Task & Purpose Task & Purpose

Brad DeWees

Captain Brad DeWees is an instructor of political science in the United States Air Force Academy’s Department of Political Science. He teaches courses on American government and a senior seminar titled "Innovation in Government." Captain DeWees was the top overall graduate from the Air Force Academy's class of 2009. He is a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) and Air Liaison Officer (ALO) by career, and has deployed to Afghanistan.

Recent articles from Brad DeWees

Sailors train at Search and Rescue Swimmer School
Leadership
The Science-Backed Way To Get Better At Anything You Do
There’s real science behind “practice makes perfect.”
Airmen assigned to the Missouri Air National Guard‘s139th Airlift Wing participate in a ruck march in Elwood, Kan., April 22, 2016.
Leadership
Want To Build An Effective Team? Check Your Ego At The Door
The best leaders push their teams to think of something bigger than themselves.
Operational Contract Support Joint Exercise 2016 participants work together to complete a leadership reaction course obstacle March 22, 2016.
Leadership
3 Ways You Might be Stifling Innovation In Your Organization
The stakes are too high to settle for bad innovation habits.
Cpl. Colton Derick, a rifleman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, lays down for cover during a simulated enemy explosion during the live fire company attacks during the Integrated Training Exercise 4-15 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, June 13, 2015.
Community
Why The Enemy Is Good At Innovation
In the same way that criminals have to adapt in order to survive, so too do our enemies.
A U.S. Army soldier conducts a night raid mission during Emerald Warrior 2012.
Community
Why Military Innovation Requires Rewiring How We Think
Innovation in the military means retraining the way your brain approaches new ideas.
U.S. Army Soldiers, assigned to 173rd Airborne Brigade, conduct sling load operations with UH-60 helicopters from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry division, part of an artillery raid during Exercise Allied Spirit IV at 7th Army JMTC’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, Jan. 26, 2016.
Leadership
Why Is Military Innovation So Hard?
Understanding what drives our behavior can make us better innovators.
Staff Sgt. Brian Alfano, a survival, evasion, resistance and escape instructor with the 103rd Rescue Squadron, 106th Rescue Wing, demonstrates an overt method for marking a drop zone during a bundle drop training flight at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., Jan. 19, 2016.
Leadership
How To Turn Idea Generation Into A Well-Honed Skill
The most important step in generating new ideas is consciously deciding to generate them.
Airmen from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron gather around their team lead outside a shoot house as he discusses details of an upcoming mission Nov. 19, 2015, at Camp Hansen, Japan.
Leadership
3 Ideas For Fostering Innovation In Your Workplace
These three steps transform the vague idea of innovation into something tangible.
Airmen from the 321st Contingency Response Wing from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., try to attach a sling load to a Mississippi Army National Guard medical evacuation UH-60 Black Hawk at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Mississippi, during exercise Turbo Distribution Oct. 29, 2015.
Leadership
A Simple 3-Step Plan For Fostering Military Innovation
Innovation is a skill that service members and veterans can develop; here are three tips to start training.
Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Garrett Osborne and Quartermaster Seaman Yasmin Wild signal Landing Craft Air Cushion 59 off the beach after delivering the last load of the day during Exercise Pacific Horizon 2015.
Community
The Misconception About Innovation In The Military
Despite the view that military bureaucracies can’t change, service members have a long history of being innovative, especially when stakes are highest.