News

‘I cannot wait to leave this job’ — Acting Defense Secretary Miller has zero f–ks left
Jan 15, 2021 3:42 PM
News
National Guardsman still teaching kids while protecting the Capitol: ‘I’m dedicated to their success’
Jan 15, 2021 3:02 PM
News
New video shows the intense moment an Army vet police officer stood up to rioters at the Capitol
Jan 15, 2021 12:21 PM
News
America’s oldest living Marine, a trailblazer for women in the service, has died at 107
Jan 15, 2021 10:31 AM
News
Trump to leave office with vastly more troops in DC than in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria combined
Jan 15, 2021 10:05 AM
News
A Marine vet in a militia group was among rioters who stormed the Capitol
Jan 15, 2021 9:18 AM
News
National Guard infantryman arrested after taking selfie inside the Capitol during riots
Jan 14, 2021 5:40 PM
News
Navy SEAL vet explains his video praising Capitol Hill insurrection: ‘Americans had finally stood up and made their voices heard’
Jan 14, 2021 12:55 PM
News
We salute these military veterans who stood up to rioters on Capitol Hill
Jan 14, 2021 12:08 PM
News
Fort Benning hunkers down in hopes of avoiding post-holiday COVID-19 surge
Jan 14, 2021 10:51 AM
News
View all

Featured in The Long March

By Travis Weiner Sep 8, 2020
Immigration Rundown

I was in the wrong fight in Iraq. As an immigration lawyer, I found the right one

Editor's note: this post first appeared in November, 2016 I can’t remember the exact moment (if there even was one)...
By Tom Ricks Jan 16, 2019
popular

That’s All, Folks!

This is the final Long March post. My best wishes to you all, and my thanks to all who contributed,...
By Tom Ricks Jan 16, 2019
popular

A Soldier’s Dog And A Dog’s Soldier

One last dog photo before I go.
By Task & Purpose Jan 15, 2019
Community

Lessons Learned From More Than 10 Years Of Reading Tom Ricks’ Blogging

Friends and enemies were made and I've enjoyed meeting Tom Ricks and other TBD/TLM regulars. I regret not knowing some...
By Tom Ricks Jan 15, 2019
News

A Bad Lieutenant, And Other Recent Instances Of Navy Misconduct

Graft and lying to investigators, yep. He had retired and gone to work for awhile on the staff of the...
By Tom Ricks Jan 14, 2019
History

The Brits Found The Wreck Of A Continental Navy Warship. Now They’re Plotting Their Revenge

The remains of John Paul Jones' ship, the Bonhomme Richard, have been found just off the British coast, and are...
By Maj. Jamie Schwandt, USAR Jan 11, 2019
News

Speaking Truth To Power: How Promotion Seeking Pollutes Decision-Making

What can we do to counter the negative effects of ambitious promotion seeking? Don't look at your evaluation, speak truth...
By Tom Ricks Jan 11, 2019
popular

3 Tips On How To Make It Through A Serious History Book

3 Tips On How To Make It Through A Serious History Book
By Task & Purpose Jan 10, 2019
Opinion

How To Get Beyond The Army’s ‘Cargo Cult’ Approach To Mission Command

Cargo Cultists provide an example of how not to implement change — one the Army should consider as it struggles...
By Tom Ricks Jan 10, 2019
Leadership

Sir, Put Down Your Narrative And Step Away Slowly

I am skeptical of a lot of the recommendations I read on leadership, which often strikes me as pyramids of...
By 'Mal Ware' Jan 9, 2019
Opinion

The AI Column: The Most Important Challenge To Trump’s Trade War With China

The murky relationship between trade, technology, and national security will remain a problem
By Tom Ricks Jan 8, 2019
popular

It’s Time For ‘The Long March’ To Come To A End

Here's a letter I sent last week to the fine people who run Task & Purpose. We'll be wrapping things...
By Tom Ricks Jan 8, 2019
popular

Marine Commandant Gen Neller Shows The Right Way To Respond To Criticism From Within

The lead letter in the January issue of the Marine Corps Gazette is a salute from Commandant Gen. Robert Neller...
By Tom Ricks Jan 7, 2019
News

Jim Webb As Trump’s Defense Secretary Would Be A Nightmare For Both

A report indicated that former Senator Jim Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran who briefly was Navy secretary during the Reagan...
By Task & Purpose Jan 7, 2019
popular

‘The Many Faces of War’ Isn’t A Comfortable Book, But It’s A Damn Good One

'The Many Faces of War' is a well-researched, creative, historical, mythological and academic look at war, in the cold and...
By Liam Parker Jan 4, 2019
popular

How To Listen To A War Story

Why do we, as a society, insist on searching for absolute meaning in stories about war?
By Tom Ricks Jan 4, 2019
popular

What Military Units Can Learn From The Rules And Suggestions Of My Local Animal Shelter

I recently signed up to volunteer at my local animal shelter. Their rules of behavior stuck me as pretty generally...
By Tom Ricks Jan 4, 2019
popular

Friday Dog: What Are These World War I Dogs Doing?

I don't know, and there's no caption information that I can find. Nor for this one: National Library of Scotland
By John T. Kuehn Jan 3, 2019
popular

It’s Time to Reconsider Trump And Foreign Policy: Maybe He’s On To Something

The powers that be in Congress, the media, DoD bureaucrats, and the traditional think tanks like CNAS might want you...
By Anthony King Jan 3, 2019
popular

4 Myths Of Mission Command Everyone Should Reconsider

1. The Wehrmacht was the best at it and their military excellence relied on it. The idea of Mission Command...
By Lt. Gen. James Dubik, U.S. Army (Ret.) Jan 2, 2019
popular

How Mattis’s Resignation Perfectly Captures The Moral Dimension Of Leadership

The recent resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis reminds us that serving the nation at the strategic level is not...
By Tom Ricks Jan 2, 2019
popular

Why The Infantry Company Is No Larger Than 150, According To A British Soldier

150 is about as large a group of people as the human brain can handle in personal relationships, notes a...
By Maj. Jamie Schwandt, USAR Dec 31, 2018
popular

It’s A Big Deal: An Officer Grades The Army Staff College And Its Leadership

I have spent the past year being graded, evaluated, and assessed as a student at the U.S. Army Command and...
By Col. Chris Govekar, U.S. Army Reserve Dec 26, 2018
The Long March

The Army Reserve Simply Doesn’t Have Enough People Willing to Fill Command Slots

Tom note: Here is the seventh entry in our 10 Long March posts for 2018, the 4th most-read item of...
By Tom Ricks Dec 21, 2018
The Long March

Ricks: All I Want For Christmas Is A New Secretary Of Defense

And so Mattis goes. It was probably inevitable after his former subordinate John Kelly was said to be leaving his...