From what we discussed in lass, professional reading is extremely important. Also, I find professional reading necessary for development and critical thinking. It is always a reasonable idea to read about what others have experienced in the past whether it be on conflict, leadership, or self-development. Not only do I believe this because I enjoy reading, but helps to expand your mind and think creatively: taking different aspects from different readings and applying them to a specific task or event. To use what others have experienced and your own experiences and then combine them to aid you in a process.

For example, over the summer I read a book titled “Graveyard of Empires” that described military failures since Alexander the Great in Afghanistan. It basically touched upon how the rugged terrain and ethnic/tribal diversity of Afghanistan caused foreign powers to never be able to expand their influence into peripheral areas, nor consolidate power to a central Afghan-based government that was led by Afghans.

This reading didn’t aid me in ROTC, other than maybe KLE, but it did aid me in classes pertinent for my major. I came equipped with previous knowledge about how geography, tribalism, and ethnicity have the ability to cause government illegitimacy in the eyes of the people, and how tribal/ethnic identity makes centralization of government power virtually impossible and conflict never-ending.

Moreover, because I find reading so important, I always find time following the completion of homework or when there is virtually nothing to do such as watch TV or videos on the internet. You don’t have to read a large amount of content, not only because the human attention span is so short, but also because you want to read for understanding in order to retain the most information as possible.

V/r

Steven Schmidt