"The Armed Forces Officer" is much more than a how-to guide for military officers. It is a series of candid, timeless essays on the nature of the people who occupy the ranks of the military services. "The Armed Forces Officer" highlights that our military is not just a collection of machines, processes, and regulations, but a very human endeavor whose proper understanding requires acknowledging that humans are what make our military the complex, potent, and wonderful organization that it is—a truth that can be applied to any organization, military or civilian, composed of people and all their mysterious complexities. This is a republication of the 1950 edition of "The Armed Forces Officer."