Reading Lists by Service
- Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Joint Chiefs (SEAC) Reading List
- The future of warfare requires advanced thinking to win. The purpose of this reading list is to enhance the scope of your thoughts on leadership and share some works that have helped me throughout my military career. Through self discovery and analysis of the content in each book, I want to help you develop new approaches to leadership.
- U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff’s Professional Reading List
- “To develop a common frame of reference among Air Force members — officers, enlisted, and civilians — to help each of us become better, more effective advocates of air and space power.”
- U.S. Army Chief of Staff Professional Reading List
- A course of personal study and contemplation is an essential component for the individual development of every Army professional. Each of us faces busy schedules every day and finding time to read and think is a recurring challenge. But even as we train our units and physically condition our bodies, we must improve our minds through reading and critical thinking.
- U.S. Marine Corps Commandant’s Professional Reading List
- The Commandant’s Professional Reading List is arranged into nine sections: “Commandants Choice”, “Profession of Arms”, ”Innovation”, “Leadership”, “Strategy”, “Foundational”, “Unit Library Requests”, “Podcasts”, and “Periodicals”.
- U. S. Navy Chief of Operations Professional Reading Program
- Nearly 200 years ago, the Navy ordered its ships be outfitted with a reading list of 37 books in order to help train and educate Sailors. The Navy’s leaders knew then what is still the case today: to outthink our competitors we must study and apply lessons we’ve learned from our past. Furthermore, it is critically important for our Navy to be a learning organization. And one of the very best ways to do that is to foster an environment where every Sailor deepens their level of understanding and learning.That is why we are launching an updated Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program (CNO-PRP) reading list, with a motto of “Read Well to Lead Well.”
M. M. Gilday
Admiral, U.S. Navy
Chief of Naval Operations
- Nearly 200 years ago, the Navy ordered its ships be outfitted with a reading list of 37 books in order to help train and educate Sailors. The Navy’s leaders knew then what is still the case today: to outthink our competitors we must study and apply lessons we’ve learned from our past. Furthermore, it is critically important for our Navy to be a learning organization. And one of the very best ways to do that is to foster an environment where every Sailor deepens their level of understanding and learning.That is why we are launching an updated Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program (CNO-PRP) reading list, with a motto of “Read Well to Lead Well.”
- U.S. INDOPACOM Commander’s Reading List
- “This list is a selection of good books… that tries to reflect the breadth and depth of issues that cover what we all do at United States Pacific Command (USPACOM).”
- U.S. Coast Guard Reading List
- Welcome to the 2022 Coast Guard Reading List, the annual collection of recommendations from your shipmates to support your continuous professional and leadership development. The year’s list focuses on the theme “connecting individual purpose to the Coast Guard’s purpose.”
- USSOCOM Commander’s Reading List (Joint Special Operations University Library)
Other Reading Lists
- Berlin, Robert H. Military Classics. Fort Leavenworth, KS: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1988.
- U.S. Navy Surgeon General’s Professional Reading List
“The reading list is comprised of books that have helped shape my perspective as I have developed as a doctor, naval officer, and leader over the course of three decades of service.” U.S. Navy Surgeon General, Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham - Pardee Rand Graduate School Dean’s Recommended Reading List
Every year, Dean Susan L. Marquis surveys students, faculty, and staff for their reading recommendations. She then assigns summer reading to the incoming cohort of students. - Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies Recommended Reading
“Every year, we ask the SSP community what books they would recommend to students who want to keep their minds busy over the summer. For 2022, we asked our faculty (both core and adjunct) for their recommendations. The only rule? It has to be related to security in some way” - U.S. State Department Suggested Reading for Foreign Service Officers
Members of the U.S. Foreign Service must be well-informed and knowledgeable across many disciplines: current world and national affairs, economics, history, public affairs, and management, among others. And, since members of the Foreign Service represent the United States to the world, they must also possess an insightful understanding of American society and culture. This breadth of knowledge is usually gathered gradually over time. The best foundation is a solid education and a personal life-habit of reading, learning, and expanding one’s understanding of the world.
