As a Leader. Would you send your team on a mission without proper tools or equipment?

No, I would never.

I think this falls under the "setting someone up for failure" category, which to me is a "party foul."

"If" the leader is aware that his subordinate is not adequately equipped for the task, this is a bad deal. However... and I pause for effect.. we often take a "Message to Garcia" approach to many tasks. Many of us, will not ask for additional "support" even if we need it.

That is something we have to learn, often as a hard object lesson through failure. Learning to ask for help (et al) is probably one of the biggest obstacles a young troop can have. That said, sometimes leadership creates the impression that "help" is not forthcoming, which as you said is a mismanagement issue.

This is the sort of thing that contributes to low morale and low retention rates. After nine years active duty, injuries from Vietnam kept me from being able to re-up, but I was able to qualify for the Guard. I joined under the old "try one" single-year enlistment program for prior service personnel. For the first eight months, I was issued absolutely nothing, yet was expected to do my job as a medic in an armor battalion. This meant I used my old jungle fatigues while the rest of the unit had woodland camouflage BDUs, and I purchased enough medical supplies to take care of the men while we were out in the field for training.

I discovered how pervasive this "do it yourself" philosophy was throughout the unit when we were on two weeks of AT, getting ready for a training exercise. I was making my rounds to check on the men early in the morning when it because apparent that since I had cross-trained years before as a 45B (small arms repair; I'm not sure what the MOS is now), I was the only one in the unit who knew how to install the blank adapters in the M2 HB machine guns on the cupola mounts for the M60 tanks. There was a unit armorer, but he still hadn't been sent to school after six months in the unit.

I finally got some assistance when the Brigade CSM visited us out there in the field and asked me why I was dressed as if I'd just gotten back from in-country. By that afternoon, I had a full issue of clothing and a proper aid bag full of medical supplies. Nevertheless, by the end of the one-year enlistment, I decided that one year was plenty and got out. It was too much like the tour I'd spent in Korea in 67-68, when all the good equipment was going to Vietnam and we got the leftovers. If you want to retain people and have them work effectively, you need to give them the tools to do their job.