Leadership is a big deal in the army. That probably seems like a no shit statement because it’s pretty much a big deal in EVERY organization. Civilians have to listen to people fetishize good leaders as well. (yeah I made that word up, what)
But in the military, it’s a BIG DEAL.
I mean the entire organization is based on the idea of sending men and women into dangerous situations for the good of their country. That takes leadership at every level, and GOOD leadership because those men and women have to BELIEVE in what they’re doing.
(insert laughing emojis below)
At every level, leaders have to figure out how to balance Soldier safety, morale and discipline against the mission. AT EVERY LEVEL.
So obviously this creates a culture where people are dealt with in groups. “Morale is bad over in 2nd Battalion. Let’s get them home from the field a little early.”, or “3rd Battalion has the highest STD rate in the Army. Let’s find something else for them to do this weekend.”
Now EVERYONE in 2nd Battalion doesn’t have bad morale. No kidding, no matter how long you leave troops in the field, there will always be some troops who LOVE that shit (these are usually Rangers).
Everyone in 3rd Battalion doesn’t have an STD. But I guarantee you EVERYONE will be at the mandatory STD training (complete with pictures!) that will happen on Saturday 0600-UTC (with free breathalyzer at the door!).
But the leaders inside and outside that unit cannot make plans to deal with the individuals, even if they knew exactly who they were. It takes too much time for a problem that can be MUCH easier to deal with by grouping them together. Everyone in the Army HATES mass punishment.
But there’s other reasons for this too.
It’s possible there is some kind of a leadership, training or culture problem in 3rd Battalion that’s giving rise to the STD rate. Maybe they just got back from downrange or something. So, treating them as a group also allows leadership to be AHEAD of the next one, instead of reacting to all of these.
And that’s just ONE of the considerations the military leaders have to consider. They’ve also got to balance Equal Opportunity training with time on the firing range. They have to figure out whether or not to screw their Soldiers out of a four-day weekend so they can go to the field (you have to reserve training space). Do we feed the troops MREs? Or try to get hot chow out to them? And on and on and on.
There’s also the personal problems. And if you think the Army doesn’t attract some people with some FUCKED UP PROBLEMS, you’re wrong.
I once had to assist the family of a fallen Soldier after he was killed in Iraq. It took about two weeks before we found out that this man actually had four families. He had two wills.
I once had a Soldier who was literally insane. I mean he had been in and out of mental hospitals since he was a teenager. And then he joined the Army. His first assignment? Area 1 Korea. And I won’t explain all the details about why this assignment isn’t great, but take my word for it- it’s not.
I’ve had to explain to a very angry wife why I needed her husband to wake up and go open the Arms Room.
And then there are the worst moments of all. I’ve watched the flag being folded and presented. I’ve heard Taps in Arlington.
And you still have shitty leaders. A LOT OF THEM. My favorite Facebook page that doesn’t have my gorgeous face on it is US Army WTF Moments. The page is dedicated to bringing those shitty leaders into the light. And the reason they’re awesome? IT WORKS. They get attention up and down the chain of command when they show things. It’s gotten so bad that leaders will take away Soldier’s phones (or try), or explicitly order them not to use them so no one can take pictures.
That page got my DTS Voucher paid when nothing else could.
That’s the GOOD thing about military leadership. If you go high enough, odds are that someone is going to get pissed. Because at every level, military leaders KNOW how important leadership is. And bad leaders have a HUGE potential to cause problems. A shitty leader in the right position can fuck up the lives of thousands of people. And not at work. They can cause divorces. They can cause financial hardships. They can cause suicides.
That’s not an exaggeration.
And that’s why they would be disciplined or removed. I’ve seen both more and more often in recent years. It’s because of our shift away from a wartime Army (we were double tapping the mid-east for a decade), so now we can dig out some of the shittier leaders we’ve allowed to spread in the name of manpower.
Because it’s important. SO important.
All Soldiers know who is in charge of every group at all times. It could be six Specialists hanging out at the food court and I GUARANTEE YOU- they all know who is the highest ranking, either by promotable status or date of rank.
