To bring this point home, there is an old chestnut that bears repeating. In the words of Sir William Francis Butler,“The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards.”

I once heard a story about a debate between an historian and a senior officer. The general said, “What makes you think that your study of past battles, campaigns, and wars has any relevance in this day of high firepower, lightning warfare, electronic battlefields, jet planes, and satellites?” The historian replied, “What makes you think you’re smart enough to win the next war on the basis of your experience alone?”

When military leaders learn more about history, they become better citizens and military professionals. In the realm of professional military education, it should be our mission to ensure that members of the military know their history better than anyone else.

Understanding history is not a science – it is an art. Mark Twain was on to something when he said, “History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme a lot.”

History is also integral to understanding our society’s values. As an undergraduate at the University of Missouri, I was fortunate to have a mentor. Dr. Lewis Atherton taught me not only to value the history of America, but he instilled in me the need to continue to learn of our past, and that it is only in the pages of history that we find why America is so unique as a country.

Historical precedents can help guide us into the future. Every war or conflict may be examined in order to learn from previous situations.

Civilian professionals – doctors, lawyers, dentists, accountants, what have you – are able to do their jobs and practice their craft on an everyday basis. This gives them the opportunity to sharpen their skills and operate at the highest levels. Notwithstanding the level of current military operations, the same cannot be said for those in the military professions.

Alfred Thayer Mahan was famed for combining history and strategy in his instruction at the Naval War College. Library of Congress photo

Soldiers are involved in the real business of war infrequently, perhaps once or twice in a generation. Even today, our commitments have made it difficult, if not impossible, for our military to train for the full spectrum of military operations. Don’t misunderstand me – no one wants to live in a world that is plagued by a constant state of total war. But one of the consequences of the cyclical nature of conflict is that it does not allow our military professionals to build upon daily experience or to create a broad familiarity with precedents to assist in their decision making.

One way military professionals build and develop their skills is through war games and exercises. But although practice during drills is important and such exercises can be a very useful tool, a professional military education is incomplete if it does not include serious historical study of past conflicts.

In the realm of professional military education, it should be our mission to ensure that members of the American military know their history better than anyone else.

Historical precedents can help guide us into the future. Every war or conflict may be examined in order to learn from previous situations. This isn’t a matter of simply memorizing names and dates and geography. To make the best decisions, professionals in all arenas need the capability to move beyond dealing with the crisis at hand and create a vision for future action. They must be able to call upon past precedents and insights, which leads to second and third order thought.

A general of genius is one who can exploit his instincts and knowledge of the art of war, interpret the signs correctly, and then mobilize the material, human, and intellectual capital to win the next war. Deep study of the past allows students to synthesize what they have learned, so that they can use these lessons to prepare for future conflicts, and not just prepare to fight the war that was just fought– which is a trap that many leaders and national military establishments have been caught up in throughout history. Alfred Thayer Mahan, of Naval War College fame, set the standard by teaching history and strategy.

A student of military history can accumulate over 3,000 years of fighting experience at the price of time spent reading and analyzing the whispers of warriors past. In the realm of professional military education, it should be our mission to ensure that members of the American military know their history better than anyone else. One of the best examples of a military officer applying the lessons of history also happens to be one of my favorites.

In 1763, during Pontiac’s Rebellion, Col. Henry Bouquet, a Swiss mercenary in charge of British Highlanders and some American volunteers, was en route to Fort Pitt to deliver supplies because there was an Indian rebellion taking place. They were ambushed at a place called Bushy Run. Surrounded, some 60 of Bouquet’s troops were killed. The Indians didn’t fight at night, so the colonel knew they would attack the next morning.

Whether he was just innately bright – we know that Bouquet spoke six languages and spent time at the Hague studying military science, mathematics, and other subjects– but probably because he had read Caesar’s Commentaries and other classics, he devised a plan that was very similar to the Carthaginian general Hannibal’s actions during the Second Punic War at the Battle of Canae in the year 216 B.C. Bouquet had part of his perimeter immediately cave in and ambush the Indians from each side, which allowed him to win the battle and finish his mission to Fort Pitt. The Indians were thoroughly defeated and abandoned that area of the American colony.

To paraphrase Sen. Harry Truman: “American military officer, if you want to be a good strategic leader, you must know your history.”

Young Fred Schwengel was a senior at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1935, an outstanding student. The newly elected United States senator came up there to visit, and the president of the college introduced young Fred Schwengel to the senator and he gave all of the accolades of young Fred: “He is the president of the student body, he is on the honor roll,” and went on and on. And the senator ignored all those comments and looked at young Fred and said, “Young man, if you want to be a good American, you must know your history.”

Young Fred Schwengel never forgot that. He later became a member of Congress from southern Iowa, and later in life became the Capitol Historian of the United States Capitol. I can still see him, well up in his 80s, taking tourists and young people through the Capitol, telling them what they did and what happened there. He never forgot what Senator, later Vice President, later President, Harry Truman said: “Young man, if you want to be a good American, you must know your history.”

I think it is very important that members of the American military know their history better than anyone else. I think that everyone in uniform should be an historian.

To paraphrase Sen. Harry Truman: “American military officer, if you want to be a good strategic leader, you must know your history.”