I have a story for you. It’s a true story that has a little embellishment with fictional names. The quote comes from the father of a cadet.
Honor Guards of Antiquity 2: Leadership of the Persian Melophori and the Dual Mandate of the Chiliarch
It’s important to clarify the distinction of the Melophori (Mēlophoroi), or Apple Bearers, from the larger body of the Persian “Immortals” as historical sources have revealed.
Why Drill and Ceremonies Remain Essential: Lessons from the Greeks, Romans, and Earlier Civilizations
Military drill and ceremonies are often dismissed today as outdated, overly formal, or “just tradition.” Yet long before drill manuals, long before modern armies, the greatest civilizations of the ancient world understood something profound: disciplined movement shapes disciplined minds. The way a person stands, walks, trains, and carries himself is inseparable from their character. The ancients believed this so deeply …
The Three Pillars of a Championship Team: Building Drill Team and Color Guard Excellence
Three powerful concepts—Building Cohesion, Competition Simulation, and Peer Leadership—will build a truly dominant and strong drill team and color guard.
4 of 4 The Unyielding Precedent: Guardianship, Standards, and the Timeless War Against Stupidity
The first three installments established the analytical imperative (Cipolla), the ethical guardrails (Scripture/Stoicism), and the strategic mandate (Negentropy). This final article completes the foundation, demonstrating that the need to guard standards and warn against irrationality is not new—it is a central, continuous theme across military, philosophical, and wisdom traditions spanning millennia.
3 of 4: The Second Law of Thermodynamics, Stupid People, and The DrillMaster
I asked AI and we created a further explanation in this series. I posited the question, “Does entropy have a role in Cipolla’s model?” The answer was: While there is no recognized physical or statistical quantity called “social entropy,” the concept of entropy provides a near-perfect metaphor for the destructive, corrosive force that Carlo M. Cipolla assigned to “stupid people.” …
2 of 4: Mastering the Madness: An Ethical and Intellectual Strategy Dealing with Stupid People
The first installment established that the greatest threat to success is the stupid action—behavior that causes pure, uncompensated net loss to a system. It also laid the analytical groundwork (Cipolla’s Laws) and the ethical foundation (Scripture’s warning against contempt). This second installment is the call to action. We now translate theory into practice, detailing how to deploy a unified, three-part …
1 of 4: The Five Laws of Human Stupidity and Scripture
Every functioning system—from a military unit to a multinational corporation—is ultimately challenged by actions that defy logic: actions taken by stupid people causing loss with no rational benefit to anyone. This article lays the groundwork for understanding this challenge by synthesizing two powerful pieces of information. First, we look at economic historian Carlo M. Cipolla’s explanation of his five laws …
Standards vs. Excuses: My Role and Your Responsibility
This article is not just directed toward JROTC instructors alone, but also adults over all other cadet programs. The text of a recent critique for the above photo (with additions here): Colors, you have X the wrong staffs (AFI 90-1201 tells us what to use, the light ash wood guidon staff), X wrong finials (same AFI for the flat, silver …
Are You Part of the Problem? Adults in Cadet Programs
This message is for all adults involved in cadet programs. It’s time to take a hard look at ourselves and confront some uncomfortable truths.
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