Junior Officers Research Articles

Women Private Banker’s Life Status in Bangladesh: A Study on Private Banks in Rajshahi City

Bangladesh is a developing country. It has a vast figure of residents and half of the residents is women. Women come in professional life for various reasons. There are numerous sectors for women service. In recent era private bank is one of the utmost sectors. Contribution of women in private bank is increasing day by day. As a result, women’s economic state has been enhanced. Day by day, life is getting more exclusive and if it is compared with other job sectors the remuneration of private bank is superior than others. So a great number of women are fascinated to private banks. They enjoy numerous facilities in their own life and professional life. But in private banking sector they also face numerous troubles. The study was conducted to find out the positive and negative sides of working in private banks of Rajshahi city for knowing a women private bankers life status. A woman private banker faces various types of troubles in her professional life. Ten branches of private banks from Rajshahi city under Rajshahi district were selected purposively for this study. The sample consisted of 30 women private bankers. Most of women private bankers are mostly employed at different categories of job like Senior officer, Junior officer, Management trainee officer and so on. Private banks jobs are very boring in nature. Women workers occasionally lose their interest in work and become disheartened. The study also proposed some suggestions for increasing women participation in private banks. Researcher hopes that society will be much benefitted from this study.

Philosophical and Ethical Intensions of the Category of Heroic in L.N. Tolstoy’s Early Works

Texts of culture, which act as “generators of meaning”, are associated by Yu.M. Lotman, in his work “The History and Typology of Culture”, with the problem of memory that makes possible the reconstruction of the history of culture from its synchronic slices.The study of L.N. Tolstoy’s early works allows to judge the figurative character of the philosophical ethical intentions of the category of heroic that were embodied in the topic of “man and war”.The category of heroic is reflected in the concept of ancient philosophers — Plato (“Dialogues”), Aristotle (“Ethics”, “Poetics”), in the treatise by G. Bruno (“The Heroic Frenzies”), in the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel (“Aesthetics”), and others. In the context of developing the idea of “man and war” and revealing Leo Tolstoy’s interest in ancient philosophy, the article aims to explore the embodiment of these intentions in the works of the great writer and to note the peculiar “echoes” of his thoughts about justice, courage or cowardice in battle by the examples of his works (the story “Raid”, “Caucasian Stories”, and others). Special attention should be paid to “Sevastopol Stories” created during the Crimean (Eastern) War by L.N. Tolstoy, an artillery officer who served in the most dangerous place of the Sevastopol defense (the 4th bastion). They reveal the essence of “true” and “false” courage, the relations between artillery soldiers and junior officers, the theme of the feat and other problems, which was later developed in the epic novel “War and Peace”.The article actualizes the issue of traditions (from Plato to Hegel), the development of Leo Tolstoy’s ideas, the analysis of human behavior in a situation of mortal danger, the problem of the heroic and the tragic, reflected in the “military” prose of writers — participants of the Great Patriotic War: Yu.V. Bondarev, V.V. Bykov, G.Ya. Baklanov, V.O. Bogomolov, K.D. Vorobyov, K.M. Simonov, and others.

Images of the «enemy» by the eyes of prisoners of war from the time of the First World War (according to the memoirs of Yu. I. Kirsch and E. E. Dwinger)

The article analyzes the memories of Y. I. Kirsch, a Russian soldier who got into German captivity, and E. E. Dwinger, a German junior officer who was captured by Russians. The author raises the question of common and distinctive features in the images of the “enemy” created in the memoirs of these memoirists. Transformation in the perception of a military enemy in the experience of captivity is being considered. The issue of reconciliation and finding an understanding with the “enemy” was studied.
 The author comes to the conclusion that at the time of capturing both Russian and German soldiers had extremely negative images of the “enemy”. These images were constructed by state propaganda, which dehumanized a military enemy. The prisoners of war expected extreme cruelties from the “enemy”, but these expectations were not approved.
 Extreme experience of captivity focused on the negative aspects of life in Germany and the Russian Empire. This was reflected in the memoirs of Y. I. Kirch and E. E. Dwinger. But both memoirists noted that the “enemy” in the crowd behaved ruthlessly, while on a personal level, he was often ready to help prisoners of war, to show mercy. Despite the negative attitude to the “enemy”, both in Russia and in Germany, there was a cohabitation of prisoners of war with local women. In Germany, ordinary Germans congratulated prisoners of war on its’ end. In Russia with the beginning of the revolution, German prisoners of war received an invitation to join the White Movement. These facts are manifestations of partial reconciliation of prisoners of war with the “enemy”.
 With regard to the difference in the design of the enemy's image, German memoirs show more cultural reflections on the national character and the mission of the Russians. Memoirs of the Russian on the contrary emphasize the way of life and order that prevailed in the camp for the prisoners of war.
 The study of the experience of transforming the enemy's image during the First World War is relevant in the context of a modern information confrontation, which inevitably complements military conflicts.

What makes coups outside the chain of command in Turkey succeed or fail?

ABSTRACT Existing work on civil-military relations in Turkey has left the question of coup outcomes understudied. Although coups organized in line with the military chain of command are automatically assumed most likely to succeed, not all coup attempts carried out by junior/mid-ranking officers are doomed to fail. While 27 May 1960 coup by junior officers succeeded, three other coups attempted outside the chain of command in 1962, 1963, and 15 July 2016 in Turkey failed. Why? This article uses ‘coordination game’ framework as a theoretical tool to provide an answer. These cases lend significant support to application of game theoretic models to the literature on military coup outcomes.

Doing What Is Right.

Junior officers have an obligation to "lead up." They help senior officers successfully complete missions while maintaining accountability to core values and taking care of those they lead. The following case highlights one junior officer's challenge "leading up" in a very ambiguous situation.

Character Strengths of Junior Australian Army Officers.

Armed forces view their officers' character as foundational to their ability to lead the personnel entrusted to them. The character of junior officers is of particular interest, because they must increasingly make quick, morally-laden decisions while dispersed among civilians without time to consult their commanders. However, little is systematically known about the character of officers. Accordingly, the present study was aimed at mapping Australian Army junior officers' perceptions of the chief aspects of their own character and also those of their main role models, specifically, their senior officers, including their trustworthiness as an essential aspect of effective leadership. The present study also tested whether these character perceptions were aligned with four core values of the Australian Army - courage, initiative, teamwork, and respect - which are intended to shape the character of its personnel. The respondents (N = 171 lieutenants) ranked how well each of 24 positive character strengths applied to themselves as individuals. To test the alignment of these rankings with the respondents' perception of their leaders' character, respondents nominated the five top strengths of their effective leaders. This study was approved by the Australian Defence Human Research Ethics Committee (ADHREC 009-2013). With regard to the first aim, five character strengths - integrity, leadership, good judgment, trustworthy, and teamworker - were ranked by the respondents as being their chief personal strengths at frequencies significantly above those expected from random allocation.With regard to the second aim, the respondents aligned the rankings of their character strengths with those of their effective leaders through the entire list, not just the highest-ranking items. Nevertheless, there were two significant differences. The respondents assigned their leaders higher ranks for wisdom than for themselves, but assigned lower ranks to their leaders for being trustworthy.With regard to the third aim, the respondents' perceptions of their chief character strengths were not well aligned with the four core values of the Australian Army. Teamworker was given a significant top ranking, but courage, initiative, and respectful were not. Thus, the respondents did not appear to respond according to organizational demand characteristics. The present study achieved its aims. First, it revealed five character strengths that junior officers in the Australian Army tended to see as their own chief strengths. Second, the junior officers saw their character strengths as aligned with those of their senior officers. By and large, this alignment extended across all the character strengths, regardless of their specific ranking. Subject to further experimental testing, this finding provides correlational evidence that junior officers may model their character on what they see in their senior officers. Third, in contrast, the junior officers' rankings were not well aligned with the Australian Army's stated core values. The junior officers saw teamworker as one of their chief strengths, but not courage, initiative, or respectful. This pattern does not imply that the junior officers rejected strengths as valuable but only that they are not among the junior officers' own chief strengths.

