Joe Buccino is a PAO who writes publicly. He scribed and published a bunch of well thought out articles on important topics. He spends a lot of time thinking about history and strategic issues. He’s published more than 30 articles over the past year.
“I hope some of my ideas can penetrate as strategists think about how we should arm for our future,” said Joe. The future of our national defense, that is.
Look at this guy – He has something to say. He conjures up a thoughtful and comprehensible way to say it. He stays clear of empty criticism or partisan issues. He writes. He writes to serve others, not himself.
How does he get published?
“How did I get them published?! I just submitted them for publication,” Joe said.
Why should you write? Writing makes you smarter. Writing forces critical thought. You might be able to find it easy to banter around the socially distanced dinner table or joust on twitter but writing to clearly articulate an idea is different.
I like how writing-expert Nancy Arapoff described it, “When writing, the students must keep in mind their purpose, think about the facts they will need to select which are relevant to that purpose, and think about how to organize those facts in a coherent fashion. The process of learning to write is largely a process of learning to think more clearly.”
Here’s Joe in Strategy Bridge, Defense One, The National Interest, and USMA Modern War Institute.
Not ready to publish in large public outlets like Joe? No problem.
Part of the reason we created MaxDisclosure was to give you a venue, we’ll publish your ideas right here.
Interested in publishing in more popular outlets? Good for you, Joe wants to help, contact him at joseph.buccino@armywarcollege.edu.
Recently, I had a conversation with one of the most senior and influential PAOs of our time. We talked a little about MaxDisclosure, he complimented the site but said, “I hope you’re actively seeking contributions from the juniors.”
Yes, Sir. We are.
In Projecting Stories, best selling author Michael Paternity says, “Writing is everyday work. It’s a blue-collar job with white-collar aspirations. It’s turning wonder into words, with the materials at hand. Hours upon hours of compulsive obsessive gerrymandering, until your head and back hurts. We lose ourselves in the jungle, then return, as if after a long quest, shaggier and perhaps wiser. Doubt and hard work, that’s partly what writing is. Risk and faith, that is, too.”
You don’t have to be Hemingway, you only have to think hard and consider what you are trying to say before you write it. You’re up for it.
Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kaysee D Lohmann
