# john spencer (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 2 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover john spencer. Page: Feed: --- ## [InfantryDort’s “The Cost of the Arena” is a polemical indictment of a society that outsources violence, then treats the men who perform it as contaminated once they return.](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/infantrydorts-the-cost-of-the-arena) _2026-08-21 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ History, as the essay concludes, is unlikely to remember the names of those who stayed in the balcony. ## [Tehran’s Cognitive Offensive and the American Second-Generation Trap: An Analysis of Gregg Roman’s “Tehran’s War on American Morale”](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/tehrans-cognitive-offensive-and-the) _2026-08-19 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ The remaining question is whether we will finally treat the cognitive battlespace with the seriousness we already claim to apply to the kinetic one. ## [Digging Below the Death Zone: An Analysis of John Spencer and Drew Craig’s Examination of Ukraine’s Underground War through the Lenses of Maneuver Warfare, Mission Command, and the Generations of War](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/digging-below-the-death-zone-an-analysis) _2026-08-18 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute and a founding member of the International Working Group on Subterranean Warfare, together with Colonel Drew Craig of NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, have produced a timely and necessary corrective in their 12 August 2026 article “Digging Below the Death Zone: The Underground W… ## [When Sailors Reach for the Rail: The USS Abraham Lincoln Crisis, Combat Fatigue, and the Failure of Second-Generation Leadership in a Fourth-Generation War](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/when-sailors-reach-for-the-rail-the) _2026-08-18 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ History shows that forces which ignore the human dimension of prolonged conflict eventually pay a far higher price than the temporary inconvenience of rotating ships or reforming personnel systems. ## [Victor Davis Hanson’s “Not Winning? Just Change the Rules” as a Diagnostic of Democratic 4th- and 5th-Generation Warfare](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/victor-davis-hansons-not-winning) _2026-08-17 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ Conservatives who wish to prevail must treat both the essay, my book Internal Insurgency and the underlying strategic reality with the seriousness they deserve. ## [\*Shadows Over Albion\* Book 7 of the \*Reforging the Sword\* Series: Forward by Major Gerry Long UK Army retired. Video summary below.](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/shadows-over-albion-book-7-of-the-8a4) _2026-08-16 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ Three versions, Kindle, soft and hard cover are available through Amazon.com (see below link to order) ## [Gunfire as the Ultimate Personnel Board: Why Credentialism Fails Before the First Volley](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/gunfire-as-the-ultimate-personnel) _2026-08-15 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ We already know what works. We already know that gunfire is the most ruthless—and most honest—personnel system ever devised. ## [Trump’s Theory of Victory Validated: Maneuver Warfare, Mission Command, and Generational Triumph in the Iran Campaign](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/trumps-theory-of-victory-validated) _2026-08-14 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ The maximalists, minimalists, and doubters can continue their arguments. The facts on energy flows, reconstruction agreements, economic deals, and expanding security partnerships prove otherwise. ## [Kelley Beaucar Vlahos has delivered a timely and necessary diagnosis of what ails America’s professional military education system. In “Do Hegseth’s Reforms to Military Universities Go Far Enough?”](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/kelley-beaucar-vlahos-has-delivered) _2026-08-13 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ Anything less leaves the system broken in the ways that matter most on the battlefield. ## [The real danger is not autonomous killers; it is the systematic atrophy of the adaptive judgment that Mission Command, maneuver warfare, and genuine military professionalism require.](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/the-real-danger-is-not-autonomous) _2026-08-12 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ How does AI impact professionalism in a culture that remains largely in the 2nd Generation of Warfare? ## [Transcript-Driven Stock Discovery (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/3aLDefAHBfsc) _2026-08-12 · **Sponsored**_ Ranked, evidence-backed watchlists from indexed executive transcripts for 1–2 quarter horizons ## [Analysis of Pentagon weighs eliminating civilian tenure at military academies and reviewing all curriculum, draft memo says By James LaPorta, Eleanor Watson, CBS 31 July 2026](https://donvandergriff.substack.com/p/analysis-of-pentagon-weighs-eliminating) _2026-08-11 · Donald Vandergriff · Donald Vandergriff_ We do not need to burn the staff colleges down. We need to stop using them as finishing schools for industrial-age managers and start using them as forges for adaptive warfighters. ## [How a 1672 tragedy may have influenced the raising of Dido Elizabeth Belle](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/07/06/how-a-1672-tragedy-may-have-influenced-the-raising-of-dido-elizabeth-belle/) _2026-07-06 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ Prompted by an email from a reader, David Lear, this article takes us back long before the Georgian era. We begin in 1672, on the island of Guernsey, inside the 800-year-old walls of Castle Cornet, which was at the time, the official residence of Governor, Sir Christopher Hatton. His household included his mother, his sisters, Continue reading How a 1672 tragedy may have influenced the raising of… ## [Guest post – Casting