“Command and control of armed forces is an art, a creative activity based on character, ability, and mental power … Mission-oriented command and control is the first and foremost command and control principle in the army, of relevance in war even more than in peace. It affords the subordinate leader freedom of action in the… Read More
“Hereafter, if you should observe an occasion to give your officers and friends a little more praise than is their due, and confess more fault than you can justly be charged with, you will only become the sooner for it, a great captain. Criticizing and censuring almost everyone you have to do with, will diminish… Read More
“Those who appreciate true valour should in their daily intercourse set gentleness first and aim to win the love and esteem of others. If you affect valour and act with violence, the world will in the end detest you and look upon you as wild beasts. Of this you should take heed.” Emperor Meiji (1852… Read More
“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind‐hearted but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of… Read More
“If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and unless submissive, they will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under… Read More
“No speech of admonition can be so fine that it will at once make those who hear it good men if they are not good already; it would surely not make archers good if they had not had practice in shooting, neither could it make lancers good, nor horsemen; it cannot even make men able… Read More
“On occasion a hobnailed kick can advance a faltering skirmish line far better than a stirring appeal to a man’s higher nature.” R.M. Sandusky
Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute 