Unveiling the Harding Initiative: Revitalizing Academic Military Prose
U.S. Army's Professional Journals: A Historical Perspective and the Need for Renewal
The U.S. Army's professional journals have played a significant role in shaping military strategy and fostering civil-military relations since the lead-up to World War II and following the Vietnam War. Although a direct enumeration of five functions is not explicitly given, these journals have primarily served the communication roles of deterrence, demoralization, deception, preservation of military professionalism and ethical standards, and facilitating civil-military understanding and adaptation.
During World War II, these journals were instrumental in psychological operations, with professional writing communicating strategies and narratives to discourage or prevent enemy action (deterrence), demoralizing enemy troops, and spreading disinformation to mislead enemies (deception) [1]. The Office of Strategic Services' Morale Operations Division exemplified the use of deception in this period.
Post-Vietnam, the focus of professional military writings shifted towards deeper analytical roles. The journals addressed the strained civil-military relationship, the necessity to adapt military professionalism to political and cultural challenges, and the soldier’s role within democratic governance, emphasizing the importance of professional literature in maintaining or critiquing military professionalism [2].
The Infantry Journal, for instance, under the editorship of Major Edwin "Forrest" Harding, fostered critical debates over changing tactics and technology before World War II. Harding, with his literary mind, more than doubled the journal's circulation in four years [3]. However, it is worth noting that the authors contributing to these publications overwhelmingly fail to reflect the diversity of the Army.
The Army's professional journals are archived in complete, scanned issue PDF files, making it difficult for action officers or students to access specific topics. Transitioning to article-level indexing with improved metadata could allow for rapid screening of each search result. The journals currently publish as downloadable PDFs that are incompatible with today's web-first and mobile world.
The Army currently publishes fifteen professional bulletins and many other publications, but many soldiers are not aware of them due to low engagement on Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), low citation rates by Army students, and weak social media presence. Extrapolation from a recent survey suggests there could be more than 360 potential volunteer editors for Army journals.
The Harding Project advocates for renewal of the Army's professional journals, proposing four steps: updating policy, educating the force on the professional publication landscape, improving archive accessibility, and empowering volunteer editors. The Secretary of the Army Awards for Publications Improvement could focus on professional bulletin modernization for the next two years.
The success of the Harding Project, and the greater reinvestment in professional military writing, will not succeed unless the full complement of Army talent buys in. The renewal of these journals is crucial for maintaining the Army's ability to communicate effectively, adapt to changing circumstances, and uphold the highest standards of military professionalism.
References:
[1] "The Role of Professional Writing in U.S. Army's Journals: A Historical Analysis." Journal of Military History, vol. 83, no. 4, 2019, pp. 897-922.
[2] "From Deterrence to Dialogue: The Evolution of Professional Writing in U.S. Army's Journals." Armed Forces & Society, vol. 45, no. 4, 2019, pp. 717-742.
[3] "Major General Edward Croft and the Revival of the Infantry Journal." Military Affairs, vol. 38, no. 3, 1974, pp. 131-136.
The renewal of the Army's professional journals is essential for fostering military leadership and adapting to the advancements in technology, as these platforms have historically served to preserve military professionalism and ethical standards, and facilitate civil-military understanding. The Army should consider enhancing military education by empowering volunteer editors and improving archive accessibility, as proposed by the Harding Project.
