room 🧵 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

One of the perks of work travel is the occasional chance to be a tourist in a city I once called home and where I still believe we can find a path up this hill.

This is such an interesting set of reflections on how to write history about history people already think they know.

Welcome to the new Military Writer's Guild members! Go to the Substack link below to learn more about the Spring 2026 cohort of new members. milwritersguild.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

I was 100ft from a shooting a few weeks ago (walking my dog) and my daughter experienced a mass shooting at her workplace that killed 23 people and injured 22 more. Gun violence is a policy choice.

shankskaurin.wordpress.com/2025/04/21/m... And yes. Which is why you need more of this.

“in combat, the application of land power leads to killing but should never involve murder.” Military Review article proposing an ethical decision making model for the Army: www.armyupress.army.mil/journals/mil...

Hey guys it's totally fine that top military & health leaders are anti-vaxx, right? No historically examples we should pay attention to or anything? Cool cool cool

I read some decidedly nerdy stuff on #strategy. But this article on what chess ♟️ can teach us about the war in Iran takes the check. They had me at “Nash Equilibrium”. sentinelgeopolitics.substack.com/p/epic-fury-...

Great article for those who think about #wargaming, and especially those who think #AI is the answer. AI is an answer, but maybe not to the problem you’re trying to solve. @warontherocks.bsky.social

Still time for MWG Members to apply for these outstanding FUNDED #writing fellowships. Not a member of @milwritersguild.bsky.social? Check out the website. Join us!

Boycotting H-E-B… In Texas… Sure. Some Texans may hate woke, but they love fresh tortillas more.

"An administration that is so obsessed with what it considers the protection of Western civilization should pay some attention to the just war theory that has become a key accomplishment of that civilization."

SUPER excited about these new MWG opportunities! Took a ton of work and years to get it off the ground. Highly recommend MWG members apply for these fully funded writing retreat opportunities!

“A successful outcome on the battlefield is not the purpose of the war itself. Operations on the battlefield, however brilliantly performed, are without practical value if they do not contribute to achieving a worthy political objective.” @warontherocks.bsky.social warontherocks.com/tactical-suc...

Can civil-military relations scholarship provide prescriptive normative guidance for military leaders' appropriate behaviour in democratic backsliding? My new article in @journalofgss.bsky.social debates this civil-military conundrum academic.oup.com/jogss/articl... #CivMilSKy

Illiberalism is not Inevitable www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

"most wars demonstrate the limits of military power, especially when unsupported by a realistic political strategy.” @ldfreedman.bsky.social

Wars assume lives of their own, initiated for one reason, continued for others, concluded for yet another. Afghanistan was this way. So is America’s war of choice in Iran. Begun over uranium enrichment & missiles; fought for control of the Strait of Hormuz; why or how it ends is anyone’s guess.

No wars occurs in isolation. Deep historical experiences and dynamic societies exist on all sides of conflict that shape how we got here and influence the way forward. Strategic empathy isn’t about feeling bad for the adversary, it’s about understanding how past experiences affect future outcomes.

Freedom of Navigation isn’t free…

Engaging not to be a hater, but because this is quality discourse to platform: That said, as a German historian, I don’t think there’s any way you can argue that conservativism and fascism are ideologically the same. Thread 🧵

If Trump does give an order to attack civilian targets that have no military value as a means of collectively punishing the Iranian people - and make good his threat to begin a genocide - Marco Rubio should resign and the military must refuse the order. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Good thread. The difficulty in ending the war (considering Israeli involvement) is something we see in Clausewitz’s conception of the center of gravity in a coalition: if two states attacking a third have independent means and motives, you have two wars 🧵 open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...

Highly recommend to any journalist covering U.S. strikes in Iran this @justsecurity.org explainer by Margaret Donovan & Rachel VanLandingham www.justsecurity.org/135797/war-c...

thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2... #OnObedience #DisciplinedDisobedience

It’s far more complicated than “support the Troops”.

Curiously, I hear nothing from the "Ukraine is destroying our ability to defend Taiwan" crowd these days.

Happy NATO founding day to all who celebrate! If you think the alliance isn’t worthwhile, know that everything the U.S. tries to do in the world will be harder and more expensive without allied help. Trade them for better allies if you can find any. I can’t.

I am seeing stuff in the TL that makes me feel a need to say something. I know every time the US goes to war, people respond with this rather bifurcated Support The Troops vs Eww Troops Do War Things. So to be clear, people serve for various reasons but nobody wants to be involved in war crimes.

In my last job I read every firearm CCIR in the total Army (active, NG, Reserves). Every. Day. Suicide, malfeasance, domestic violence, and accidents are done with private firearms. By a ratio of more than 10:1. 1/4

The last 24 hours have raised questions and attention about the Secretary of Defense's role in General Officer promotions.

"The question he asked was whether political leaders could ever build in the discipline of thinking about termination before they committed their forces.” Smart piece from @ghoshworld.bsky.social