Old Friend,

I understand your point, but I think you are wrong with regard to Niel's "use" of history...

What Niel describes and the purpose of his thesis is to describe how a reading of a book after his first tour angered him because he felt a sense of "betrayal" (my word) because he felt the institutional Army had allowed itself to flush a wealth of knowledge that would have informed its approach in Iraq. The primary thought, Why am I left to find this dust covered book on a shelf in the Frieberg Library, why isn't this in at least a small part included in the PME curricula? After that, it appears that Niel was informed by history on his second tour.

This essay is mercifly short... the main thesis being the Army has a history of flushing this type of experience... might we learn this time? Not that OIF is the template, but rather we ought to mean it when we say "Full Spectrum" when we educate young leaders.

That's all i have to say about that, hope the view from Trophy Point is still in color.

Kirk