“Message: ‘German attack east of St. Eloi. PPCLI relief postponed.’ … That extra sentence seemed a lot to men who had not slept for five days and there was some cursing in the darkness. Colonel Farquhar, following his usual custom of considering the front line as healthy as a village lane, appeared at the back… Read More
“A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops while … an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops.” John Pershing (1860 to 1948) John J. Pershing, in full John Joseph Pershing, byname Black Jack, was a US Army general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I.On… Read More
“Battalions certainly differed in their character and their competence both from others and within themselves over time. Battalions are much like an organic family. They are held together by intangibles ‐ leadership, comradeship, motivation, morale ‐ that defy quantification or even easy description. In good units, soldiers feel ‐ know ‐ they are in the… Read More
“How many commanders have we produced who, like General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, could stand alone wrapped in a British Warm at a cross-roads to watch a brigade of infantry go by? It may have looked like wasted time to the staff but his sole question to a passing young company commander (who did not realize… Read More
“Our success over our enemies will depend upon the degree of development of certain essentials of military personnel: 1. Skillful and resolute leadership. 2. A high morale. 3. Well organized and disciplined troops. If we have the first of these three we are bound to have the last two.” General Alexander M. Patch (1889 to… Read More
“The efficiency of an army depends on many different things, but one is outstanding – and that is morale. You can have all the material in the world, but without morale it is largely ineffective. You must have morale, first and foremost, and morale is determined by a great many things. Primarily it depends, of… Read More
“Leadership and morale are not synonymous; yet they are … inseparable …” Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lyman Munson, Jr. (1942) from Leadership For American Army Leaders published by The Infantry Journal.
Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute 