News and Views from the Old Headquarters
March 2024
New Articles and Continuing Series
It’s been a quiet month here at the Old Headquarters Building. While I have yet to fully recover from the lurgy I have come to call ‘the podcaster’s flu’, I am, as Gene Autry used to say, ‘back in the saddle again’. To be more concrete, while I have yet to return to my old practice of publishing a new article every day, I managed to produce twelve fresh pieces, on subjects ranging from proportionality in war to the kinds of metal used to make artillery shells.
When writing new articles, I try hard to maintain the sort of variety that will allow regular readers to find pieces of particular interest once or twice a week. To this end, I try to avoid ‘cluster posting’ (which is what happens when several parts of a given series dominate the front page of The Tactical Notebook for several days in a row.)
This is not to say that I discourage the single sitting engagement of series. On the contrary, I assemble aggregators so that readers may do just that, and, more specifically, so that new readers who are particularly interested in a given subject may easily, as (the silver screen version of) Maria von Trapp liked to say, ‘start at the very beginning’.
The Refurbishment of Old Articles
While working on new articles, and, especially, when I assemble aggregator pages, I refurbished a number of older articles. In particular, when I put an article through my little ‘service life extension program’ I …
altered (or replaced) pictures that fit poorly in the various frames used on Substack
added corrections, clarifications, and links that occurred to me while working on other articles
replaced oblong shill buttons with a ‘small display’ link to a page that offers options for readers who might want to subscribe, share, or support
replaced oblong buttons that link to other articles with small display links of the aforementioned kind.
Out Like a Lamb
The agenda for the remainder of the present month (March 2024) calls for a short piece on ballistics and a speculative (and somewhat whimsical) exploration of the ideal organization of drone units.
Speaking of April …
My plan for the month to come includes completion of two decision games, the one based on the service of Aaro Pajari in the Winter War of 1939-1940 and the one that began with The Lost Battalion. In addition, I will resume the serialization of Battalion: An Organizational Study of United States Infantry.
However, before I do those things, I intend to celebrate April Fool’s Day with a bit of satire.
Recently refurbished pieces include:
To subscribe, support, or share:
Notice they’re smoking 🚬?
You no smoking wankers?
Looking forward to new editions of BATTALION!