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LEADING SOLDIERS
provide opportunities for such interaction. Training
and accountability at this level will further develop
soldiers and create the kind of relationships and team
cohesiveness the Army needs.
It is clear that developments in technology have rapidly advanced our means for communicating. Advanced
communication technology is a phenomenon born of
the information age; it is one that is likely to progress
in its availability and use. People will continue to use
technology for routine communication, and the channels for communicating will, no doubt, evolve further.
These advances help leaders command and control
large formations more efficiently, thus enabling mission
accomplishment. Even so, there are potentially negative
effects for individual social skills, connectedness, and
unit cohesion from relying too heavily on communicating through technology.
Protecting lives while enabling a unit to succeed in
combat or under stressful circumstances necessitates
strong unit cohesion. Moreover, individuals may
further develop their personal resilience and social
skills by emphasizing active communication channels.
The recent advances in technology are certainly
astounding, but optimally, personal relationships are
built primarily upon direct contact, communication,
and trust. The Army needs this trust to be firmly
established by direct, active communication, with
support from communication technology, rather than
primarily by communication through mediating
technologies.
Maj. Andrew B. Stipp, U.S. Army, is the operations officer for the Provost Marshal, 1st Armored Division,
Fort Bliss, Texas. He holds a BA in psychology from Purdue University and an MA in business and
organizational security from Webster University. This article won second place in the General Douglas
MacArthur Leadership Writing Competition, Command and General Staff College class 14-02.
Notes
1. Michael Braun, “Classifying Communication Channels: The
Active-Passive Continuum,” MichaelBraun.me website, undated
blog post, accessed 5 August 2015, http://www.michaelbraun.
me/2012/05/classifying-communication-channels-the-active-passive-continuum/.
2. Kaveri Subrahmanyam et al., “The Impact of Home Computer Use
on Children’s Activities and Development,” The Future of Children 10 (Fall/
Winter 2000):135.
3. David Krackhardt, “The Strength of Strong Ties: The
importance of Philos in Organizations,” N. Nohria and R.
Eccles, eds., Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form, and
Action (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994), cited in
Subrahmanyam “The Impact of Home Computer Use,” accessed
5 August 2015, http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAAahUKEwiYoZHQvJLHAhVHjw0KHZUWDHU&url=h ttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.
cdmc.ucla.edu%2FPublished_Research_files%2Fspkg-2001.pdf&ei=tkjCVZjuJMeeNpWtsKgH&usg=AFQjCNEUaI-xIVH_0krb9dyo15oS3JYWXg&bvm=bv.99261572,d.eXY.
4. Subrahmanyam, “The Impact of Home Computer Use,” 137.
5. Ibid., 140.
6. Laura E. Buffardi and W. Keith Campbell, “Narcissism and Social
Networking Web Sites,” Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 34 (October 2008): 1303-1314.
7. Joe Doty and Jeff Fenlason, “Narcissism and Toxic Leaders,” Military
Review ( January-February 2013): 55-60.
8. Patti M. Valkenburg and Jochen Peter, “Social Consequences of
MILITARY REVIEW November-December 2015
the Internet for Adolescents: A Decade of Research,” Current Directions in
Psychological Science 18 (2009): 2.
9. Yuhyung Shin and Kyojik Song, “Role of Face-to-Face and Computer-Mediated Communication Time in the Cohesion and Performance
of Mixed-Mode Groups,” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 14 (2011):
126-139.
10. Ibid., 129.
11. Ibid., 132.
12. Ibid., 133.
13. Daniel P. Patterson et al., “Network Analysis of Team Communication in a Busy Emergency Department,” BMC Health Services Research 13
(1 May 2013): 1-12.
14. Ibid., 1.
15. Ibid., 12.
16. Paul T. Bartone, “Resilience Under Military Operational Stress:
Can Leaders Influence Hardiness?” Military Psychology 18 ( July 2006):
131-148.
17. Ibid., 135.
18. Ibid., 141.
19. David Vergun, “Texting No Substitute for Face-Time,
Captains Tell CSA,” U.S. Army Homepage, 14 July 2014, accessed 19 June 2015, http://www.army.mil/article/129901/
Texting_no_substitute_for_face_time__captains_tell_CSA/.
20. Jeffrey Kluger, “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem With
Text Messaging,” CNN [Cable News Network] Tech, 6 September
2012, accessed 17 June 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/31/tech/
mobile/problem-text-messaging-oms/.
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