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thedrifter
09-01-03, 07:24 AM
Where Are My Leaders?


Commentary
Sgt. Dugald M. Tonn, USMC

This is a situation report from the most important part of the Marine Corps-the "trenches," where the glamorous plans created at higher headquarters are executed. Here, at the bottom, is reality.

Down here there is no time for politics. There is no brain-warping terminology for every different mission undertaken, and every confrontation is "high intensity," whether termed a low-intensity conflict or a military operation other than war.

I know I need to be trained hard, realistically, and thoroughly to survive and accomplish my mission. I must be led from the front by example-not by intimidation or edict. My fellow noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and I have to be trained and tempered to develop the leadership qualities needed on lethal battlefields. Regrettably, this is not what we see down here.

Although it looked at first glance as if the Corps was shucking its peacetime shackles and readjusting to the deadly business of war fighting in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, there was insufficient combat training. It was peacetime business as usual: for example, energetically issued orders from higher headquarters that reflective belts be worn while running during periods of reduced visibility, and mandated classes on drunk driving and the effects of sexually transmitted disease. Before the dust from the collapsed World Trade Center towers had settled, my unit-which has no women assigned to it-had to complete Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service questionnaires on equal opportunity. True resurgence of preparation for combat never happened. Down here, we were stunned. It seems the priorities and focus of most officers and staff NCOs have changed. Could it be that leaders are so worried about how they look on paper they have been overcome by risk aversion? Is a leader's tour of duty successful if it is uneventful? From where I stand, risk aversion has become the defacto benchmark for today's careerists. Training too often is watered
down to ensure nothing goes awry-not for troop safety, but for protecting careers. Tough training for war often is overcome by administrative events.

Rather than empowering NCOs, the micromanagement of attrition warfare remains the norm. The three-block war, where small-unit leaders are expected to make judgment calls and decisions that would give pause to seasoned company-grade
officers, is not being practiced. Leaders fear NCOs will make mistakes that cause the leaders to look bad. But NCOs cannot learn to make decisions by reading books and listening to lectures. They need to soak up lessons learned through trial and error, so that one day, in the heat of future combat, they can make decisions that bring their Marines home victoriously and safely.

Bureaucratic demands have produced mind-numbing rules and regulations that make perfect paperwork more important than effective training. Formatted briefs and planning guidelines are tools to use in building good habits and ensuring nothing is omitted. They are not the main goal. Today's leaders, however, train to craft perfect plans on paper and make the prettiest presentations with all the computer support imaginable. Substance has been superceded by form.

Careerism hazards the bond of trust between the leader and the led. A good Marine will follow orders. Whether he follows willingly, however, depends on that bond. If the leader shows he cares more about himself and his career than his troops, there will be no bond-and, in my view, that bond is not down here. Other than formal room inspections, I never have seen a staff NCO or officer in any unit to which I have been assigned visit the barracks after hours or on weekends to see how his Marines live, what they are doing, and what they are thinking. Were such visits part of the "old Corps" that has gone by the wayside?

The fact we are warriors appears to have been forgotten. Regardless of politically correct polishing of mission statements and warfighting publications, the harsh nature and stark reality of war remains. My leaders seem almost embarrassed by this, as if training to attack and kill the enemy is somehow wrong. Sessions on consideration of others, equal opportunity,
and sexual harassment may be personnel management priorities in peace time, but they must not become the Marine Corps' point of main effort. Management should not supplant leadership.

Fancy technology, transformational equipment, and modernized weapons are important. Leadership by example is vital-and down here, we will return 110% on that investment.

Sergeant Tonn, a reconnaissance team leader in the 2d Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, recently returned from deployment with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Special%20Reports.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=25&rnd=649.8748173411121


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

Osotogary
09-01-03, 10:24 AM
Sounds like Sgt. Tonn and Col.David Hackworth (US Army,Ret.) definitely have something in common.

MillRatUSMC
09-01-03, 12:44 PM
What is the answer to all this?
One was taught not to make an statement unless one had answer to that statement.
He complains but offers no answer on how to remedy the problem.
"Old Corps" we all lived in the same barracks.
Other than the Senior Staff NCO's.
No rooms for the enlisted.
NCO's were seperated by some wall lockers.
But all they had to do, was to lookout to see what we were doing.
One always thinks that one could have trained more in peace time.
Micromanagement has been a way life since Vietnam, maybe before.
In Vietnam, I rewarely saw an officer above the rank of Captain in the field.
A rare exception was my Battalion CO, Lt. Col Archie Van Winkle.
He was leading from the front instead of the rear.
"Xitching has always been the lot of the "Grunts".
Suck it up and carry on Sgt. Tonn.

Semper Fidelis
Ricardo