Leadership

While some may consider it presumptuous to speak about leadership, we can't escape the reality that reenactor units, events, and the hobby itself suffers and fails without a vision of what we are here for. Good leadership is integral to that. What follows is a collection of articles, essays, commentary, from a variety of sources-- the modern U.S. military, the German military of WW2, the modern U.S. private sector and even some of our own leaders who have been charged with translating those principles into reenacting.
On This Page:
  • Truppenführung Excerpt
  • Infantry Attacks: Chapter 4
  • US Military Perspectives:
    • USMC Leadership Traits
    • USMC Leadership Principles
    • US Army 9 Principles of War
  • 136 GJ Re-enacted Unit Safety Policy
​Some of our best leaders have said this about reenacting:

"Reenacting is about three things: 1) Honoring the veterans; 2) Educating the Public; 3) Having Fun. And we define success as doing all three at the same time."

"There is no force as powerful as the force of personal example."

"The minute you accept a leadership position in reenacting, you are no longer reenacting for yourself. You are now reenacting for your men."

"Your men, first. Always. Yourself, last. Always."
Truppenführung was the culmination of all the German military doctrine reforms in the aftermath of WWI and was first published in 1933. It has been studied comprehensively by the U.S. military and is regarded as a seminal work with lessons for soldiers of any era. The Introduction and the first several pages of the Command chapter is included here. You will be hard-pressed to find a more succinct and straightforward expression of the art of war and the leadership of front-line soldiers at the company level.
Infantry Attacks was published by Rommel between the world wars and recounted his tactical lessons from World War I. Chapter 4, excerpted below, describes the action for which he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class.

Though his generalship in WWII was often criticized and praised (and there is validity to both), here the value of his decision-making is worthy of study: a) He faced a series of highly dangerous situations with no perfect choices; b) He made sound decisions before circumstances made those decisions for him; c) He followed them through unwaveringly.
Concepts From the Modern U.S. Military
While re-enactors apply the military craft to the "war-gaming" in the field, there is a key difference-- leaders and the men they lead are expected to bring everyone home without serious injury. Safety is therefore the primary responsibility of re-enactor leadership.