What does it take to get the job done? How do you get the men in your unit to do what you say? To follow you into battle and shoot to kill? How you build the confidence that spurs men on to do their job, to stand by their leader and each other? Praise for Small Unit Leadership “Identifies in very specific terms what company grade officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) must do to ensure winning in land battle.”—Marine Corps Gazette “Colonel Malone tackles the elusive topic of leadership with a real-world, pragmatic approach. This is not a book of intellectual theorization, but of specific techniques for leading soldiers on and off the battlefield.”—U.S.N.I. Proceedings “The author condenses volumes of psychological studies into a readable and exciting book on practical military leadership.”—ARMOR “Colonel Malone not only provides handy guides on what should be done and how it should be done . . . he also aids the reader in how to know that desired results are being achieved.”—Leatherneck

For the past decade, the U.S. Marine Corps and its sister services have been engaged in what has been termed "hybrid warfare," which ranges from active combat to civilian support. Hybrid warfare typically occurs in environments where all modes of war are employed, such as conventional weapons, irregular tactics, terrorism, disruptive technologies, and criminality to destabilize an existing order. In August 2010, the National Research Council established the Committee on Improving the Decision Making Abilities of Small Unit Leaders to produce Improving the Decision Making Abilities of Small Unit Leaders. This report examines the operational environment, existing abilities, and gap to include data, technology, skill sets, training, and measures of effectiveness for small unit leaders in conducting enhanced company operations (ECOs) in hybrid engagement, complex environments. Improving the Decision Making Abilities of Small Unit Leaders also determines how to understand the decision making calculus and indicators of adversaries. Improving the Decision Making Abilities of Small Unit Leaders recommends operational and technical approaches for improving the decision making abilities of small unit leaders, including any acquisition and experimentation efforts that can be undertaken by the Marine Corps and/or by other stakeholders aimed specifically at improving the decision making of small unit leaders. This report recommends ways to ease the burden on small unit leaders and to better prepare the small unit leader for success. Improving the Decision Making Abilities of Small Unit Leaders also indentifies a responsible organization to ensure that training and education programs are properly developed, staffed, operated, evaluated, and expanded.

Noncommissioned officers stand as the backbone of the United States Marine Corps. The Corps is among the most lasting institutions in America, though few understand what makes it so strong and how that understanding can be applied effectively in today’s world. In this insightful and thoroughly researched book, Julia Dye explores the cadre of noncommissioned officers that make up the Marine Corps’ system of small-unit leadership. To help us better understand what makes these extraordinary men and women such effective leaders, Dye examines the fourteen leadership traits embraced by every NCO. These qualities— including judgment, enthusiasm, determination, bearing, and unselfishness—are exemplified by men like Terry Anderson, the former Marine sergeant who spent nearly seven years as a hostage in Beirut, John Basilone, the hero of the Pacific, and many others. To assemble this extraordinary chronicle, Julia Dye interviewed Anderson and dozens of other Marines, mining a rich trove of historical and modern NCO heroes that comprise the Marine Corps’ astonishing legacy, from its founding in 1775 to the present day.

Leadership is so much a part of the conduct of training that at times it is difficult to tell where one stops and the other starts. . . . “The best book on military training from platoon to division level that has been published in any army.”—Army magazine “His message is that whatever works and gets results by the most direct and efficient means is good. All else should be eliminated.”—Air University Review “A utilitarian book that talks intelligently of leadership, management and common sense.”—ARMOR magazine “A hardhitting and unvarnished . . . authoritative work that should be read and reread by everyone who aspires to be a truly professional soldier.”—General Bruce Palmer, U.S. Army (Ret.) “A gem, with few peers, invaluable . . . [Arthur Collins'] advice is always performance oriented. Don't talk so much about it, he says, Don't make so many fancy charts about training. Instead, do it. Teach it. Perform it.”—Parameters

A remarkable memoir of small-unit leadership and the coming of age of a young soldier in combat in Vietnam.' "Using a lean style and a sense of pacing drawn from the tautest of novels, McDonough has produced a gripping account of his first command, a U.S. platoon taking part in the 'strategic hamlet' program. . . . Rather than present a potpourri of combat yarns. . . McDonough has focused a seasoned storyteller’s eye on the details, people, and incidents that best communicate a visceral feel of command under fire. . . . For the author’s honesty and literary craftsmanship, Platoon Leader seems destined to be read for a long time by second lieutenants trying to prepare for the future, veterans trying to remember the past, and civilians trying to understand what the profession of arms is all about.”–Army Times

From the introduction: "This handbook provides the tactics, techniques, and procedures that may be applied by small unit leaders engaged in counterinsurgency. It is principally focused at the company and below. It describes the nature of insurgency and counterinsurgency, common insurgent approaches, preparation for counterinsurgency, mobilizing the populace, information and intelligence operations, and operations in a counterinsurgency environment. The handbook is not prescriptive but meant to inform. The specific aspects of each conflict combined with small unit leader judgment and initiative will drive how to apply the ideas within the handbook." Chapter 1: Overview; Chapter 2: Common Insurgent Approaches; Chapter 3: Preparation for Counterinsurgency; Chapter 4: Mobilizing the Populace; Chapter 5: Information and Intelligence Operations; Chapter 6: Operations in a COIN Environment; Annex A: Patrol Search; Annex B: Basic Observation Skills; Annex C: The Twenty-Eight Articles - Fundamentals of Company-level Counterinsurgency; Annex D: Improvised Explosive Devices. Originally published in 2006. 136 pages. ill.

Leadership, especially military leadership, has many purposes to build effective organizations, to successfully complete often dangerous tasks in a risk environment, and to mold teams that operate like successful athletic teams. Today's military leaders at the unit level can learn much from their predecessors in what works and what doesn't. Author John Chapman is a superb observer and chronicler of leadership events over many years, and now shares his observations and the lessons that are learned from this most practical military art. Emphasis is placed on practical applications of leadership, coupled with real-life vignettes add the real spark to the leadership lessons learned and relearned by each generation of America's warriors.