When Touchy-Feely Turns Deadly

For most of my 17-year career in the New York Army National Guard, I was an Infantry officer. A combat arms guy, attack an armed enemy, blow shit up. “Kinetics.” You get the picture.

Soft Power

Toward the end of my career, I transitioned toward a form of warfare called “soft power”. This is different from traditional military operations in that it is not coercive. In the past, it was referred to as the battle for the “Hearts and Minds”. This was the effort to win over the civilian populace a...