Flight Simulation for the Brain: Why Army Officers Must Write

Abstract

Writing is on the decline in the Army officer corps. Thoughtful, precise writing in staff papers has been replaced by hastily composed e-mails and PowerPoint slides filled with bullet statements of incomplete sentences. This deterioration of writing skills is causing a corresponding deterioration of thinking skills. Writing, although valuable as a communication medium, is most valuable as a powerful way of thinking. Writing forces us to order thoughts in a logical and coherent way. It forces us to critically examine our own thinking, which ultimately leads to better thinking, problem solving, and decision making. If the Army wants better thinkers, we should start by educating better writers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 07, 2011
Accession Number
ADA550348

Entities

People

  • Trent J. Lythgoe

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Cognition
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Electronic Mail
  • Flight Simulations
  • Flight Simulators
  • Flight Training
  • Mental Processes
  • New York
  • Psychology
  • Simulations
  • Simulators
  • Students
  • Thinking
  • Training
  • United States

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Systems Analysis and Design