Guidance for Prospective Authors

Writing for the Red Diamond

Red Diamond is produced by researchers at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command G2. External authors are welcome and encouraged to submit articles for publication in the journal.

Articles

Red Diamond articles support current and future Army training, education, and leader development. Articles should be about or clearly related to threat actors and activities—either real-world or theoretical—or a current or potential operational environment. Article authors may share observations, lessons learned, and professional ideas that can range live, virtual, constructive, and augmented reality environments. In presenting concepts, doctrine, exercises, experiments, training, operations, or implications of threat tactics and techniques, an article must present a compelling “so what” in a continuum of learning to the Soldier and Army leader for readiness.

Submission guidelines

All articles require a title and a byline. The byline should have the author’s name, organization, and email address. There is no strict length requirement for RD articles, however the following guidelines are strongly encouraged and should be exceeded only by exception.

• Articles should be 1000–2500 words.
• Feature articles should be 2000–3500 words, and can be broken into a series.
• Reviews of books or movies should be 750–1500 words.

All submissions should be cited using endnotes (and bibliography, as applicable) formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Information on this style is available at https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formattin g_and_style_guide/chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html.

Articles should be submitted in Microsoft Word via email to the chief editor.

Proposed images and graphics should be included with the submission along with documentation of sourcing and sharing permissions.

All intellectual property must adhere to U.S.C. 17. Summaries, paraphrasing, and quotations must be cited. Images and graphics must be cited and must be public domain or shared with permission of the creator. Information is available at https://www.copyright.gov/title17/

Topics

Red Diamond articles must be relevant to current and future Army training, education, and leader development. Articles must be about or clearly related to threat actors and activities— either real-world or theoretical—or a current or potential operational environment. Article authors may share observations, lessons learned, and professional ideas that can range live, virtual, constructive, and gaming environments. In presenting concepts, doctrine, exercises, experiments, training, operations, or implications of threat tactics and techniques, an article must present a compelling “so what” in a continuum of learning to the Soldier and Army leader for readiness. 

Examples of acceptable topics are shown below. If you have doubts about the suitability of your topic, contact the TRADOC G2 POC(s) listed at the end of this document. 

• Real-world threats (related to the Military variable)
  • Actual or potential threat weapons and equipment, such as tanks or unmanned aerial vehicles;
  • Attacks, such as a bombing in Malaysia;
  • Threat groups, such as al Shabaab; and
  • Military information on potential state adversaries, such as the structure of the North Korean Army. 
• Theoretical threats:
  • Threat doctrine, such as how the opposing force (OPFOR) conducts an ambush; and
  • Subjects related to the decisive action training environments (DATEs), including all content and proper usage. 
• Real-world operational environments (OEs):
  • Non-military aspects of actual or potential OEs, such as effects of a drought in Iraq; and
  • Non-military aspects of actual or potential state adversaries, such as the current political crisis in Venezuela. 
• Threat-related training:
  • Exercise reviews from the threat perspective, such as OPFOR planning during Warfighter Exercise 16-2; and
  • Other training event reviews, such as a mobile training team trip to England

Organization

The article should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. If necessary or helpful, use headings to distinguish different sections. Each paragraph should cohesively address a different topic. One sentence does not usually constitute a paragraph; typically it is at least three sentences. Ensure the points you make are validated with logic and outside sources, if necessary. Additionally, good headings are beneficial to the article, and those such as “Introduction” are typically unnecessary. Very short articles often do not require headings at all, but longer articles often do for the sake of clarity.

References

ACE-TI Writing Guide 20180828

U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 92: Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code. December, 2016. https://www.copyright.gov/title17/title17.pdf

Point of Contact

For questions, contact Ms. Angela Williams, Chief Editor, at angela.m.williams298.civ@army.mil