Use It or Lose It: The Political Economy of Counterinsurgency Strategy

Regular budget cycles and annual evaluations of bureaucratic funding have created a “use-it-or-lose-it” atmosphere in agencies throughout the American government, resulting in large expenditures in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. We show that these spending patterns apply in a least likely case: junior officers in a war zone, and that indiscriminate fourth-quarter expenditures are correlated with increases in insurgent violence. Using reconstruction data from the war in Iraq, this article shows that the tendency to overspend at the end of the fiscal year is both pervasive and detrimental to security objectives. By combining extensive interview work with econometric analysis, this article offers new insights into the politics of war, civil–military relations, and postconflict reconstruction and suggests that these pathologies may have a substantive, negative impact on a government’s ability to effectively wage counterinsurgency operations.

Lessons of Leading Organizational Change in Quality and Process Improvement Training.

Physicians operate in complex health care systems where leading change is an important competency, often practically implemented in process and quality improvements. This case describes a deployed junior officer leading change through a process improvement. It aligns the plan, do, study, act model with Kotter's model of leading organizational change.

Transnational Exchange in the Nazi New Order: The Spanish Blue Division and its Medical Services

This article uses the case of the Spanish Blue Division to examine the history of transnational exchange and cooperation within the Nazi New Order. In particular, it explores the experiences of the Blue Division's medical services, which were required to engage most closely with the international environment of the Eastern Front. The Blue Division and its medical services shed new light on this topic in a number of different ways. Firstly, they show how the New Order was experienced by those from outside the core Axis states of Germany and Italy, and beyond the minority of ideologically-committed fascist fellow travellers. Secondly, volunteers within the medical corps help to illustrate how the New Order was perceived as a forum for scientific, intellectual and professional exchange, building on the traditional prestige of German science and pre-war practices of international scientific cooperation. Finally, integrating the perspectives of junior officers and rank-and-file troops helps to move beyond the political and cultural elites who dominate the literature on the New Order to show how cooperation and exchange worked on the ground. In particular, it demonstrates where the limits to this cooperation lay, and how individuals dealt with the tensions and conflicts between different national groups.

The culture of maintenance of public housing units in a less urbanised town in Ghana

The purpose of this study was to assess the conditions of public housing units in a less urbanised town in Ghana and predict the culture of maintenance among occupants of these housing units. Data used in the study were obtained from 101 households, which were supplemented by data from officials of the Estate Departments of four institutions. The results indicate that the conditions of the housing units were generally poor due mainly to occupants’ inappropriate culture of maintenance. The factors that could significantly predict the occupants’ culture of maintenance were: (a) rank/status of occupant, (b) age of housing unit and (c) occupant’s intention to build his/her own housing unit in a decade. The results show that the probability of an occupant of a housing unit, which is less than 10 years old, adopting appropriate maintenance practices, is 3.1 higher than one who occupied a housing unit that was more than 10 years. In a similar vein, the probability of a Senior Officer adopting an appropriate culture of maintenance is approximately 23 times that of a Junior Officer. Finally, the probability of an occupant who intended to own a housing unit within a decade adopting appropriate culture of maintenance is 0.3 times that of an occupant who did not. The study concludes that the continued relevance of public housing is hinged on appropriate maintenance culture by occupants. In this regard, authorities should make occupants of the public housing units take more responsibility for maintenance.

