What the Army Needs Now, Most of All, is to Develop Leaders by Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, U.S. Army at Tom Ricks' Best Defense.
I recently had the opportunity to speak to approximately 1,400 majors attending the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Ninety-eight percent of the U.S. Army majors at CGSC are combat veterans. Over 80 percent have more than one combat deployment, and nearly 40 percent have deployed three or more times.
But for all the hardships they've endured over the past decade, the next few years will be still be challenging, but in a different way. Our active-duty Army will trim nearly 70,000 soldiers from its ranks, with over 24,000 being involuntarily separated. Those who make up our formations may become frustrated as training resources dwindle, and as soldiers spend more time at stateside bases performing duties that just a few years ago none of them would have even had time to do, like picking up trash and mowing the grass...
Comments
I was in the audience during LTG Caldwell's speech to CGSC. It was a very engaging discussion, and I believed his candor (about his personal regrets) resonated with the students. It's much easier to learn from another's mistakes than our own.
Regarding leader development, I agree new emphasis needs to be placed on it. However, I believe a "different" emphasis needs to be placed on it. The Army recognizes three training domains - institutional, operational and self-development. I would argue we have had plenty of operational training since I joined the military (2002). I would also argue our institutional Army is on the right track. Manning of instructors has increased as the personnel demands on the Army have decreased; PME has seen its numbers swell to max capacity across the spectrum; curriculums are being scrutinized to ensure we do our best to codify the present and do our best to predict the future. Where we fail ourselves is in self-development.
I don't think we should let our Soldiers off every day at noon to go "self-develop," but we should not stay at work until 1900 ensuring all of our APFT scores have been recorded accurately. This is where we have to be very careful as leaders. LTG Caldwell discussed how his absolute passion to do everything right and to a high standard, took a toll on his family (first marriage ended in divorce), and took a toll on morale in the unit (mother's day field problem). He said these are two regrets; he wishes he could take those back. LTG Caldwell has had a very successful career. I would argue, most senior leaders in our Army have similar experiences, and have lived similar lifestyles (extreme OPTEMPO, extreme demands on the family). As an Army at War, we have all had similar experiences over the last 10-12 years. Operational and institutional demands have dominated everyone's lives. We now need to tackle self-development head-on.
I digressed from my point on self-development, but the message is clear: we must leave time for it. It starts with good training guidance, mentorship and counseling. We must focus our subordinates efforts as to where we need them to develop, mentor them through the process, and then check to ensure their knowledge is being applied accurately. Now that we have time for self-development, we need to emphasize it.