In the final analysis, victory or defeat on any battlefield, too many times, will be measured on the weight of the leadership personalities involved.
If true victory is desired, the so-called Grey Man of management lore must be shunned to the sidelines and staff positions. For the very blandness
of his persona will be readily measured in the buckets of blood and broken bodies of his subordinates.
True warriors are now moving to the forefront. But role players do remain evident as they try to distance
themselves from an endeavor they cannot understand.
What General Said
One must only look at history to make this point. We go to war with a far different Army leadership than
the one that eventually wins our wars for us. Perhaps the comments about Gen. Stormin’ Norman Schwarzkopf prior to and immediately after the first Gulf War should be recalled:
“He is a hard-nosed combat guy, and
peacetime requires a different type of leader.”
Leadership is either in your personality or it is not.
It cannot be taught or bought with a Harvard degree on the wall. You either are one or you are not on the
battlefield. The actual arena is the ultimate equalizer. No board or computer program can ever
match the total reality it brings.
This is not an angry tirade. But it can bring dismay when a fine Special Forces NCO comes back from eight months in combat and retires without a Combat Infantry Badge(CIB) because his commander sets himself up as
the arbiter of who will receive it.
True Decision-Maker
The battlefield and the regulations dictate who receives "The Blue
Badge Of Courage." Not you, pal.
Back in the day, a soldier received the CIB if he was involved in combat action on his first day in-country or after 30
continuous days in the combat Infantry unit, including Special Forces.
There are those who will debate this,
but that is just fact.
Professional jealousy, the worst disease in the U.S. military community, once again rears its ugly head.
Named and unnamed “sources” within the military speak of “bringing Blackwater under our control.”
It Has Happened Before
Back-channel messages to Congress push these types of ideas. What they do not say is that private security contractors have been left, at times, to fight and die as the U.S. military unit down the road did not move to
assist.
Why?
“Because,” comes back the answer, “they get paid more than us.”
That is one heck of a reason to leave an ally or a fellow American to die.
Judgment Calls
“Rules of engagement”?
War is one continuous judgment call after another and U.W. brings a whole new set of nuances and professional by-laws.
The enemy purposely places his civilians between himself and our
troops. We cannot require them to hold fire, and mistakes will be made. In this scenario, the enemy is to blame, not our troops.
Explain it, darn it, or get someone who can. America has always rued the day it
built one millisecond of hesitation into the soldier's or the Marine's trigger finger.
Washington Does Not Understand
“Professional jealousy” is something the “Twit Brigade” in Congress will never understand as unacceptable behavior and may even identify with it.
After all, they are fully ready to send an American Army to defeat for political advantage.
Capturing the White House or Congress seems more important than capturing any enemy or key terrain in the war.
Jealousy Makes a Comeback
Highly paid professionals have always been the target of military ire, running back to the Vietnam War. The
myths retold in the movie “Air America” started at the bar with jealous military officers and civilian government officials. Those of us who spent time in the “in-between world” during Vietnam know this well:
“Someone needs to be in charge of you.”
“Someone” five pay grades higher than your level was, you fool.
(To be concluded in Monday’s edition)
Maj. Mark A. Smith, U.S. Army (ret.), served in Vietnam. He was a Prisoner of War.