(Don’t @ me, bitches. I know (P) isn’t a rank, don’t get distracted)
But one of the worst parts? Knowing that you have to make people do things that suck.
It’s an ongoing joke in the Army that some people LOVE to make their Soldiers suffer. And it’s true, some do.
Some people have small genitals and were picked on in high school and joined the Army for that smallest little widget of power so they can be an asshole to other people for no reason other than because someone was once an asshole to them. Those people exist.
But the VAST MAJORITY of leaders in the military HATE making troops suffer. They HATE the idea of asking a troop to scrub a shitter or dig a ditch. Because they know it sucks. But it’s NECESSARY.
Someone has to scrub the shitter. Because most troops have never lived outside their house and they still expect Mommy to clean up after them. Eventually the Army will fix that but especially the young troops? Some are just plain disgusting. And it will only take one for the scrubbers to be needed.
That ditch is a foxhole. It will protect you from bullets and bombs.
Foot marches. Work details. Kitchen Patrol. Extra Duty. I mean those are just the examples that spring to mind. Not to mention the fact that sometime in the future, a military leader might have to order one of those troops to his death. That shit is ALWAYS WITH YOU.
So you have to try and build discipline. And loyalty. And discipline. And teamwork. And discipline. And respect. Because when that moment comes, and someone has to die- it will be for a greater good. (insert quotes at your leisure)
So it’s important that leaders understand the hard right.
You have to make troops suffer sometimes in the name of the mission. Because at the end of the day, for Soldiers the mission ALWAYS comes first.
Want to see a new SGT squirm? Ask them what’s more important- Soldier safety or the mission. The answer is VERY obvious but they get flustered really quick.
An Army leader will understand- sometimes you have to make people do things they don’t want to do because you know the mission comes first.
You understand the BIG PICTURE, and how what you’re doing fits in.
“ok. I get it. Jeez.”
And that’s why veterans will always have my vote. ALWAYS.
If you’re one of those shitty leaders who keep your Soldiers locked in the motorpool for 72 hours straight because some Lieutenant lost some Night Vision Goggles (yes. Seriously. Often.) you will eventually LOSE my vote because you can’t hide that. The people who do that shit are crappy on the inside and it will eventually seep out. And then I’ll see and you’ll lose my vote FOREVER because of how dangerous you are.
And if you try to take my guns or tax me into oblivion you’ll obviously lose my vote as well. But you’ll have to work at it.
Even a mediocre Army leader is leaps and bounds ahead of anything I see out of Washington DC (except of course- FROM THE VETERANS). What I see on the news and in speeches is a big group of people who will FOLLOW the people they are leading.
They will pander and dissemble and mutter and lie so that you believe they are on your side and you keep them in power.
Remember the Cold War? I’m something of a history nerd so I do. There’s all these DOCUMENTED instances of the CIA doing absolutely horrible things overseas in the name of fighting Communism. (This is a great subject if you want to know why the shittiness in Central/South America is a little bit our fault).
But as I read about all this stuff that the CIA, FBI, military and politicians did- I keep telling myself, “it was for a greater good”.
That greater good being the fight against Communism.
And no shit- I believe that. I truly do. I think after World War 2 the whole damn world had to start evaluating ourselves and figuring out who we wanted to be. And I TRULY BELIEVE Communism is evil. Inherently.
So MAYBE? MAYBE some of those terrible things were “ok”? Maybe? For the greater good. To fight evil.
I imagine those decisions being difficult, having to weight the cost/benefit analysis of lives versus values. I HOPE they were, anyway. But I truly believe that Eisenhower would have resigned from Office if he thought it would end Communism. If he thought he could guarantee America’s liberty for 1,000 years he would shoot himself in the head.
I believe he was that principled. I believe this of MLK, Washington, Jefferson, etc.
Now let me ask you this.
What is the “greater good” today?
Just think about that.
And now think about this: IF there WAS a greater good today (federal power, climate change, stopping abortion), who do you think would be willing to sacrifice their power and authority to serve it?
Who would be willing to even take the BLAME for something, if they thought it would HELP THE COUNTRY TO DO IT.
We can’t even convince these people to talk to each other.
And do you know why?
Because they don’t lead. They FOLLOW.
They follow the voters. They allow public opinion to dictate the best course of action on any subject.
But here’s the thing guys, and I’m about to piss you off:
You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
Don’t get pissed, I don’t either.
By the time an issue becomes controversial at the Federal Level: ALL OF THE EASY SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED.
If something has reached the visibility of Congress, or the President- that means it affects the lives of millions of people. And something that affects the lives of millions of people is something that would be solved IMMEDIATELY if it was easy. The mayor, governor, state legislature, etc.- they would just shrug and do what’s OBVIOUSLY the right thing.
But there are lots of stuff that isn’t cut and dry. It involves values and ethics and morals. So, we elevate the problem to a level that thinks values, ethics and morals are slogans and gotcha moments.
So, they do what the MAJORITY of people want. And we go along with that because hey, this is AMERICA, dammit. WE THE PEOPLE DECIDE.
But we don’t, and we were never intended to.
Do you know what Brexit is? If you don’t, you should look it up- immediately because some shit will happen in about two months that will be a pretty big deal.
Britain decided to leave the EU by putting the matter up for a referendum. That means they straight up asked their population to vote for one of two things: Stay or Leave.
“Leave” won 51% of the vote.
So now everyone’s losing their minds because no one can agree on HOW to do this. But they have to, because the people TOLD them to. Via vote.
(incidentally, they CAN simply ignore the vote and stay in the EU because their government has all that power which is why we left fuck that shit)
So why don’t we do that here? Seriously.
I had this idea to present a Change.org proposal on federal elected official policies. It would include:
- Term limits
- Requirements for financial disclosures
- Penalties for government shutdown
- Media requirements (similar to NFL players- you dodge the media you get fined)
And so on. The idea was to get a lot of signatures and then send it into my Senator. (Don’t roll your eyes at me dammit!)
But here’s the thing: America can’t do referendums. By law. No issue can be put to the people for a direct vote. It’s illegal.
Why?
BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.
Most people who protest about abortion don’t understand there is no scientific consensus regarding what life is or when it begins.
Most people who protest gun laws have no idea that the modern 2nd Amendment interpretation started with the Black Panthers.
Most people CAN’T NAME THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT.
It’s not our fault- we weren’t supposed to have to know all this shit. (Except for the three branches. Look that up if you don’t know it. NOW PLEASE.)
We ELECT people to be INFORMED on these issues and to make the hard decisions FOR US. This is called a “Representative Democracy” and it’s what ‘Murica is supposed to be.
Ok. So we tracking? Good.
Decisions at the federal level are hard, by design. Elected officials will follow the crowd to stay in power. Representatives have to be informed. People don’t.
A great veteran leader? They will look you right in your eye and tell you exactly what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and ask for input. If you can convince them otherwise, THEY WILL LISTEN.
If not, they will shrug and force that HARD RIGHT on you because they know- it’s worth it in the end. The mission comes first.
Lincoln imprisoned journalists and politicians who disagreed with him without trial just to hold the Union together.
The HARD RIGHT is necessary at the Federal Level for obvious reasons. People won’t agree on what the right thing is, and most of the time they’re wrong. Want more examples of how? One in four Americans believe the Earth revolves around the sun. 55% believe the Constitution makes the United States a Christian nation.
I’m not mad at my fellow citizens- most people don’t care about these things. I mean they DO, but not more than bills, kids, work or any of the other 15,000 things that happen in their lives on a daily basis that DEMAND their attention and knowledge.
That’s why we elect people to know those things for us.
To make those hard choices for us.
To put the welfare of the country and its citizens ahead of their own well-being.
There’s an old saying in the Army that tells you everything you need to know about Army leadership.
“Leaders eat last.”
And that’s why veterans will always have my vote.
Sources:
The Internet, Google. Your Fingers can type as well as Mine. Mine. Pg. 69 (nice), 2019.
Nonsense from a crazy man 