金正喜 墨蘭 화풍 중의 揚州八怪 영향 연구 : 『蘭盟帖』을 중심으로

Kim Jung-hee was a Real scientist and painter at last phase of Choson, who had been in the name of junior officer to follow his father Kim Nogyeong sent to Qing Dynasty on a diplomatic mission in 1809. Although this diplomatic mission to Beijing endured only two months, Kim Jung-hee developed a close friendship with the renowned litterateur, confucian scholars and painters at that time. This communication experience helped Kim Jung-hee open his eyes and accept advanced ideas and viewpoints in Qing Dynasty at that time. He gradually established his unique understandings on painting and became an important figure leading the last phase of Choson painting.BR Throughout Kim Jung-hee’s paintings, two-thirds are dark-inked orchids, which has been thought as a theme mostly reflects his aesthetic ideas. 〈Orchid and Caligraphy〉 is Kim Jung-hee’s early painting, which was largely influenced by Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou both in the compositions and skills. He quoted many poems of Zheng Xie on the painting work and most compositions and skills are similar to Luo Pin.BR So this article will review the paintings of Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou which have spread to Choson or have been inspected by Kim Jung-hee so as to discover the influence by Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou on Kim Jung-hee and the positive influence of Kim Jung-hee’s painting ideas and styles on his own late painting works and on his students and even on the last phase of paintings in Choson as a whole.

ПОДГОТОВКА УНТЕР-ОФИЦЕРОВ В ОМСКОМ ВОЕННОМ ОКРУГЕ В ГОДЫ ПЕРВОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ

The article considers the organization of noncommissioned officers’ training for reserve forces and field forces in the period of the First World War of 1914-1918. Analyzing the documentation of military reserve forces as well as scientific and methodological literature intended to train noncommissioned officers and warrant officers the author identifies the basic sources of staffing the Russian army with noncommissioned officers. Special attention is paid to the functioning of the reserve training units of Omsk military district. The mentioned sources allow the author to reconstruct the process of junior officers’ training in the reserve training units of Omsk military district.

Anonymous Feedback: What Should a Leader Do?

Leaders are required to evaluate and provide feedback to those they lead. This often involves giving feedback on direct observations, but at times can result from feedback brought to them via other pathways. When a leader is given feedback from a subordinate about another subordinate, they must decide how to best proceed. Often they must collect more data in order to make an informed decision. Followers continuously observe how leaders handle feedback from subordinates, which will directly impact mission success and unit morale. The following case highlights one junior officer's challenge related to anonymous feedback she received.

Educational Development in Africa: Prospects and Challenges of Teaching/Learning History in Nigeria

<p><em>The paper discusses the challenges facing history teaching in Nigeria. The scope of the study is limited to private/public schools in Oyo State, Nigeria. The study starts by tracing the problem from the advent of missionaries to Nigeria in which their purpose of establishing mission schools was not to teach African history but to evangelize and to produce middlemen who will act as junior officers. The findings show that history as a subject was in the curriculum of both junior and senior secondary school. However, it was removed from junior secondary school curriculum and remained only in senior secondary school curriculum. Though only few senior secondary schools in Oyo State teach history subject due to lack of adequate knowledge by students in learning African history. Also, due to the reviewed policy, history teachers and textbooks are inadequate. Thus, in this present dispensation in Nigeria, African history education is facing challenges in terms of teaching and learning, apparently on the verge of extinction. The paper concludes by stating the methods of teaching history, prospects and challenges attached to it.</em></p>

Medical Attrition from Commanders Training in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF): A Cross-sectional Study on 23,841 Soldiers.

