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Title: Leadership Post by: FACman on 20 December 2009, 17:28:44 I found this today and thought it quite provoking. I feel the writer may be on to something as we head down this road in Afghanistan. During my 8 years in the Army National Guard, I had one Co. commander that I would follow through the gates of Hell itself, because he exhibited the traits expounded upon in this article.
read the complete article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20moyar.html?_r=1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20moyar.html?_r=1) Quote An Officer and a Creative Man By MARK MOYAR Published: December 19, 2009 AS President Obama and his advisers planned their new approach to the Afghan war, the quality of Afghanistan’s security forces received unprecedented scrutiny, and rightly so. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the quality of American troops there. Of course, American forces don’t demand bribes from civilians at gunpoint or go absent for days, as Afghans have often done. But they face serious issues of their own, demanding prompt action. The American corporals and privates who traverse the Afghan countryside today are not at issue. They risk life and limb every day, with little self-pity. Despite the strains of successive combat deployments, they keep re-enlisting at high rates. Title: Re: Leadership Post by: Jilly on 20 December 2009, 21:45:26 Interesting article. I live in an area where many Canadians have in listed in the Military, probably more than any other area of Canada. We have a large military base around 40-50 mins drive from here. Infact one of my sons best friends from High School is serving in Afghanistan right now.
They too, like the American soldiers risk life and limb every day, we've had out number of casualties here too. And it's the same, there is still no shortage of young soldiers wanting to go Afghanistan. Title: Re: Leadership Post by: Jilly on 21 December 2009, 00:09:30 Maybe I'm a bit off topic here.
Title: Re: Leadership Post by: MontyB on 28 February 2010, 00:54:33 I am not sure I find this unusual given that we live in a high speed world, wars until the early 1900s were largely fought in a bubble and were usually almost over before new ever reached home so casualty figures and mortality rates were never really considered by military leaders and politicians because by the time they found out there was nothing that could be done about it.
But since the advent of film and telegraph wars have become real time events and as such casualty rates mean votes so this information does not surprise me. Whether it is a good or a bad trend I cant really say, no one wants a repeat of the trench slaughter of WW1 and people are less likely to allow another holocaust if that information can longer be hidden however it makes fighting a war much more difficult at front line levels. And if that explanation is not enough I will invoke the Peter Principle is the principle that "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." :) Title: Re: Leadership Post by: the_13th_redneck on 24 March 2010, 17:40:18 If you're looking up leadership, don't forget to include "narcissism" as one of the key words.
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