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Success, to the limits of one’s innate abilities, is available to all those who dedicate themselves to their careers, who are willing to work long and hard to prepare themselves, who recognize and develop that high character necessary to leadership.”

— Edgar F. Puryear Jr.

Edgar Puryear’s “American Generalship” profoundly altered the trajectory and tenor of my career as an officer in the Air Force. As a newly commissioned second lieutenant, facing my first leadership challenge on active duty as a peer leader in flight school, I fortuitously discovered Puryear’s work in a local bookstore. Unlike other leadership studies, which tend to be prescriptive and uninspiring, Puryear drew from the hard-earned collective wisdom of more than 1,100 senior officers to provide a lively and sagacious description of the leadership qualities necessary for success in the military. At the time, this work resonated strongly, serving as a beacon as I navigated my first of many leadership challenges. Unexpectedly, although effectively, Puryear’s compendium of leadership traits and behaviors had a lasting effect on me for two reasons. First, it communicated the proud heritage of military leadership of which I was now a part. In so doing, it conveyed the profound obligations inherent in my newly chosen profession, imbuing my subsequent development with gravitas and purposefulness. In short, Puryear’s work helped me internalize the significance of my newly chosen profession and recognize that there is no substitute for professional reading and self-development.

Puryear identifies qualities that are absolutely essential for successful leadership: selflessness; the willingness to accept the responsibility of being involved in decision-making; possessing and developing the quality of so-called “feel” and sixth sense in decision-making; an aversion to “yes” men; continual development through a life of reading; having careers that developed through mentors, particularly being close to men making decisions; understanding the importance of consideration and concern for troops; and realizing that the ability to delegate determines how far one will go in the American military. Central to each of these qualities is the foundation of leadership: character. Puryear wisely concedes that the concept of character defies simplistic formulaic definition. Instead, he describes the concept through anecdotes collected from personal interviews and the memoirs of successful past American military leaders. The words and advice of famous generals such as Washington, Grant, Sherman, Lee, Eisenhower, Marshall, Spaatz, Schwarzkopf, Creech and Powell leaven Puryear’s study of leadership. I often return to Puryear’s work, periodically re-reading it in its entirety, occasionally giving it as a gift to well-respected peers, senior officers and mentors. For me, “American Generalship” serves as a perennial reminder of the still-resonant opinions of those who served before us. These stories, long since familiar, illuminate our noble and ennobling military heritage.

Perhaps the greatest lesson I drew from Puryear’s work is the necessity of honoring both our proud history and our sacred obligations through deliberate and thoughtful self-development. Like many of my peers, I have long heeded Gen. Bill Creech’s challenge to “never, ever stop one’s intellectual growth, ... [to become] a consummate, ever-voracious reader of books of all kinds [by reading] a book every week, or at least a book every two weeks.”

In the relatively short career allotted a military officer, few are fortunate or astute enough to garner the experiences and insight requisite for effective leadership solely from personal experience. And yet, long years of study and reflection have served only to remind me of how little I know and how daunting the responsibility of self-development really is.

Nearly two years ago, while on a short sojourn from his studies at Oxford, retired Col. T.X. Hammes generously agreed to brief a group of young, idealistic Air Force captains doing penance in the Pentagon. I and the rest of my intern cohorts benefited immensely from the time he shared with us. The quality and depth of Hammes’ intellect, well-developed by a career of purposeful development and reflection, inspired us all. In my notes from that presentation, I recorded his admonishment to “read both deeply and broadly.” Hammes’ presentation was a masterful example of someone who had done just that, as he seamlessly went from describing his theory on the generational evolution of warfare distilled from a hard-earned understanding of history, to conveying the little-understood implications of recent literature on network theory and complexity science, to emphasizing the centrality of strategic communication and interagency synchronization in our current struggle. Clearly, Hammes embodied the leadership traits in Puryear’s work. If character occurs at the intersection of perseverance, integrity and courage, Hammes’ character was on display to all of us that day.

Today, after an experience-rich decade in the profession of arms, I am a far different officer and person than the one who first stumbled upon “American Generalship.” I, like all others in the military, was abruptly swept into the swift current of historical events far larger than ourselves. The heady days of America’s brief unipolar moment are receding. Set against this metanarrative, my personal journey has taken me to Central Asia, Europe, Central America, sub-Saharan Africa, Southwest Asia and that most surreal of AORs, inside the Beltway.

Once-youthful enthusiasm has given way to a deeper, more seasoned realism, which tempers my understanding of the utility of force. Despite the divisiveness and acrimonious policy debates that our long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have engendered, the moral obligations incurred upon acceptance of our commissions persevere. The solemnity of our oath is reinforced daily by the sacrifices of brave men and women serving abroad. Now more than ever, we must aspire to honor our proud military heritage by embodying the leadership qualities that Puryear describes. As officers, we must remain vigilant sentinels, ever committed to preparing ourselves for the inevitable leadership challenges that lay ahead. Above all, we must personify the character so richly described in “American Generalship.” For, as Puryear reminds us, without it, nothing else matters.