Attrition from training is associated with substantial financial and personnel loss. There is a plethora of medical literature and research of attrition rates related to initial/phase 1 training (basic combat training); however, the analysis of second phase training (commanders training, consisting of schools that qualify junior commanders and officers for infantry and non-infantry combat units) is limited. The purpose of this study is to perform a comprehensive survey regarding to medical attrition from commanders training in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) in order to present the commanders of the IDF a detailed situation report that will serve as an evidence-based platform for future policy planning and implementation. A cross-sectional study including all soldiers (23,841) who participated in commanders training in the IDF in the period of 2012-2015 was performed. Soldiers for whom the attrition reason (medical or not medical) was missing were excluded from this study. Data were collected from the adjutancy-computerized system as well as the IDF's computerized medical consultation records package (CPR). Descriptive statistics were performed using mean, standard deviation, and median in order to express results. For the determination of statistical significance, chi-square test, Student's t-test, and Poisson regression models were used. Out of 23,841 soldiers that participated in this study, 75% (17,802) were males and 25% (6,039) were females. The overall attrition rate was 0.7% (164). The attrition rate for males was 0.86% (148 out of 17,082 males) and 0.26% (16 out of 6,039 females) for females. After adjusting for training unit, age, and BMI, the risk for attrition was 1.6 (160%) times higher for males as compared with females, and this result was statistically significant (IRR = 1.6, p = 0.01, CI 1.1, 2.2). The re-injury rate was 41% (68 out of 164 soldiers). The three most frequent diagnoses for attrition were orthopedics (66%), general surgery diagnoses (12%), and diagnoses related to internal medicine (11%). Out of 107 soldiers that attired due to orthopedic reasons, 36 (34%) suffered from calf and ankle injuries, 22 (21%) attired due to diagnoses related to the lower back, and 22 (21%) attired due to diagnoses related to the knee region. The highest attrition rate was encountered in the school for infantry junior command (2.2%) and the lowest rate was encountered in the officer training school for non-infantry units (0.11%). After adjusting for age and BMI, the risk for ankle injury was 2.55 (255%) times higher for soldiers in the school for infantry junior command as compared with soldiers in the officer school for infantry units (IRR = 2.55 p = 0.017, CI 1.18, 5.47). The attrition rate from commanders training in the IDF is low, and at this point, however, due to lack of uniform criteria for attrition, it cannot serve as an objective measure. We suggest measuring and discussing overuse injury rates (which is the most frequent cause of attrition), instead. Based on our results, we recommend an implementation of a better medical screening policy in order to reduce the re-injury rates during commanders training.

The Relation Between Family-Supportive Work Environment and Work–Family Conflict: Does Leader Support Act as a Moderator of This Relation in the Portuguese Navy?

This study tested the moderation effect that leader support had on the relation between a family-supportive work environment (FSWE) and work–family conflict (WFC) in the Portuguese Navy. Data were collected through the application of a questionnaire to 260 career Navy junior and senior officers. Results indicated that a positive relation existed between the FSWE and WFC, being so that more FSWE related to more WFC. When bringing leader’s support to the subject, the only relation found was between leader support and WFC in which less leader support related to more WFC. The results didn’t back up the hypothesis that leader support had a positive moderating impact on the relationship between an FSWE and WFC. Given this, the results are discussed considering the theory on WFC and possible implications for future research and practice are presented for the Portuguese Navy.

Non-modifiable Risk Factors Associated with Sternoclavicular Joint Dislocations in the U.S. Military.

Sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) dislocations, although uncommon, are observed in patients with ligamentous laxity as well as those who experience traumatic injuries. The incidence and epidemiology of this costly and debilitating injury to our relatively young and active military population have not previously been reported. The purpose of this study is to consider and quantify the non-modifiable risk factors associated with this injury. Using Defense Medical Epidemiological Database, first-time occurrences, from 2006 to 2015 for the ICD-9-CM code 839.61 (closed dislocation of the SCJ), were obtained and further categorized by gender, race, age, rank, and branch of service. Race was classified based on self-reporting of patients into White, Black, or other categories. Age was divided into the categories of less than 20 yr, 20-24 yr, 25-29 yr, 30-34 yr, 35-39 yr, and greater than 40 yr. Rank was categorized as junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), senior enlisted (E-5 to E-9), junior officer (O-1 to O-3), and senior officer (O-4 to O-10). Branch of service includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Multivariate data analysis was performed to obtain rate per 1,000 person-years as well as adjusted rate (adjusted for age group, gender, race, rank, and service) to isolate risk factors. Between 2006 and 2015, 427 cases of closed SCJ dislocations occurred among an at-risk population of 13,772,342 person-years for an unadjusted incidence rate (IR) of 0.031 per 1,000 person-years. The annual unadjusted IR ranged from 0.017 in 2006 to 0.059 in 2014 with the greatest increase occurring between 2006 and 2007 representing 61% increase in the rate of injuries. Males were almost twice as likely to sustain these injuries compared with females (adjusted rate ratio 1.73; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23, 2.43). Age was not found to be a risk factor for the development of these injuries with IRs for each age group overlapping with 95% CI for all other age groups. Similarly, the other category for race was also not found to be a statistically significant risk factor. Junior Officers (adjusted rate 0.017; 95% CI 0.011, 0.025) were found least likely to suffer from these injuries with Junior Enlisted (0.034; 95% CI 0.030, 0.040) and Senior Enlisted (0.032; 95% CI 0.028, 0.037) most at risk. Being in the Navy (0.019; 95% CI 0.015, 0.025) was found to be most protective compared with Air Force (0.032; 95% CI 0.026, 0.039), Army (0.036; 95% CI 0.031, 0.041), and Marines (0.036; 95% CI 0.028, 0.045). Annual unadjusted IR of SCJ dislocations readily increased from 2006 to 2014. Statistically significant risk factors, for suffering a closed SCJ dislocation, identified by our study, were male sex, enlisted rank, and branch of service other than Navy. Age and race were not found to have a statistically significant risk. These results can shed light on non-modifiable risk factors for dislocations of the SCJ and can be used in other studies to aid in reducing injury burden on the U.S. Military.

Socioeconomic class and universal healthcare: Analysis of stroke cost and outcomes in US military healthcare

ObjectiveDo socioeconomic disparities exist in the US military healthcare system with ischemic stroke admissions? MethodsCivilian healthcare in the United States is paid for by a variety of payers. Significant disparities exist in this system based upon socioeconomic status (SES). In contrast, the military healthcare system (MHS) is a universal healthcare system. Military rank is a SES surrogate. Data was collected from the MHS database for years 2010 through 2015. All admissions to military health care facilities with a primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke were reviewed. Military rank was compared for primary outcomes of: Disposition (In-hospital mortality and discharge destination setting) and IV tPA administration and for secondary outcomes of: Total cost of hospitalization and Length of hospital stay (LoS). All adjusted for relevant demographics and co-morbidities. ResultsMilitary rank was identified with 1895 (52.3%) of the 3623 admissions. The ranks identified were: Junior Enlisted 100 (2.7%), Senior Enlisted/Warrant Officers 1390 (38.4%), Junior Officers 59 (1.6%) and Senior Officers 346 (9.6%). Statistically significant results included: Lower SES group/ranks were more likely to have poor discharge destination setting while the highest SES group/ranks and had lower rates of in-hospital mortality, shorter lengths of stay and higher hospitalization costs after controlling for relevant variables. ConclusionHigher military ranks (Higher SES) had shorter hospitalization stays, higher costs and less in-hospital mortality in the military's universal healthcare system. This suggests aggregate characteristics of SES plays a large role in the outcomes among SES groups.

Impact of Training and Development on Perceived Employee Performance: A Case Study of Agricultural Development Bank Ltd

Ltd of Nepal. Based on the survey method, the study collected the data through a structured questionnaire administered from February to March of 2018 on a sample of 112 employees (hierarchical strata of junior and assistants, and junior officers) drawn from a population of 185 through a random, stratified sampling method. Using descriptive statistics and regression analysis, the study discovered a statistically significant impact of T&D constituents on the perceived performance of junior officers and assistant level employees of the studied bank. Among the four predictors (T&D constituents), the impact of attitude and behavior change was found to be significant whereas that of other three (training content and deliverability, instructional design, and skills, knowledge and ability development of employees) was not significant. What ensues from the data results is that the ADBL management needs to ensure training contents, deliverability and instructional design to enhance competency and productivity of employee. Furthermore, the ADBL management needs to ensure that T&D strategies bring about positive change on attitude and behavior to enhance their HR performance.

