Educational Resources

Leadership is intangible, hard to measure, & difficult to describe. Its quality would seem to stem from many factors. But certainly they must include a measure of inherent ability to control & direct, self-confidence based on expert knowledge, initiative, loyalty, pride, & sense of responsibility. Inherent ability cannot be instilled, but that which is latent or dormant can be developed. Other ingredients can be acquired. They are not easily learned. But leaders can be & are made.

Since Fleet Marine Force Manual 1, Warfighting, was first published in 1989, it has had a significant impact both inside and outside the Marine Corps. That manual has changed the way Marines think about warfare. It has caused energetic debate and has been translated into several foreign languages, issued by foreign militaries, and published commercially. It has strongly influenced the development of doctrine by our sister Services.

Grayisms and other thoughts on leadership from General Al Gray, USMC (Retired), 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Compiled by PAUL OTTE “I don’t run a democracy. I train troops to defend democracy and I happen to be their surrogate father and mother as well as their commanding general.” Table of Contents From the very…

In our American colonial period, the colonies were populated over time by people from various parts of England, from Scotland and Ireland, and there were people here from France, Spain, and elsewhere. For quite some time, however, the majority of the inhabitants of the colonies of British America were from Britain. Of course, there were…

 In the last issue of “Front and Center,” we introduced the two understandings of political order that comprise the general structure of American political history. The earlier political order, which may be called “Jeffersonian,” lasted from 1776 to 1861. The later political order, which may be called “Lincolnian,” was firmly in place in 1865 and…

There is a story one hears occasionally about Benjamin Franklin strolling along a street in Philadelphia after the convention of 1787 when a lady, concerned about the future of our country, asks Franklin what kind of government the delegates to the convention had given to Americans. Franklin’s reply to the lady was, we are told,…