Building the Army's Backbone

Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew L. Brown is an assistant professor of history at the Royal Military College of Canada. With over three decades of service in the army, he has served in a variety of positions at home and on operations abroad. His research focuses on army manpower issues in the first half of the twentieth century, especially in the Second World War.

• Introduction1 Profile of the Infantry Senior NCOs2 NCO Development before the War3 The Wartime Army's Expectations of Its NCOs4 Wartime Drivers of NCO Development5 Unit and Formation Programs6 The Mass Army's Programs in Canada7 The Mass Army's Programs in the United Kingdom8 Managing the TalentConclusionNotes; Bibliography; Index

"Andrew Brown…has credibly produced a historiographic masterpiece…It is a significant read for every NCO, military leaders, instructors, and historians, and anyone who wants to know how key conditions were set for Canadian military success in the Second World War."- John M. Hinck (The Journal of Military History) "Overall, [Brown] presents a narrative of NCO development that is contextualised within the Canadian Army's wider wartime activities. It is a thoroughly valuable contribution to the historiography"- Megan Hamilton, King's College London (Canadian Military History)