By Jason Criss Howk  I can’t stop thinking about this week of violence in America and the reactions to it. Some reactions are divisive and others are useful. For many this is just too confusing to comment on because everything said is misunderstood.  I will jump in the breach again as I just finished breakfast… Read More Thinking about young black men and police officers

There has been a steady decline in the relationship between the Ameican Law enforcement community and the citizens it is supposed to serve and protect.  We can and must turn this around. There are many people at fault but to solve this problem we badly need great leaders and real useful community involvement.  These stories… Read More The Police – Citizen Divide in America

The Observer (NYC) has run my article calling for an end to myths, hatred, and bigotry…calling for the president to lead an interfaith dialogue that uses precise language to unite America and the world.  Lead us Mr President

This is the perfect time for the President of the United States to lead an interfaith dialogue with the American people.  Following the mass killing of innocent Americans in an Orlando nightclub by a violent radical Islamist coward our government is choosing to omit his references to Islam and ISIS.  FBI transcript release June 2016… Read More POTUS Refusing to Lead an Interfaith Dialogue

As always a must read from my friend.  In this confused environment, national politics and the outcome of governance are decided by a simple method, corrupt political deals made under the influence of duress and blackmail. How Iraq Governs…

My article about the poor leadership lessons I observed during my 23 year career in the defense, diplomacy and intelligence arena has been translated into Spanish.  Read it here. 

Recently Susan Rice gave a speech at a graduation. The link to the speech is at the end of this article.  I know what  National Security Advisor Susan Rice is trying to do but using divisive language instead of calling for the nation that MLK dreamed about is not persuasive and should be offensive to… Read More A disappointing call to service

Generals Kernan, Odierno, and Smith Talk About Leadership and Current Events On 18 May 2016 our Pinehurst neighbors spoke to a sold-out crowd about the next president, the threats facing the America, and the qualities that General George C. Marshall had that made him so successful. Our community was lucky to have General Buck Kernan,… Read More Generals Kernan, Odierno, and Smith Talk About Leadership and Current Events

Honored to be back in the Bridge co-authoring with the great Engineer and now Infantry leader that is commanding the Brigade in Iraq right now. This time out we tackle leadership development and retention and ask are we training people the correct skills to succeed in modern operating environments.  The Strategy Bride

Petraeus OpEd on Islam and radical Islamism “Again, none of this is to deny or diminish the reality that we are at war with Islamist extremism — a fanatical ideology based on a twisted interpretation of Islam. Nor is it to minimize the need for smart, intelligence-driven measures to prevent terrorists from infiltrating our borders… Read More Petraeus tries to explain an important distinction our Presidents haven’t

The Auburn University Army ROTC class of 2000 is pleased to announce that 2LT Rachael Blaz was the first recipient of the annual Fightin’ Fred Ruoff Award. The award is given to humble and selfless cadets that quickly learn lessons from activities and examples and improve themselves and their units.          The… Read More The Fightin’ Fred Ruoff Award, Auburn Army ROTC

Lessons from my 86 year old grandmother.  By Jason Criss Howk and Geneva Rossier She lived through the depression on a Vermont farm where she went to work daily as a laborer before she was a teenager. She ended up leaving school before her senior year as she could no longer juggle running the farm… Read More Lessons from my 86 year old grandmother

The official said the president was persuaded to take this additional step because of recent successes against ISIS-CNN White House sends more SOF to fight ISIS Imagine if throughout history commanders used this logic. Instead of sending the requisite number of forces to secure a victory upfront, what if leaders sent in a few soldiers… Read More If you survive we will reinforce…

My article from last August has been making the rounds on leadership distro list emails and I couldn’t be more humbled.  Today it’s nearing 200,000 views.  Thanks Link to article

A response to ‘The US Military Is America’s 51st State’ Jason Criss Howk, U.S. Army Retired Syndicated in the Observer As a military history student and 23 year veteran I found nothing strange, new, or post-democratic about the military I served in from 1991-2015.  You can imagine my reaction at reading a recent article that… Read More The US Military Includes the Best from all 50 States

Finally the US SecState has announced that ISIS has been conducting genocide.  What’s next? Will we see the president announce a policy to stop this genocide? Will we see the president resubmit a request for the authority to carry out said policy from congress? Will congress (who just announced on their own that we have… Read More Will the U.S. watch another genocide?

“I would never work for that President!” I hope this is not a phrase we hear once the election is done. There has been much discussion lately amongst national security, foreign policy, and economic specialists about the Presidential candidates they would never work for because they are unqualified etc.  They aren’t the only ones getting… Read More “I would never work for that President!”

It seems like a odd question to ask presidential candidates in 2016 but if you should get asked your thoughts on the KKK or other groups like it here’s an example answer.  Reporter: Jason do you want the political support of the KKK when running for president? Me: No. Reporter: what about Louis Farrakhan? Me:… Read More Handling Bigotry Questions