a little light upon William Williams of Norwich (fl. 1758 to 1797)](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/06/22/guest-post-casting-a-little-light-upon-william-williams-of-norwich-fl-1758-to-1797/) _2026-06-22 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ I am delighted to welcome back Jim Symington who has written several articles for All Things Georgian, incuding Catherine Clements and Selina Diana Catherine Milner. With that, I ll hand you over to Jim to tell you about his recently acquired painting: I am fortunate to have come into possession of a painting traditionally called Young Continue reading Guest post Casting a little light upon… ## [Clifton Parish Lower churchyard, also referred to as ‘The Strangers Burial Ground’](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/06/08/clifton-parish-lower-churchyard-also-referred-to-as-the-strangers-burial-ground/) _2026-06-08 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ Today I am delighted to welcome back Dr Paul Main, a regular guest to All Things Georgian to share more fascinating information about Bristol. Paul has contributed several articles previously, such as The Romantic Poets in Bristol and The Story of the Hotwell at Bristol which if you haven t read them already, they are fascinating, Continue reading Clifton Parish Lower churchyard, also referred to… ## [Phoebe Hessel: Brighton’s 108-Year-Old Soldier](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/05/25/phoebe-hessel-brightons-108-year-old-soldier/) _2026-05-25 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ Today’s article is about Phoebe Hessel who lived a remarkable life, in part as a man. According to her grave, she was born in 1713, so right at the end of the reign of Queen Anne and lived long enough to see George IV become king in 1821. If her age was correctly noted in Continue reading Phoebe Hessel: Brighton’s 108-Year-Old Soldier ## [Guest post by R M Healey – John Spencer Smith: an English gentleman on the make in late eighteenth century Constantinople – Part 2](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/guest-post-by-r-m-healey-john-spencer-smith-an-english-gentleman-on-the-make-in-late-eighteenth-century-constantinople-part-2/) _2026-05-11 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ In the previous article, we left John Spencer Smith, the former page boy at the Royal court, Oxford graduate, failed soldier (on half pay as a ‘ reduced lieutenant ‘ of 8th regiment of foot from December 1792 to December 1793 ) and blagger among the diplomats in late eighteenth century Constantinople, investing in a Continue reading Guest post by R M Healey John Spencer Smith: an English gentleman… ## [Guest post by R M Healey – John Spencer Smith: an English gentleman on the make in late eighteenth century Constantinople](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/04/27/guest-post-by-r-m-healey-john-spencer-smith-an-english-gentleman-on-the-make-in-late-eighteenth-century-constantinople/) _2026-04-27 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ I am delighted to welcome back R M Healey, who has written several articles for All Things Georgian who is going to tell us more about an Englishman in Constantinople. Born in 1769 in Midgham, Berkshire, the son of John Smith, a merchant, and younger brother of the naval hero, William Sidney Smith, John Spencer Continue reading Guest post by R M Healey John Spencer Smith: an English gentleman on… ## [Guest post by Jennie Goutet – 18th century Spa : the Café de l’Europe](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/guest-post-by-jennie-goutet-18th-century-spa-the-cafe-de-leurope/) _2026-04-13 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ I am delighted to welcome a new guest to All Things Georgian, Jennie Goutet. She is the best-selling author of eighteen historical romances, including the Clavering Chronicles, Memorable Proposals, and The Bridwells’ Grand Tour series. Her books have received first place in historical romance for the New England Reader’s Choice Awards and have hit the Continue reading Guest post by Jennie Goutet… ## [A Prison Romance – Guest Post by Elaine Thornton](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/03/30/a-prison-romance-guest-post-by-elaine-thornton/) _2026-03-30 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ I was delighted when Elaine Thornton contacted me about another story she had unearthed some new information about, so I ll hand over to Elaine to tell you more about a tale with an unexpected ending. While looking through the Home Office papers for 1786 for an earlier article on Margaret Nicholson, I came across an Continue reading A Prison Romance Guest Post by Elaine Thornton ## [The fashion for Spring 1826 featuring Urling’s lace](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/03/16/the-fashion-for-spring-1826-featuring-urlings-lace/) _2026-03-16 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ Today, we will take a brief look at spring fashionable London dress from two hundred years ago courtesy of the trusty reference book, Ackermann, Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions and politics. The 1820’s saw a transition in fashion from Neoclassical to the Romantic and guidance was readily available for the fashion conscious woman Continue reading The fashion for… ## [Stocks ranked by what execs say (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/dKERycmkSgLl) _2026-03-16 · **Sponsored**_ Evidence-backed watchlists from earnings calls and filings, cited to real transcripts—not guesses. ## [The Tragic Fate of Sarah Arrowsmith: The Pitchfork Poisoning](https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/the-tragic-fate-of-sarah-arrowsmith-the-pitchfork-poisoning/) _2026-03-02 · Sarahmurden · All Things Georgian_ Alford is a small market town in rural Lincolnshire, which, in 1823, had a population of under 2,000. In December of that year, however, it gained national notoriety. Why? Sadly, it was due to a young woman named Sarah Arrowsmith, who died at the hands of her ‘partner’, John Smith. He was charged with poisoning Continue reading The Tragic Fate of Sarah Arrowsmith: The Pitchfork Poisoning