Welcome back to our review of the Chief of Naval Operations’ Professional Reading Program.
If Foundry was about the industrial base that builds power, and Fleet was about the strategic logic that positions it, Fight is about the moment theory runs out and combat begins.
This category gets closer to the hardest truth in military service: war does not reward elegant assumptions. It punishes weak doctrine, poor training, technical complacency, and false confidence. The CNO’s questions for this section are exactly the right ones: How do we prepare tactically for a fight we cannot fully predict? And what timeless truths of naval warfare remain constant despite new technologies?
That is why this part of the reading program matters so much. These books do not treat combat as a talking point. They treat it as a brutal test of endurance, adaptation, judgment, and tactical competence under pressure.
For me, that is the value of the “Fight” category. It pushes us away from abstractions and back toward the deck plates. It reminds us that missiles, algorithms, and networks do not eliminate friction. They simply change its form.
“Reading is a force multiplier. It equips us with the knowledge, perspective, and critical thinking necessary to lead, to innovate, and to prevail in the unforgiving crucible of combat.”
—Admiral Daryl Caudle, CNO, November 2025
And for readers who want more than a surface summary, the books below are where the real discussion begins.