Preparing for War: The Emergence of the Modern U.S. Army, 1815–1917 by J. P. Clark

Reviewed by: Preparing for War: The Emergence of the Modern U.S. Army, 1815–1917 by J. P. Clark Wayne Wei-Siang Hsieh (bio) Preparing for War: The Emergence of the Modern U.S. Army, 1815–1917 j. p. clark Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017 336 pp. J. P. Clark's Preparing for War: The Emergence of the Modern U.S. Army, 1815–1917 fills an important gap in our scholarly understanding of an important institution—the nineteenth-century US Army officer corps. Its wider event horizon due to its uncharacteristically broad chronological range allows for a study of different generations of professional officers that traces how the American army's leadership cadre evolved in relation to developments in both American military history and larger civilian society. Each generation of officers defined, debated, and experienced distinctly [End Page 599] different conceptions of military professionalism. Clark's analytical approach allows his monograph to discern both the American Army's institutional continuities and the significant changes it experienced over the course of the nineteenth century leading up to World War I. Clark lays out four generations of officers—a foundational generation of veterans of the War of 1812 and antebellum graduates of West Point, a Civil War generation that fought in the nineteenth century's longest conflict, a post−Civil War composite generation of mostly West Point graduates grappling with the earlier conflict's consequences, and a Progressive generation commissioned after 1890 that imported civilian ideas of centralization and bureaucratization into the army. Clark's approach allows him to examine the interaction between predominately military factors (e.g. the size and scale of American wars and the structures of American military institutions) and larger trends in American culture and society. Like many historians, between the analytical poles of continuity and change, Clark gravitates toward the latter—and he also locates the primary causal forces of change in larger American society. As he puts it, "the vertical ties of continuity within the military are less important than the horizontal ties across society. Therefore, each professional generation is more a product of its time than a creation of military institutions" (9). Clark's approach thus eschews an abstract and social-scientific notion of professionalism, perhaps best embodied in Samuel P. Huntington's The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations (1957). While that work is dated and challenged by most historians, if still cited due to its importance and influence, American military institutions (as Clark himself well knows) remain heavily influenced by conceptions of professionalism that claim to be timeless and enduring. Even the use of history in the American military's educational apparatus tends to gravitate toward the discovery of "lessons learned," which can be applied across wide stretches of time and place. In contrast, perhaps the most trenchant lesson Clark draws from his work for the current American profession of arms is a generational gap in the present US Army between general officers who led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as senior officers, and junior officers who began their careers in those conflicts at the small unit level. As Clark puts it, "bridging the gaps between these quite different frames of reference is not impossible, but it is unlikely because the bureaucratic artifacts that give an army substance—doctrine, regulations, training plans—rarely [End Page 600] make explicit the assumptions on which they are based. … The most insidious divides are those that go unnoticed" (xi). Among most professional academic historians, Preparing for War would find ready agreement regarding its argument for the primacy of historical change over political scientists' search for timeless continuities, but where Clark's work makes its biggest contribution is in its longer distinctive chronological spread. William Skelton's An American Profession of Arms: The Army Officer Corps, 1784–1861 (1993) covers the creation of a professional officer corps, but excludes from its coverage the Civil War. It also covers the creation of an American military profession, as opposed to its continuing evolution. Samuel Watson's magisterial two-volume study of the Jacksonian and antebellum US Army, Jackson's Sword: The Army Officer Corps on the American Frontier, 1810–1821 (2012) and Peacekeepers and...