The U.S. Army War College continues to support the Army Chief of Staff’s (CSA) focus on warfighting. In this episode, podcast editor Ron Granieri sits with Isaac Henderson, Pamela Lovasz, and Rick Luce—three recent graduates of the resident course Carlisle Scholars Program—to discuss their research examining the challenges and possibilities of implementing a warfighting mindset across the force. Whether it’s adapting a concept like shoot, move, and communicate to non-combat career fields, folding Department of the Army civilians into the culture, or the overarching concept of trust in mission command, these three professionals share the insights of their study over the last year.
We were asking the same thing: ‘What does it mean to be a warfighter?’ Because a warfighter can look like your combat arms…but support of the warfighter can come from people like civilians, like myself. And for me personally, what that means is that we understand collectively, no matter what your job is…that you know that your role is, bare bones in my opinion, to support the warfighter…And so that was one of our sources of topics at the very beginning, and we moved out with this project with that understanding.
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Isaac (Ike) Henderson is a lieutenant colonel and an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army and a native of Chiefland, Florida. He entered the Army upon graduating from Boise State University in 2001. He holds an MA in Military Studies from American Military University and is currently enrolled at Liberty University to pursue a Ph.D. in Military History. LTC Henderson has held leadership positions from Platoon Leader to Battalion Commander and his assignments include one operational deployment in Puerto Rico, and six combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the AY24 Resident Class of the U.S. Army War College and a member of the Carlisle Scholars Program.
Pamela Lovasz is an Army Civilian and Professional Engineer and Geologist assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers. She has served in leadership positions as an Army Civilian managing and supervising up to 200 employees as a Division Chief. Following the War College she is heading to New York City where she will serve the Army Corps of Engineers – New York District. She is a graduate of the AY24 Resident Class of the U.S. Army War College and a member of the Carlisle Scholars Program.
Rick Luce is a lieutenant colonel and Maneuver, Fires and Effects and Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army. He has served both as an enlisted soldier and officer as well as in the Army National Guard and on active duty. His assignments include multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a unique battalion command leading a Republic of Korea/U.S. Light Infantry Battalion in the Joint Security Area, or the DMZ between North and South Korea. He is a graduate of the AY24 Resident Class of the U.S. Army War College and a member of the Carlisle Scholars Program.
Ron Granieri is Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of A BETTER PEACE.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
Photo Description: Army Reserve Sgt. Jennifer Phillips, a medical logistics specialist, assigned to the 361st Medical Logistics Company, 807th MCDS, use a mirror on a humvee to carefully apply camouflage to her face before tackling a night land navigation course on Camp Williams, April 15, 2021. Phillips is one of fifteen Army Reserve Soldiers from around the country who recently came to Camp Williams to compete in a Joint Command Best Warrior Competition that challenged the Soldiers with five-days of rigorous physical and mental events ranging from the Army Combat Fitness Test to marksmanship, medical knowledge and warrior skills.
Photo Credit: Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Powell