Chad Williamson
“We have a vision of what our warrior looks like… a guy who’s six-foot-five, who can lift mountains. I’m not sure that’s exactly who we always need.”
This wasn’t an offhand remark, it was a strategic provocation to rethink what national security demands in the 21st century. Chrissy Houlahan—an Air Force veteran and House Armed Services Committee member—was addressing the deeply ingrained mental image still shaping how we recruit, train, and evaluate military talent.
That image—the tall, muscled, physically dominant archetype—isn’t wrong, but it is incomplete. Especially now. Because the most consequential fights ahead may not require lifting mountains, but rather, lifting meaning.
Story as Strategy
Warfare has always had a cognitive dimension—how we think, how we interpret uncertainty, and the stories we tell ourselves about enemies and purpose. Today, that cognitive terrain isn’t just part of war—it is the battlefield.
Understanding this shift requires more than new tech—it demands new cognition. Major Christopher Mesnard, in his thesis at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, lays the groundwork for what he calls narrative-based decision-making. He defines narrative not as a communications tool, but as a cognitive function. As he writes…
“The mind thematically aligns stories and their elements into narratives, demonstrating a cognitive process that assists in an individual’s understanding of reality and the possible decisions which logically fit into that reality.”
This means that every warfighter—regardless of their domain or mission set—is, in some way, a narrative actor. Warfighters don’t just carry weapons, they carry worldviews. They don’t just execute orders, they embody stories about who matters, what matters, and what it means to win.
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