Military Review English Edition November-December 2013 | Page 41
GROWING LEADERS
that many soldiers are simply blind to all but the
physical aspects of war. To them, war is nothing
more than killing the enemy before he kills you
(and doing so quickly, before the “liberal press”
turns American civilians against the war). Any
other viewpoint, they ironically and anachronistically contend, is out-of-touch with reality.
Our military’s preference for purely physical
solutions has roots in an increasingly distant
past, when we could employ raw force with much
greater abandon and success. Until the start of the
20th century, for example, our Army could relocate, concentrate, and even exterminate America’s
indigenous peoples without incurring significant
moral blowback. However, just as modern democracies can no longer sustain population-centric
bombing campaigns, our Army can no longer
resort to such harsh counterinsurgency tactics that,
if used today, would produce counterproductive
outrage and quickly lead to national shame and
defeat.
Our Army must better prepare leaders for
modern realities.
Changing a River’s Course
In 1812, an earthquake near New Madrid, Mo.,
caused the Mississippi River to flow backward
for several hours. Today, our Army needs just
such a tectonic shift, but one that changes our
course permanently rather than temporarily. This
shift will not happen on its own. Senior Army
leaders must guide change deliberately and with
the faith of a Scharnhorst or Moltke that they are
doing what is right for our institution and nation.
There are several models that senior leaders
can leverage to effect organizational change—
change that would prepare leaders to practice
decentralized command and promote morallyaware strategic and operational frameworks for
this command. 67 Steps these models ???????)???????+?^??^