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Soldiers will not follow any battle leader with confidence unless they know that he will require full performance of duty from every member of the team.

In the final choice a soldier’s pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner’s chains.

Nothing is easy in war. Mistakes are always paid for in casualties and troops are quick to sense any blunder made by their commanders

I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.

It is, indeed, an observable fact that all leaders of men, whether as political figures, prophets, or soldiers, all those who can get the best out of others, have always identified themselves with high ideals.

To lead an untrained people to war is to throw them away.

The American people rightly look to their military leaders not only to be skilled in the technical aspects of the profession of arms, but to be men of integrity who have a deep understanding of the human strengths and weaknesses …Read More

The more a leader is in the habit of demanding from his men, the surer he will be that his demands will be answered.

Good leadership in a platoon can only be practiced in the climate of good commandership in the units above.

Leadership needed in ordinary units is different from that required by elite units.

Do not expect to get squad, platoon, company, battalion, brigade, division, or corps commanders as replacements who are fully trained. If such people are available in the replacement system, they will probably be promoted before they arrive. Plan to coach …Read More

I know of no better reputation for an officer or noncommissioned officer to have with his men than he is a good manager and does not waste his soldiers’ time.