For the first time in almost 20 years, uniformed officers are once again working as editors of the Army’s professional journals.

The 11 junior officers are part of the first group of Harding Fellows, an extension of the Harding Project whose charter aims to drive cultural change through professional writing and discourse, according to an Army news release.

Handpicked by their branch leadership and paired with the journals’ civilian editors, the fellows serve as editors-in-chief with a mission to breathe new life into the Army’s journals.

“These fellows will channel the legacy of Maj. Gen. Edwin ‘Forrest’ Harding, who renewed Infantry and Infantry Journal in the 1930s,” Lt. Col. Zachary Griffiths, director of the Harding Project, said in the release. “An initiative of Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George, the Harding Project is renewing the Army’s professional journals. As Harding did, these editors will connect the journals with the force and ensure their content is relevant, high quality and accessible.”

Ater a two-year assignment, the fellows will return to the force with an understanding of their branch’s challenges and opportunities.

“Like the observer-controllers who serve at our combat training centers, these leaders will return to operational units as experts in their branches with superior communications skills,” Gen. Gary Brito, commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command, said in the release.

Many of the fellows attended a recent Harding Project Workshop hosted by the Army University Press for Army journal and publication representatives, educators and library and archive specialists. The workshop showcased the next steps in how the Army will modernize and improve professional military journals in support of the Harding Project mission.

“We will use the Harding Project to find the resources to capture and preserve our historical, intellectual capital that resides across our branch journal archives into a single, enterprise-wide repository that is user-friendly and optimized for research and leveraging through artificial intelligence,” Gregg Thompson, deputy to the commander of the Army Combined Arms Center, said in the release.

The inaugural Harding Fellows will work at Air Defense Artillery Journal, Armor Magazine, Sustainment Professional Bulletin, Army Communicator, Aviation Digest, Field Artillery Magazine, Infantry, The Medical Journal, Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin and Special Warfare Magazine.

The Harding Fellowship has been codified as an official Army broadening opportunity. Starting next summer, the second cohort of selected fellows will attend graduate school and then report to their branch’s center of excellence to start their assignment as the journal’s editor-in-chief.

The application window for the second group of Harding Fellows opens in August for active-duty captains, master sergeants and chief warrant officers 4 from the infantry, maneuver support, sustainment, air defense, special operations and military intelligence branches. Other branches will have a chance to apply next fall, according to the release.

Information on how to apply to be part of the next Harding Fellow cohort will be shared on the Harding Project Substack at hardingproject.com and Army platforms. To follow the work of the Harding Project, subscribe to the Harding Project Substack at the same link.