Leadership Development and Army

Force Management The most important priority for the army in today's increasingly sophisticated defense landscape is to ensure it has adaptive leaders for a complex world. Today, the army as part of the military faces an ever more uncertain world due to factors such as greater proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), augmented cyber threats, increased threat of terrorism from groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as well as reduced government spending on the military.

These events pose a significant challenge to leadership in the army. Army operations are now more complicated than ever before, demanding leaders with enhanced skills, knowledge and experience. Accordingly, leaders in the army must remain strategically adaptive if they are to effectively address the increasingly complex responsibility of defending the country. In a constantly evolving environment, leaders must continuously adapt their tactics, strategies, and processes to the prevailing operational environment.

They must try new ways of solving problems, demonstrate flexibility in decision-making, anticipate change, be willing to learn, and become accustomed to uncertainty. Adaptive ability is important for organizations in not only the private sector, but also the public sector. The army is particularly no exception, with the challenges it faces expected to be even greater and more unpredictable in the future.

To win in land defense, leaders in the army must effectively adjust to the progressively complex challenges presented by the defense environment.[footnoteRef:1] They must have the ability to work with leaner budgets and a smaller workforce, shift to proactive as opposed to contingency response, perceive threats as they emerge and respond to them accordingly, effectively mentor and coach subordinates, as well as to discard what does not work.

Adaptive ability in the army means that leaders understand that strategic and operational challenges in the army do not always have predetermined solutions -- at times, the situation at hand may require a new way of doing things. Adaptive leadership in the army is crucial for supporting the Joint Force as well as the National Security Strategy, which expressly identifies the importance of the U.S. military in adapting its tactics to the complexity inherent in today's and future defense environment. [1: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

2014 Army Strategic Planning Guidance Excerpt (U.S. Department of the Army, June 2014), 1.] Similar to most organizations, both in the private and public sector, the army has programs for leadership development and training. The army understands that training and development is crucial for enhancing the skills, knowledge and capabilities of personnel. Training and development programs in the army are intended for preparing leaders for future's unknown challenges, making them more agile and adaptive, improving their knowledge of the operational environment, and enhancing their capacity to respond to contingencies.

Training and development is also aimed at equipping leaders with the relevant experience, boosting their awareness of and competence in cyberspace threats, as well as honing their tactical judgment, individual toughness, intellectual capacity, and strategic thinking ability.[footnoteRef:2] Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement. There is need to pay greater attention to leadership development and training in the area of leadership adaptability. More time, efforts and resources should be committed to the program.

This may, however, be a challenge given that the government has increasingly reduced spending on the military in an attempt to make the institution leaner and more proactive as opposed to reactive. Even so, the significance of preparing army leaders for a more complex security environment cannot be overemphasized. [2: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. 2014 Army Strategic Planning Guidance Excerpt (U.S.

Department of the Army, June 2014), 8-9.] Question 2 The highest priority for the army is to "train soldiers and leaders to ensure they are prepared to accomplish the mission across the range of military operations while operating in complex environments against determined, adaptive enemy organizations."[footnoteRef:3] This capability is particularly important if the army is to be successful in an increasingly complex defense environment. In such an environment, the army must be ready to face more aggressive and cunning enemies. [3: U.S. Department of the Army. The U.S.

Army Operating Concept (TRADOC Pamphlet 525-3-1, 31 October 2014), 32.] The security environment keeps on evolving. Today, the U.S. faces even more resolute, elusive, and capable adversaries.[footnoteRef:4] States such as Russia and North Korea as well as organizations such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS serve as ideal examples. These states and organizations boast sophisticated military and warfare equipment, weaponry, technology, expertise and tactics; which cannot be taken for granted. Virtually every day the media broadcasts reports of terrorist attacks in various countries around the world (mostly U.S.

allies), nuclear weapons, and other events that increasingly threaten the security of the U.S. and its allies. These are just a few of the events that demonstrate how the security environment is likely to be much more complex in the future. The determination, capability and elusiveness of U.S.'s enemies may be even greater in the future, owing to the unpredictability of the security environment. The number of states and organizations against the U.S. may also be higher in the future.

This presents a significant challenge for the army. Strategies, tactics and techniques that worked in the past may not work in the future. Accordingly, soldiers and leaders must be effectively prepared for a more sophisticated and uncertain security environment. They must be trained to "win in a complex world."[footnoteRef:5] Training in this case encompasses aspects such as strategic and operational competence, interagency coordination, rapid deployment and mobility, situational knowledge, endurance, adaptability, and innovation.[footnoteRef:6] With such training and preparation, forces will be better placed to handle future missions.

[4: Ibid, i.] [5: Ibid, iii.] [6: Ibid, iv.] Generally, the army is extensively involved in preparing forces for future missions at both the joint and branch levels. At the joint level, the army is involved in Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS), which is essentially concerned with identifying the military's present and future capability gaps, and recommending strategies for filling the gaps.[footnoteRef:7] At the branch level, the preparation of leaders and soldiers for future missions is guided by documents such as the Army Capstone.