Gustavus Adophus, King of Sweden, is widely heralded in military circles as one of the greatest military commanders of all time. He is credited as the “father of modern warfare” through his innovative use of combined arms, the integration of multiple branches (in his day, infantry, cavalry, artillery, and reconnaissance) under a unified command to achieve military success.

He is less widely known for his role as the father of the modern military disciplinary/criminal code. Legal scholars commonly trace the British and American codes to Adolphus’ Articles of War of 1621. Though most prominent scholars credit him with inventing his military code from scratch, it is more likely, as others have proposed, that he should be credited instead for being a student of history and synthesizing centuries of efforts before his time into a disciplinary code that contributed to the transformation of a weak army into one of the most effective fighting force of its time.

Seemed like good inspiration for exploring military law, history, and society–and sharing my passion.