Lieutenant General Leslie Smith
From Five Questions for a General by Modern War Institute at West Point
March 5, 2026 · 18 min
About this episode
Cadet Orion Van Buskirk interviews retired Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith about leadership and military standards.
Welcome back to Five Questions for a General, a production of the Modern War Institute at West Point. This series features specially selected cadet hosts who are given an incredible professional development opportunity—to sit down with senior military officers and ask carefully crafted questions about everything from leadership to their unique experiences while serving, to their expectations about the future of war. In this episode, Cadet Orion Van Buskirk is joined by retired Lt. Gen. Leslie Smith, whose career began in the field artillery and culminated in his service as inspector general of the Army. He covers a range of subjects during the discussion, including leadership in moments of crisis, the vital role of standards in the profession of arms, and the emerging challenges of large-scale combat operations.
People in this episode
Guest: Lieutenant General Leslie Smith
Topics covered
- leadership
- military experience
- large-scale combat operations
- standards in the profession of arms
Keywords
- military leadership
- crisis management
- combat operations
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