Build Your Military Leadership Dream Team and We'll Guess How Old You Are

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
Build Your Military Leadership Dream Team and We'll Guess How Old You Are
Image: Thinkstock Images / Stockbyte / Getty Images

About This Quiz

"The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence, it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected," or so said Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese general of Wu, who is credited as the author of "The Art of War." How a nation fights its wars is as much a product of that nation's culture as the art it produces, the music it plays and the form its politics take.

Even the laws governing war changed with time, adjusting to the expectations of civilizations. Whereas decimation and mass brutality were the rule in the Roman era, by the 20th century, such actions were deemed war crimes. Certainly, some generals were successful because their natural instincts fit within the constraints of their time, be those constrictions legal, technological or religious. Other generals pushed hard against the limits of their times, overcoming enemies without and within because of their rejection of cultural norms.

Culture today changes a lot faster than it once did, in part because technology changes the dynamics of war much more rapidly than it once did. Add to this a cultural landscape where under-represented views can come to the fore much more quickly, and you're faced with a world where the future of war is much less predictable. As a result of this rapid change, one's stomach for a certain kind of war changes with age. Take a journey through the great wars with us, build your ideal team of military leaders, and we will guess how old you are.

Who would you want in charge of the Defense Intelligence Agency, which, unlike the CIA, is not a civilian agency?
Ysanne Isard
Isser Harel
Colin Gubbins
Francis Walsingham

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Who would you put in charge of the US's Missile Defense Agency?
Charles White
Charles Martel
John W. Raymond
Alexander the Great

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Your forces are going to have to find the enemy hidden among the civilians in a heavily overgrown jungle country. Who would you have organize this?
Walter E. Kurtz
Frederick C. Weyand
Shaka Zulu
Louis Botha

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If you had to staff the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is a combat support element of military intelligence, who would you want in charge?
Charles Xavier
Attila The Hun
William L. Shelton
Yohanon of Gischala

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From which empire would you most rather draw your top ranks of soldiers?
Galactic
Roman
Mongol
British

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If you were setting up a bureau of economic warfare, who would you want in charge of it?
Ivan Boesky
Alexander Nevsky
John Perkins
Russell Lamont Maxwell

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If you were charged with picking the head for the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, who would you want cracking the whip?
Gny. Sgt. Hartman
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
Miyamoto Musashi
John Hawkwood

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Who would you want in charge of something like STRATCOM, which controls much of the US's nuclear arsenal?
Jack D. Ripper
Curtis LeMay
John E. Hyten
John P. McConnell

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In a cold war, someone has to be in charge of your submarine fleet. Who would you put in charge?
Marko Ramius
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière
Dudley “Mush” Morton
Karl Dönitz

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Would you consider appointing a specialist to a leadership position in order to get around time in grade requirements?
Absolutely not!
No, that would be highly unusual.
Yes, absolutely, if they have what it takes.
It's likely, depending on other options.

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You are in the midst of an air war in Europe. Who would you want organizing your sorties?
Viper
Manfred von Richthofen
Henry Percy
Alexander Pokryshkin

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Which is more important to you in a military leader: experience with modern artillery or tactics born of simpler situations?
Probably old tactics
Definitely modern artillery
Definitely old tactics
Probably modern hardware

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Who would you make your Commandant of the Marine Corps?
Nathan R. Jessep
Dan Daly
William Eaton
Chesty Puller

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If your space program were militarized, who would you want to be in charge?
Artor Amhrad
The First Earl of Pembroke (William Marshal)
Yagyu Munenori
Leonidas of Sparta

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What patriotic nerd would you want running the National Security Agency (NSA), whose mission is electronic intelligence gathering but not human intelligence gathering?
Guccifer 2.0
Hal Abelson
Grace Hopper
John von Neumann

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If you, the commander in chief, were overthrown in a coup, who would you rather do it?
Casey Ryback
James Mattis
Henry V
Simon bar Kochba

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If you were running a covert ops team, who would you want in charge, in the field?
Solid Snake
John Basilone
Matt Bissonnette
William Wallace

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On the resume of a potential military leader, the defeat of which of these empires would impress you the most?
The Tyranids
The Roman Empire
The Empire of Alexander
The Han Dynasty

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What key background requirement would you have for anyone in charge of a brigade or division?
A spine of steel
Ice water in their veins
An advanced degree
A few good kills

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You're fighting a sea war in the South Pacific. Who would you want in charge of the fleet?
Ragnar Lothbrok
John S. McCain, Sr.
Themistocles
William Hargood

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Who would you want as a middleman for the US Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, making sure US naval forces are prepared to go anywhere and do anything?
James M. Montgomery
Heihachiro
Hayreddin Barbarossa
Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov

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How important is it that at least some of your Joint Chiefs of Staff come from the modern era?
I'd rather they come from the future!
I'd prefer if they all come from the past 50 years or so.
I don't mind if they're from another age, because this is basically a magic hypothetical and we can bring them up to speed.
I'd rather they all be old fashioned soldiers who are used to just ballistas, arrows and swords.

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Who would you put in charge of the Office of Naval Operations, the effective head of the Navy?
Popeye The Sailor Man
Chester W. Nimitz
Horatio Nelson
Yi Sun-sin

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Who would you want commanding your tanks in a battle in The Empty Quarter?
Godfrey de Ibelin
Saladin
Temüjin
Vladimir-Suzdal

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Who would you pick to run your clandestine service when much of the world is at war, but you aren't?
Diana from the ICA
Manuel Piñeiro
George Washington
Bertrand du Guesclin

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To which sort of top position would you appoint a non-traditional figure like a mathematician with no military experience, if you were told you had to?
Head of Space Force!
Nothing military, but perhaps a civilian position
I'd give him a division and a few very experienced commanders and see what he could do.
Assistant to one of the Joint Chiefs

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At what point would you set the age cutoff for combat leadership?
45
65
50
30

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Which of these cultures would you rather have unit leaders come from?
China
Sparta
Japan
Rome

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You are invading Russia. Who would you put at the head of your army?
Thomas J. Whitmore
Napoleon Bonaparte
Ögedei Khan
Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Which branch of your military will you prioritize if you have a staffing shortage?
The Space Force
The Navy
The Army
The Marines

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You Got: