What are your opinions on morale issues in the military?

2015-02-03T12:39:29-05:00

I'm writing a research paper with the overall topic of morale in the military. The tentative thesis statement: "Leaders should help foster morale by creating and supporting avenues (MWR/sponsorship/mentorship) to boost resilience (reintegration/stress relief) and cohesion (teamwork/esprit de corps)."

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Feb 3 at 2015 12:53 PM

2015-02-03T12:53:44-05:00

1. Mission Accomplishment
2. Troop Welfare.

This is something that was drilled into every Marine when I joined. Non-stop. Whatever the mission. Get it done. Then take care of your men.

Morale is always a tricky subject, because it is always the SECONDARY mission.

There's an old saying "If a Marine ain't bitchin', a Marine ain't happy."

What that actually means is that once Marines stop complaining, you know they are at a breaking point. It's the silence before the storm. Marines will complain about everything. Old gear, new gear. Good food, bad food. Peacetime, War. Army having too many medals & Badges. Air Force having nice rooms, Marines having renovated rooms. You name it.

Trying to look at Morale with Marines, is like trying to nail jello to a wall.

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made Feb 3 at 2015 1:58 PM

2015-02-03T13:58:54-05:00

I think that the items you mention in your proposed thesis statement are important, but the most important thing that impacts morale in the unit is effective, caring and involved leadership. A leader who really cares about his/her unit and soldiers will do all the things you mention and more.

Response by LTC David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® made Feb 3 at 2015 2:16 PM

2015-02-03T14:16:44-05:00

Morale is always a tough subject because everyone is different. When we think of morale, often what comes to mind is MWR/Sponsorship/Mentorship etc. But I have seen units with high morale that didn't have it, and units with low morale that did.

I think it comes down to the people that are involved, how the leader(s) are able to communicate the vision and mission, and the results they get from it. The ends and means are important, so that it is fair with no favoritism, and also they accomplished something great together.

We live in a time with technology is rampant. But if you think about it, the 300 Spartans facing the million or so folk probably had high morale. Which is why they did what they did. I think in the end it comes down to people!

Response by SPC James Mcneil made Feb 3 at 2015 3:09 PM

2015-02-03T15:09:27-05:00

Sounds like a good thesis statement. I'd love to read your paper.

As for my thoughts on morale issues, I believe that there are key things the military can do to boost morale that do not deal with MWR, which is where they tend to drift when the issue of morale is brought up.

1. Training; part of the morale issues in one unit I was in was the fact that we did not train the way we fought. No, we didn't like going to the field, but we knew it was necessary. And when we did go to the field, the attitude of the officers and senior NCOs was that it was "just training" and we shouldn't be too worried. Well, yeah we should! And the fact that our leaders had such a laissez faire attitude toward training lowered our trust in them as well as our morale overall. There is a lot of area between training 24/7 and not even taking it seriously. But it seemed to me that most units (in the Army at least) didn't realize that grey area existed.

2. Communication between ranks: This one may sound obvious, but so many people in leadership positions don't get it. I had a question that I wanted to ask the 1SG, and I asked if I could use the open door policy to do so. I was given the run around by my squad leader, section sergeant, and platoon sergeant so much that by the time I did get to talk to the 1SG, the issue was an old one. This is one example of how junior enlisted soldiers seem to be viewed as lesser than the rest and not worthy of open communication. No I'm not talking about being privy to everything that's said at the command level, but keeping soldiers in the dark does nothing for their morale.

3. Active mentorship: Too many times, people coming out of an IET environment are not completely prepared for daily life in the military. I'm not pointing fingers at those leaders in the IET environment here. I'm just pointing out that people are coming out unprepared. New soldiers in a unit need to be mentored by seasoned soldiers (preferably the good ones) on what daily life is like. Sometimes this happens, but most of the time in my experience, the mentor falls down on the job.

These are a few things that I see that can help morality in the military. All are just my opinion of course. ;)

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 3 at 2015 4:36 PM

2015-02-03T16:36:14-05:00

Thanks, all. I should mention that the ideas in parentheses are meant to serve as examples, not necessarily the most important or biggest topics.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Feb 3 at 2015 5:04 PM

2015-02-03T17:04:04-05:00

I think the largest impact to morale in the military is the feeling of belonging to something special, an elite group. It is the esprit de corps you mention. You don't improve morale by more liberty or more awards and trophies. Everyone will like that, especially the shitbirds but the military isn't a candy store. It is filled with units that have made history and have carried the mail for freedom.

I think studying the combat history of your unit/branch of the military and understandingt the adversity your predecessors over came and what they had to accomplish in trying cirmcumstances will go further in moral improvement that most things. If they find that boring, there is always PT.

Response by SGT Jim Z. made Feb 3 at 2015 5:35 PM

2015-02-03T17:35:33-05:00

Morale is a very important issue that leaders tend to forget. I will share a story about while I was deployed to Joint Task Force- Bravo in Honduras. When I first got there then COL Lenzynski (sp) was the task force commander and his theory was work hard play hard. He believed that morale was just as important as taking out the trash. Well he rotated out and his successor killed morale by his leadership philosophy of work hard, harder, and very little play. I can say it was night and day between the two.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 25 at 2015 4:51 PM

2015-06-25T16:51:40-04:00

This is how I built morale in the unit.
1. Treat everyone with dignity and respect
2. Senior NCOs ensure the unit is well oiled and mentors junior NCOs. Junior NCOs will mentor the soldiers.
3. We fought for the troops.
4. We had a good value system in place.
5. We said thank you by word and deed. We allowed them to fly in the MEDEVAC helicopters and were often given gift certificates to restaurants.
6. Have fun. We played flag football on Fridays. Our Christmas parties were relaxed with good door prizes, and a karaoke going contest.