Full color publication with photographs. A first of its kind, this book-of, by, and for the noncommissioned officer and petty officer-is a comprehensive explanation of the enlisted leader across the U.S. Armed Services. It complements The Armed Forces Officer, the latest edition of which was published by NDU Press in 2007, as well as the Services' NCO/PO manuals and handbooks. Written by a team of Active, Reserve, and retired senior enlisted leaders from all Service branches, this book defines and describes how NCOs/POs fit into an organization, centers them in the Profession of Arms, explains their dual roles of complementing the officer and enabling the force, and exposes their international engagement. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey writes in his foreword to the book, "We know noncommissioned officers and petty officers to have exceptional competence, professional character, and soldierly grit-they are exemplars of our Profession of Arms." Aspirational and fulfilling, this book helps prepare young men and women who strive to become NCOs/POs, re-inspires serving enlisted leaders, and stimulates reflection by those who have retired from or left active service. It also gives those who have never worn the uniform a better understanding of who these exceptional men and women are, and why they are properly known as the "Backbone of the Armed Forces."

Full color publication with photographs. A first of its kind, this book-of, by, and for the noncommissioned officer and petty officer-is a comprehensive explanation of the enlisted leader across the U.S. Armed Services. It complements The Armed Forces Officer, the latest edition of which was published by NDU Press in 2007, as well as the Services' NCO/PO manuals and handbooks. Written by a team of Active, Reserve, and retired senior enlisted leaders from all Service branches, this book defines and describes how NCOs/POs fit into an organization, centers them in the Profession of Arms, explains their dual roles of complementing the officer and enabling the force, and exposes their international engagement. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey writes in his foreword to the book, "We know noncommissioned officers and petty officers to have exceptional competence, professional character, and soldierly grit-they are exemplars of our Profession of Arms." Aspirational and fulfilling, this book helps prepare young men and women who strive to become NCOs/POs, re-inspires serving enlisted leaders, and stimulates reflection by those who have retired from or left active service. It also gives those who have never worn the uniform a better understanding of who these exceptional men and women are, and why they are properly known as the "Backbone of the Armed Forces."

After an extensive search of literature by and about the military profession and professional military officers, this study concludes that the concept of Duty includes five imperatives: defense of the United States, support of the government in the performance of its constitutional duties, dedication to the military profession, selflessness, and courage. As the officer applies these five imperatives in his professional life, balance is essential. For example, it is every officer's Duty to seek in his or her professional life a balance between the competing demands of self and selflessness. This thesis finds the definition of Duty in FM 100-1 inadequate and proposes a definition of Duty based on the five imperatives derived from the survey of literature. It contends that the distinction between individual and institutional values in the Army Ethic dilutes the power of a time-honored word like Duty. It also finds that the essential idea of balance is missing from military ethics instruction and that Duty is not addressed as a separate value within the Army schoolhouse. The study recommends a reconsideration of both the ethics curriculum in the Army schoolhouse and the Army Ethic described in FM 100-1 to better account for the importance of Duty in the profession of arms.

Personnel services support is a sustainment function executed at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels by the Services under their Title 10, United States Code (USC), authority. Integrated personnel support is a vital component of operational effectiveness and, when executed properly, becomes a combat multiplier for the joint force. The joint force commander (JFC) and the manpower and personnel directorate of a joint staff (J-1) continually maintain visibility of personnel manning levels to anticipate requirements and provide timely manpower support to planned operations or to direct the planning and execution of branches or sequels that can best accomplish the task, given existing constraints and restraints. Authorization and guidance for implementation of personnel programs in support of joint operations are set forth in Titles 5, 10, 38, and 39, USC, and in Department of Defense (DOD) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) issuances. Services and Service components will retain authority for personnel support to their forces assigned or attached to joint commands, subject to the coordinating guidance of the J-1 issued under the authority of the JFC. This publication is the keystone document of the personnel series. It provides doctrine for planning, coordinating, and providing personnel support to joint operations.

"A Different Kind of War" is the US Army's preliminary history of its campaign in Afghanistan between October 2001 and September 2005. Based on hundreds of oral interviews and unclassified documents, this study offers a comprehensive chronological narrative of the first four years of Operation Enduring Freedom. "A Different Kind of War" tells the story of how the Coalition planned the campaign against the Taliban regime and then used its military forces to overthrow that regime in 2001. The study then focuses on the Army's lead role in the campaign that evolved after the establishment of a new government for Afghanistan in 2002. As this work shows, that new campaign slowly evolved into a broad counterinsurgency effort that featured combat operations, reconstruction projects, and training programs for a new Afghan Army. "A Different Kind of War" closes with a discussion of key historical insights from this period of military operations in Afghanistan. Maps, photographs and tables support this important study throughout.