United States Transportation Command

WASHINGTON (USTCNS) --- Army leaders are hoping today's warriors will continue to hone their warfighting skills and learn more about the Army's heritage beyond the normal duty day by undertaking a voluntary, self-paced reading program in their spare time.

The new course of study is the Army chief of staff's recommended professional reading list. It was released in mid-June to major Army commands for further distribution down to company-level units.

"The professional reading list is a list for all leaders," stated Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, Army chief of staff, in the list's cover letter. "We can never spend too much time thinking about our profession. There is no better way to develop the sure knowledge and confidence required of America's most demanding occupation than a disciplined, focused commitment to a personal course of reading and study."

The list contains the titles of 40 books divided evenly among four hierarchical and progressive smaller lists.

Which list soldiers should start depends on where they are in their careers in terms of experience, education and the level of responsibility they currently hold. For example, a cadet or sergeant would start with the first list, while a division commander or sergeant major would begin reading the last list.

The various titles on the list also complement each other and the required reading found in the formal study of the officer and enlisted schools, according to Brig. Gen. John S. Brown, commander of the Army Center for Military History and the Army's chief of military history.

While the Center for Military History was assigned as the program's executive agent, Brown quickly pointed out the list truly was Shinseki's.

"Shortly after General Shinseki became the chief of staff, he identified the Army's need for a systematic, self-development professional reading list," Brown said. "We considered his guidance in developing the list, and, being the historians we are, we brought back a list that was about 90 percent military history. He had his own ideas and had us change the list to include other aspects of the military so now the list includes only about half on military heritage.

"The chief has been involved all throughout the process of developing this reading list. It was his idea and it serves the purposes he
stated he wanted when he had us start work on the list."

Brown explained the purposes: encourage habits of reading and reflection; sustain intellectual growth between attendance at the various formal institutional schools; facilitate officer and NCO professional self-development; and deepen each soldier's appreciation of their military heritage.

"Good leaders are always curious about how others have solved similar problems they face -- this list helps with that," Brown said.

"Look at the great Army leaders in this century. Patton, Eisenhower and MacArthur all considered self-development important and accomplished it with their own focused professional reading program."

List 1 -- For cadets, soldiers and junior NCOs.

· Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
· The Long Grey Line by Rick Atkinson
· The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
· This Kind of War by T. R. Fehrenbach
· America's First Battles by Charles E. Heller and William A. Stofft
· A Concise History of the U.S. Army: 225 Years of Service by David W. Hogan Jr.
· The Face of Battle by John Keegan
· We were Soldiers Once and Young by Harold Moore and Joe Galloway
· Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer
· The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

List 2 -- For company grade officers and company cadre NCOs.

· Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose
· The War to End All Wars by Edward Coffman
· The Soldier and the State by Samuel P. Huntington
· Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War by Gerald F. Linderman
· Company Commander by Charles B. MacDonald
· Men against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command in Future War by S. L. A. Marshall
· For the Common Defense by Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski
· Certain Victory by Robert H. Scales Jr.
· General George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century by Mark A. Stoler
· Buffalo Soldiers (Black Saber Chronicles) by Tom Willard

List 3 -- For field grade officers and senior NCOs.

· East of Chosin by Roy Appleman
· Army for Empire by Graham Cosmas
· The Evolution of U.S. Tactical Doctrine, 1946-76 by Robert Doughty
· Jomini and His Summary of the Art of War by Antoine Henri Jomini
· Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt by Charles B. MacDonald
· Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
· The Challenge of Command by Roger H. Nye
· Summons of the Trumpet by Dave Palmer
· Supplying War by Martin Van Creveld

List 4 -- For senior leaders above brigade level.

· On War by Carl von Clausewitz, edition by Paret and Howard
· Command Decisions by Kent Greenfield
· War in European History by Michael Howard
· The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
· Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger
· Military Innovation in the Interwar Period by Williamson Murray and Alan R. Millett
· Thinking in Time by Neustadt and May
· Makers of Modern Strategy by Peter Paret
· An American Profession of Arms by William Skelton
· On Strategy by Harry Summers
· The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

(FROM ARMY NEWS SERVICE)

Army releases Shinseki's professional reading list

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