[April 19, 2020] Today, I would like to take a moment to discuss the novel, The Red Badge of Courage (1895)1 and link ideas in this fictional account of war to modern thinking on soldiering. As a young teenager, I discovered an old paperback copy stuffed in the back of my grandfather’s tool shed. My grandfather was born… Read More »
[April 12, 2020] Three boys; all friends and inseparable. I thought I might present a short tale about these boys, one that became known as the story of the unknown boxes. At eleven years old, Randy, Wilson, and me (Doug) became eligible to join the Boy Scouts. What a great year it would be for us three as… Read More »
[February 15, 2020] I’m a little late posting today because of a trip to the local hospital emergency room. All is well, not to worry. Readers over the next couple of days might see minor interruptions in my website postings. Now, for the issues where leaders have failed and people suffered. Good leadership could have foreseen these issues… Read More »
[February 8, 2020] Growing up in the rural Deep South, my grade-school teachers often told us stories about the history of the United States. For little kids like my friend Wilson and me, we remember being mesmerized by the Benedict Arnold story and how he betrayed our fledgling nation. We were raised as Christians, attending church everyday Sunday… Read More »
[January 14, 2020] “Death to the Dictator” was the chant from Iranians after demonstrations that broke out at several Tehran universities.1 These political problems come in the aftermath of Iran’s leaders adamantly denying involvement in the crash of a civilian passenger airplane. For three days, Iran blamed the plane’s crash on an engine malfunction. What the leaders learned… Read More »
[January 13, 2020] A few nights ago, I had an interesting conversation with a young man about his philosophy on raising kids. Below is part of the conversation (as best as I can remember it) that is at the heart what he thinks best for his children. I liked Bob M’s story1 enough that the ideas he expressed… Read More »
[January 10, 2020] Two Saturdays ago, a call went out to local people in my community that a military veteran was to be buried soon, and there were no relatives to claim the body. A short time later in a driving, cold rainstorm over 200 people turned out to be at the grave site of a fallen comrade. … Read More »
[January 8, 2020] A little disruption in the Satterfield household this morning; my computer failed but my iPad is filling in admirably. I’ll get to my points quickly and keep this article short. Attack on U.S. military base at Al Asad and Erbil, Iraq. News from major news channels are coming in screaming headlines about World War III… Read More »
[December 28, 2019] For those new to my leadership blog, this ‘clearing the spindle’ on-going series is about ideas that I haven’t developed into articles. I wanted to provide a little bit of feedback to my readers on things that senior leaders are talking about – often among themselves – and highlight a few that seem to get… Read More »
[December 25, 2019] December 1975 saw my U.S. Army company on the Inner German border. Our job was to repel a Communist attack into the West if it were to come. On Christmas Day of that year, we were on high alert and ready with a full load of ammunition, fuel, food, and all the necessary equipment to… Read More »