Updated below
The U.S. Army issued new doctrine this month on the role of music in military operations.
“The mission of Army music is to provide music supporting unified land operations and instill in our forces the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote America’s interests at home and abroad,” the Army doctrine states.
“Army music stands ready to provide flexible, relevant, and targeted music support where civilian entertainers cannot go.”
“Music instruments in the form of horns, trumpets or drums were a part of military strategy dating to ancient times. Archeology gives us stone reliefs from 3,000 years before Christ depicting Assyrians and Babylonians parading brass instruments in military victory. Bands of musical instruments were included in formations throughout the centuries.”
The new Army doctrinal publication “provides key guidance pertaining to the mission, organization, and operation of music performance units (MPUs)” — otherwise known as Army bands. “This manual should serve as a guide for training and operations based on the tenets of music supporting unified land operations.”
See Army Music, ATP 1-19, February 2015.
Update: Relatedly, see Missions, Functions and Tasks of the U.S. Navy Band, OPNAVINST 5450.346A, February 23, 2015.
“One thing became increasingly clear: AI doesn’t simply introduce a new category of risk. It changes the speed, scale, complexity, and interaction of risks that already exist.”
In an ideal world, we would not have state or federal climate intervention research bans. We would have researchers and institutions that would not shy away from revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of these technologies and doing so responsibly.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”
Ask people what worries them most right now, and they’ll say the cost of living and their livelihoods, not climate change. But those concerns are not separate.