Posted on Apr 30, 2020
The Strategist and the Virus Crisis - Modern War Institute
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For this article, "incremental opportunism" are the keywords for me. This article portrays the world in competition; there are winners and losers. This philosophy causes contradiction with my religious beliefs. I struggle to find the idea of taking advantage of any and all situations appealing. Rather, sometimes situations demand self-sacrifice and self-less service, a specific denial of gain. Whether this could also be considered as incremental opportunism is debatable.
1) How can a leader leverage this new variable to manufacture sustained strategic advantage?
2) How can a leader thrive in chaos?
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My thoughts:
1) Considering my view at the tactical level, I don't believe that COVID-19 changes the strategy in any significant way. My essential part in maintaining strategic advantages is still focused on warrior tasks and drills. Mastering the basics is what's important. Today, I would find myself as a PL not with a new strategy, but with a new environment in which to train for that strategy. Therefore, I might leverage this variable to adjust my training schedule to include self-development for my platoon. Given that the working environment is now one of separation and isolation, working on mental health and level 1 warrior skills would be my priority. These will be well-suited for the environment.
2) Teamwork makes the dream work. General Patton in his famous speech to the Third Army said "The Army is a team. It live, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap!" though he used more colorful language. He then went on to talk about how each soldier has a job, and the heroes are not always the ones the front line, but are often found in the logistical lines of support. This is the mentality I take into leadership at the platoon level. Success, thriving in chaos, does not rest solely on my shoulders. My efforts are but one small part of the bigger element that is the platoon. Therefore, our strength is not in my individual excellence, but in the collective excellence of our unit. For me to succeed in chaotic conditions I must therefore have already done the preparatory work of building trust and establishing mission command in the platoon, along with becoming proficient in our assigned tasks. When it comes time to perform in chaotic environments, the key isn't being able to produce innovating strategy, but being able to execute trained actions with precision and efficiency. Innovation must be a branch that stems from the basics.
1) How can a leader leverage this new variable to manufacture sustained strategic advantage?
2) How can a leader thrive in chaos?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My thoughts:
1) Considering my view at the tactical level, I don't believe that COVID-19 changes the strategy in any significant way. My essential part in maintaining strategic advantages is still focused on warrior tasks and drills. Mastering the basics is what's important. Today, I would find myself as a PL not with a new strategy, but with a new environment in which to train for that strategy. Therefore, I might leverage this variable to adjust my training schedule to include self-development for my platoon. Given that the working environment is now one of separation and isolation, working on mental health and level 1 warrior skills would be my priority. These will be well-suited for the environment.
2) Teamwork makes the dream work. General Patton in his famous speech to the Third Army said "The Army is a team. It live, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap!" though he used more colorful language. He then went on to talk about how each soldier has a job, and the heroes are not always the ones the front line, but are often found in the logistical lines of support. This is the mentality I take into leadership at the platoon level. Success, thriving in chaos, does not rest solely on my shoulders. My efforts are but one small part of the bigger element that is the platoon. Therefore, our strength is not in my individual excellence, but in the collective excellence of our unit. For me to succeed in chaotic conditions I must therefore have already done the preparatory work of building trust and establishing mission command in the platoon, along with becoming proficient in our assigned tasks. When it comes time to perform in chaotic environments, the key isn't being able to produce innovating strategy, but being able to execute trained actions with precision and efficiency. Innovation must be a branch that stems from the basics.
The Strategist and the Virus Crisis - Modern War Institute
Posted from mwi.usma.edu
Coronavirus COVID19
Strategy
Leadership
Opportunity
Training
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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I'd like to think of myself an "idealist with experience". In that sense, while I cherish values and principles... I acknowledge that from time to time, the "greater good" may be served by very Machiavellian strategies. Contrapositively, we have to remember that our enemies have "values and principles" as well-so we must expect them to do the same. The SS believed themselves to be "holy warriors", in the same vein as the modern-day jihadi. At the end of the day, once you've chosen which "side" you belong on... the rules of conflict are pretty simple: deny your opponent any advantage at every opportunity, think faster than he can act, apply force violently and disproportionately to attain superiority. If he brings a rock... you bring a gun, if he brings a gun... you bring artillery. If he has command of the field... you interdict his sustainment and choke him out. Whatever the origin of this pandemic, it presents "opportunities" to our adversaries, foreign and domestic. Our best defense is to recognize and mitigate these opportunities as best we can. If "they" want to disrupt our movements... we have to figure out how to maintain presence while taking necessary precautions. If "they" want to remove strategic assets from the theater of operations... we have to commit to finding ways to keeping them there or replacing them as required. If "they" want to destabilize our command structure and civil government...we have to find a way to hold both together and keep them viable. These are the reasons that while I recognize the importance of taking precautions to protect our population... I'm resistant to the notion of a "new normal" without taking these "other" risks into consideration.
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The international environment is a world in competition and conflict. Nation-states, private industrial giants, NGOs, terrorists and criminals all compete to gain power. Clausewitz' smaller book, "War, Politics and Power" is closer to your mark than his "On War". "Strategy in the Contemporary World" by Baylis, Wirtz et al hits your points as well. Philosphically, man's "natural" state is one of conflict (Hobbes) and we can only overcome this natural state through education and belief in higher principles. We as individual leaders can only resolve our individual ethics with conflict and war if we are convinced that our higher principles (liberty, equality, love, etc) are better represented by our own nation than by the enemy we are fighting. See "War, Morality, and the Military Profession" (Wakin) for a discussion of this apparent contradiction between a military leader's beliefs and his duty to his country. You are asking tough questions, 1LT (Join to see). We all need to keep asking them, and trying to find good enough (if not the RIGHT) answers. Tactical excellence is your first duty as a Lt. Never too early to begin grappling with the Operational Art and Strategic thinking though.
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1LT (Join to see)
Never been a fan of Hobbes! I find stronger arguments for the natural state of man in people like Aquinas, Lewis, Tozer, and Ireneaus. But I hear what you're saying sir. I actually found some of your thoughts in a former professor who argued for the use of Aristotle's virtue theory in the Army's current moral development programs. And I greatly appreciate the recommendations, I will add them to my list!
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Col Joseph Lenertz
Aquinas is much nicer than Hobbes. I hope he is closer to the truth, but History is closer to Hobbes.
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