MATT LEWIS Matt Lewis is a PhD student at the Defence Studies Department and an Infantry Battalion Commander in the British Army. His research focuses on decolonising the concept of violence, with specific reference to Algeria and Critical Theory. He tweets in a personal capacity as @mattlewisfab. Accounts from 20th Century graduates of NATO Staff Colleges… Read More The Elusion of Critique: On Developing Critical Approaches in Defence Discourse

EMILIE CLERET Emilie Alice Cléret is Head of the English Department within the Enseignement militaire supérieur – the French Higher Military Education. She designs the English courses for the Ecole de guerre– the French War College – and for the Centre des hautes etudes militaires– the higher command and staff course. You can read more… Read More The Necessary Death of the One-size-fits-all Approach: Transformative Pedagogy in Higher Military Education

JIM BEACH Dr Jim Beach of the University of Northampton explains the birth and early years of an important forum for interwar military debate. Jim has edited the military papers of Lieutenant Colonel Cuthbert Headlam for the Army Records Society. On 24 February ninety-nine years ago, two former British army officers sat down and discussed… Read More Discussing Defence: Cuthbert Headlam and the Army Quarterly

HEBER ACKLAND Commodore Ackland is a Royal Navy Officer and UK Defence Academy staff member, you can follow him on Twitter at @HeberAckland. Recently I was scrolling through the online version of the Washington Post when I was drawn to a striking headline describing twitter as the crystal meth of the newsrooms, ‘a drug [sic:… Read More Use Responsibly: Twitter and the Ideas Network

SOPHY GARDNER Sophy Gardner is a PhD student at the University of Exeter, and a former RAF Wing Commander of twenty-years experience. You can follow her on Twitter @sophygardner In many ways, the newly created RAF’s approach to the resource and recruitment challenges of the early inter-war period was highly modern, presaging later educational reforms such… Read More ‘Your Boy’s Future’ – Apprentice Training and Social Mobility in the Early Royal Air Force

PAUL BARNES Paul Barnes is a British Army Warrant Officer and the current Army Visiting Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. His research focuses on adaptability and the diffusion of innovation in contact. He has seen operational service in the Balkans, Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and holds an MA in Military History from… Read More Encouraging the horse…

This post is part of a special feature on military learning co-hosted with the Wavell Room, a blog & forum for discussions about contemporary British military thought. ANDY NETHERWOOD Sqn Ldr Andy Netherwood joined the RAF as a pilot in 1993 and completed tours flying the C130 and C17 as well as staff tours in… Read More Fools and Cowards

ROD THORNTON In sharp contrast to the emphasis apparent within the defence establishments of some of its closest allies and partners, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) seems to be ignoring the value of professional military education (PME). There is no mention at all of the role of PME in the two most recent… Read More Professional Military Education in the United Kingdom: An Asset Ignored