Back to the garrison Army or not? Can you prepare for a future operating environment of uncertainty through self development?

2014-02-21T21:12:25-05:00

"Being a military professional does not mean waiting for the system to develop you. It means taking charge of your own development and seeking out opportunities to make yourself a better leader. It is our responsibility to those that we might lead in future assignments to be prepared when the time comes, regardless of the opportunities that are presented to us by the military" Yes force shaping is scary but how can you become prepared for uncertainty? Through your own self-development!

http://enlightenedsoldier.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/a-letter-to-junior-officers/

A Letter to Junior Officers

Recently several lieutenants have written me to share their fears and anxieties about their own particular development as the tectonic plates of the Army and budgets continue to shift. In their ey...

Response by COL Vince Lindenmeyer, Ph.D. (Retired) made Feb 21 at 2014 9:23 PM

2014-02-21T21:23:29-05:00

How do you create opportunity for yourself in an era of downsizing? How do you prepare for an uncertain future of crisis and conflict?

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Feb 21 at 2014 9:40 PM

2014-02-21T21:40:55-05:00

Sir, if I was still serving now, I would use this period to really sharpen the core competencies of the Profession and grab onto the belt of more senior mentors to learn from their experiences.

Response by 1SG Frank Rocha made Feb 21 at 2014 9:45 PM

2014-02-21T21:45:07-05:00

In any particular "discipline" there is going to exist an element of perishable elements that we must refresh on a regular basis to avoid losing them altogether. Complacency can also function as a cancer in our efforts to maintain our proficiency.

That said, there are always going to be unknown factors when moving forward. We all react differently to the unknown. Some continuously second guess themselves while others frantically pour over known material fearing that something may have been missed. When all is said and done the only way to know whether you've learned to swim is to jump in the water.

A quote I read some time ago (I believe it was Confucius) said, and I am paraphrasing, there are three paths to wisdom. The first is through Observation, which is noblest; the second through imitation, which is easiest; the third is through experience, which is bitterest.

I like to think I have gained through the first two but much of it is through the third. I learn and develop on my own when all other options have been exhausted. Even then, my efforts to learn from my peers or through higher learning, in and of itself can be viewed as self development to an extent. The decision to pursue the education to begin with is a firm decision to develop myself further.

Keeping all that in mind, we will adapt back to a garrison Army. Over time, so long as no more wars come about, the experiences we have of war will fade. The memories will fade. A new generation will replace us through attrition until nobody is left from wartime. If we are lucky the fog of war will not rear its ugly head again.

When preparation is all you can do then thats what you do. You can only simulate combat to a certain extent. when all is said and done the only way you know if your ready is by doing it. Just prepare as well as you can and when the time comes trust in the training and preparation you have received.

I imagine in the future simulators may come to be that marries preparation and training with a functional atmosphere that simulates combat perfectly. but at the end of the day we will still know its only training and psychologically we will always know that we are safe from harm regardless of the complexity of the design. Jumping in the pool is the only true way to feel the water.

Response by COL Vince Lindenmeyer, Ph.D. (Retired) made Feb 23 at 2014 7:17 PM

2014-02-23T19:17:25-05:00

Focus on developing your profession…your expert body of knowledge and practice. your society expects you to…

"Our Army is in a period of transition as we continue the fight in Afghanistan and prepare for future conflict. During this period of transition, it is especially critical that leaders ensure that our Army maintains our capabilities and our strong ethical foundation by educating leaders, developing our expert body of knowledge (doctrine), training fundamental combat skills, and enforcing standards of discipline."

Profession of Arms

Professions are not professions simply because they say they are. Their clients,
society as a whole, have to accept their claims and trust the professions with
jurisdiction over important areas of h...

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2014 2:53 PM

2014-02-24T14:53:40-05:00

Great point - a concern for the future is can the services maintain the skills required for kinetic operations? The "COIN Social Services" - governance, economics, addressing grievances among the discontent is transforming the military into a giant Peace Corps.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Apr 7 at 2014 9:56 AM

2014-04-07T09:56:02-04:00

Sir,

Just my two cents on the question, which I'll approach from two directions.

On the INDIVIDUAL front, I've been hammering several points to my Soldiers over the last year, and even managed to work it into my CoC speech:

- Get any and all schooling you can, that is in any way relevant to your MOS or your anticipated missions.

- Don't wait for the Army to tell you - be proactive. This is just a return to the old "you are your best career manager" mindset.

- Select several role models who are where you want to be. Find out what they do & how they act. Do that. A real mentor is better, but there is no shame in "fake it till you make it."

- If the Army has a standard/expectation, Meet it. Then exceed it.

On the INSTITUTIONAL level, which is where I think you were coming from:

- Reinforce the basics. Fitness, D&C, MOSQT & SQT should make a big comeback. We can argue COIN, etc, but there is a large body of "basic soldier shit" regardless of what we do at the operational or strategic level.

- Remember that every new requirement means that you will have to 1) Remove something, 2) Restructure something, or 3) accept lower quality somewhere.

- Insist on pride and professionalism.

- To quote Rumsfeld, "You go to war with the Army you have." - Change our force structure and deployment modes to support being able to deploy different sized force packages easily. I won't take the room here, but I think that while the BDE-centric force is the right general approach, it needs to be matched with a tiered readiness model, as much as that would be hated in many quarters. I also think round out BN's and BDEs are worth a relook.

- Along the lines of the Rumsfeld quote, prefer proven kit that works well, is robust, and simple to operate. this is everything from individual soldier gear to airframes. I would rather have a dozen A-10s over 1 F35.

- Rebalance the reserve forces. There are two issues here.

First - Right now, there are MANY units that are at or below 50% strength. They are, by definition, not mission capable. Either fill them or kill them. This will be especially hard on the NG side, but it needs to be done. Nothing wrong, necessarily with having a unit with many dets due to personnel shortfalls, but there is something wrong with needless headquarters just to have O and staff slots.

Second - While I get the logic behind the all combat arms in the NG approach, I think experience has shown that some, or most, should actually be in the Reserves. I believe it is an easier sell to governors to mobilize NG, if they are going to be in "support" roles (this has nothing to do with the realities of the modern battlefield and everything to do with the messaging). Additionally, in the state missions (Firefighting, Flood, etc.), those logistics capacities are what they need the most. The fact that I am an Armor officer in the Reserves has nothing to do with it..... [whistles]