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thedrifter
11-18-04, 07:15 AM
11-17-2004

Things I Do Not Know or Understand in 2004







By Matthew Dodd



The other day, I had what I thought was a good idea: Review my three previous DefenseWatch articles about things in the military or military-related issues that I do not know or understand. My goal was to see I had gotten any smarter about those things (see “Ten Things I Do Not Know Or Understand,” Dec. 19, 2001, “Ten More Things I Do Not Know Or Understand,” Feb. 6, 2002, and “Yet Another 10 Things I Do Not Know or Understand,” Oct. 23, 2003).



Well, by the time I finished the last of the three articles, I realized it was a very bad idea and I was becoming depressed and demoralized. Sadly, I discovered that I still did not have answers to my questions, and that nobody had stepped forward to take ownership of the issues I raised.



Ever the optimist, I nonetheless decided to add six more entries to my list of unanswered questions in the hopes that by sharing my ignorance I will somehow receive wisdom from others much smarter than I am.



6. Why, especially after three years of our ongoing global war on terrorism, did the U.S. news media devote more time and coverage to Yasser Arafat, the late Palestinian “leader” – and probably the most famous long-standing terrorist of our times – than to our own veterans on Veterans Day?



5. Okay, I know I will probably be labeled a heretic, but why does the U.S. Marine Corps steadfastly refuse to allow male Marines to use umbrellas? Sure, I like to be tough and show Mother Nature that a little bit of rain does not bother me, but I also like to keep my uniforms looking neat and well kept. I have enough uniforms and spare ribbons to compensate for temporary or permanent damage from rainy weather, but why is it okay for female Marines to use umbrellas when male Marines cannot?



4. Why is it that Reserve Component units or individuals have been at the center of the biggest, the most bizarre, or the most controversial stories during our global war on terrorism? Examples include the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Co. (Pfc. Jessica Lynch); the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal (800th MP Brigade); Army National Guard “marriage patrol” (3rd Battalion, 124th Infantry, FLRNG); the death of Canadian troops in the April 2002 Afghanistan friendly-fire incident; the 343rd Quartermaster Company’s refusal to execute convoy orders in Iraq; and the District of Columbia Air National Guard’s strafing of a New Jersey school with 20mm cannons.



3. Why is the U.S. military so opposed to or at least disinterested in performance evaluation systems that feature “360-degree feedback” from juniors, peers and seniors? What is so special about preserving the standard, traditional senior-only performance evaluation system?



2. Why are there such blatant double standards applied to the way the four armed services’ headquarters do things “inside the Beltway” and the way their operating forces do the same things around the world? From security, to physical fitness, to performance evaluations, to personal and physical accountability, to fiscal stewardship and accountability, I too often hear illogical rationalizations for “inside the Beltway” processes and procedures that I know, and have heard from others, would never be accepted in the operating forces.



1. Why is it that our military model of effective leadership is so different than the standard “leadership” practices of our elected public officials?



As a career Marine officer, the model of effective military leadership I know has three distinct phases. The first phase revolves around leaders, as much as they can, encouraging dissent and opposing views before making a decision. Once a decision is made, the second phase is subordinates and supporting units and individuals responding with a cheery “Aye, aye, Sir!” to acknowledge the decision and commit to accomplishing the mission. The final phase is everyone aggressively working together to accomplish the mission.



Contrary to that model, most politicians never seem to get beyond the open dissent and opposing view phase. In fact, they seem to use the decision-maker’s decision as the starting point to increase their dissent, start gathering evidence to discredit the decision and decision-maker, and reinforce their own recommended decision.



A friend once described the difference between these two opposing leadership models. He said that the military model strives to make the right decision, then strives to make the decision right. He believed the politician’s model also has three distinct phases. The first phase strives to make the politician’s own opinion the final decision. The second phase strives to make any decision not in line with the politician’s opinion fail or appear to be failing. The final phase is when the politician decides it makes more political sense to either endorse the final decision, because it is turning out to be a good decision, or drop the issue completely to jump on another issue where he or she can get back in the spotlight.



Despite all the political rhetoric to the contrary, I agree with my friend that today’s common political leadership practices are not what is best for our citizens and our national interests home and abroad. Too often partisan political loyalty is placed before and above a genuine concern for the greater good, especially in these times of war.



I once heard that since “pro” is the opposite of “con,” “progress” must be the opposite of “Congress.” I wonder how much better off our country would be if our political leadership actually used the model of effective military leadership I described above.



The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.) once observed, “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” Now that my newly revised list of things I do not know or understand is up to thirty-seven entries – with no relief in sight – I wonder if Confucius would consider me real knowledge-able or real knowledge-disabled.



Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com.

ARTICLE 01 - Ten More Things I Do Not Know Or Understand
http://www.sftt.org/dw02062002.html#3

http://www.sftt.org/dw12192001.html#3

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch%20Archive.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=263&rnd=44.44515129469939




http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=692&rnd=722.9346862188471

Ellie