Mental strength and resiliency

SGT(P) Daniel McBride — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:58:06 -0500

Now, every solder understands that they will always place the mission first. But at what cost is this to our troops. Soldiers are drained, leaders are drained, and it seems as if higher command is reaping all the benefits. When did the morale and welfare of our soldiers and fellow leaders take a back seat in today's army?

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 21 at 2015 6:15 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 18:15:10 -0500

SGT(P) Daniel McBride, I think it's mental strength and resiliency that enables Soldiers to endure the conditions you describe. I have to caveat that with an observation that what you describe has not been my experience - either on active duty or as a DA civilian working for the Army. There's a discussion on RallyPoint about "Mission first, people always." I think that's about right. We obviously cannot overlook people! It's the people that accomplish the mission. Taking them for granted is more than unfortunate. It's a big mistake.

Here's that discussion I remembered: https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/mission-first-then-men-or-mission-first-men-always

"Mission first, then men" or "Mission first, men always"? | RallyPoint

Way back when I was being mentored by alumni from the South-East Asia war games, I remember being taught that as military leaders our priorities should always be "Mission first, then the men". As was pointed out to me on more than one occasion, the Army did not exist to serve my needs. Then in the '80s, as an ROTC cadet, I had field-grade officers telling me that it was really "Mission first, men always". Honestly, I always considered that to...