Peace: The Army's next mission or enemy?

2014-07-13T01:58:59-04:00

The Washington Post recently posted an opinion article:

http://m.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-armys-next-enemy-peace/2014/07/10/f02b5180-f0dc-11e3-914c-1fbd0614e2d4_story.html

Is this where we are headed; and what can we as leaders do to keep our "war-fighters" in to train from experience instead of the next generation of Soldiers being taught straight from doctrine?

"A conflict looms between the Army’s wartime ethos of individual initiative and the bureaucratic malaise that peacetime brings. The Army is about to make an abrupt shift: from a sizable, well-resourced, forward-deployed, combat-focused force to a much smaller, austerely funded, home-stationed service. Training and preparation for war will take the place of actually waging it. The Army is moving from 13 straight years of playing in the Super Bowl to an indefinite number of seasons scrimmaging with itself...Mission Command is now on a collision course with the peacetime Army, which values bureaucratic process and compliance above all else. Completing surveys and online training on time, mastering PowerPoint briefings, and grasping the intricacies of training management and readiness reporting all dominate the life of leaders in garrison. In combat, risk of death or failure is a daily hazard. In peacetime, risk-taking is systematically extinguished by layers of rules, restrictions and micromanagement aimed at avoiding any possible shortcomings. Peacetime procedures tend to crush the very attributes required for successful unit combat leaders. If not corrected, this conflict will drive out many of the Army’s best young wartime leaders and demoralize the rest...They won’t have to shrink the force; lots of great people will leave because they are going to make it too painful for them to stay."

The Army’s next enemy? Peace.

How the demands of bureaucracy could stifle leadership.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2014 3:38 AM

2014-07-13T03:38:16-04:00

SGT Cheney, The best way to preserve the peace is to constantly prepare for war under austere live fire battlefield conditions. Maj Gen James Mattis very succintly made the point: Be polite, be professional, but always have a plan to kill everyone you meet. My response to the cited opinion piece is that we must resist the bureaucratic trends that drive initiative, innovation, and our very best leaders and operators out of the military. We achieve this objective by building major rewards for practice, initiative, and innovation into performance reviews and the promotion process. Warmest Regards, Sandy