executed" and forget that "did" is
in the dictionary. A captain along the MLR (main line of
resistance) notifies his battalion commander that he has "advanced
his left flank" when all that has actually occurred is that six
riflemen from the left have crawled forward to new, and possibly,
untenable ground.

It is better at all times to _rein in_. The strength of military
writing, like the soundness of military operations, does not gain
through overstatement and artificial coloring. The bigger the
subject, the less it needs embroidery.

For lucidity and sincerity, the important thing is to say what you
have to say in whatever words most accurately express your own
thoughts. That done, it is pointless to worry about the effect on
the audience.

The list of suggestions could be extended indefinitely. But enough has
already been said to stake out a main line for those who have already
decided that this subject deserves their interest.

A majority of the world's most gifted writers would in all probability
be struck dumb if put before an audience; though dealing confidently
with ideas, they lack confidence when dealing with people. The
military officer has need of both talents, and as to where the accent
should be placed, it is probably more important that he should speak
well than that his writing prose should be polished. A unit commander
may permit a clerk or a subordinate to do the greater part of his
paper work, either because his own time is taken with other duties or
because he is awkward at it, but if he permits any other voice to
dominate the councils of the organization, he soon ceases to exercise
moral authority over it.

Of this there is no question. The judgment men take of their superior
is formed as much by what he says and how he says it as by his action.

The matter of nerve is a main element in speaking. When an officer is
ill at ease, fidgety and not to the point, the vote of his command for
the time being is "no confidence," and so long as he remains that
way, they will not change, no matter though his good will shines forth
through other acts.

On the other hand, the military crowd is an extremely sympathetic
audience. It has to be; it is drawing pay for so being. But even if
that were not true, the ranks have a generous spirit and are ever
disposed to give the newcomer an even break. If he meets them
confidently and calmly, measures his words,