A quote from Warfighting states: “Leaders must have a strong sense of the responsibility of their office; the resources they will expend in war are human lives.”
I wonder if the extent to which military leaders enforce rules and exact obedience is related to the extent to which these leaders understand that lives are at stake.
For example, the Marines have a strong sense of discipline. They follow orders, as “A Few Good Men” would say, “We follow orders or people die”. They are willing to follow almost any order because they believe that their chain of command absolutely needs that level of discipline in order to ensure victory in combat. Simply put they follow orders because in combat following orders saves unnecessary casualties.
If the need is not foremost in a leaders mind, orders are not followed nearly as obediently, on a ship combat is more of a team sport, as such, we sometimes forget that our lives are in danger and that failing to obey orders can get us killed. Chances are we, as individual sailors will not be tasked to fight in one-on-one scenario. In order to fight a war on a ship it takes many people and much equipment with the appropriate checks and balances. Because of this team training sometimes we are more likely to forget lives are on the line. As ship’s defense becomes more automated we further lose sight of this sense of Life and Death. When you make warfighting personal and the consequence is life and death, you fight, and you fight like a Sea Warrior.
Patton is quoted saying, “It is absurd to believe that soldiers who cannot be made to wear the proper uniform can be induced to move forward in battle. Officers who fail to perform their duty by correcting small violations and in enforcing proper conduct are incapable of leading.” As I understand this they additionally, are incapable of understanding as many of today’s leaders that lack of discipline can be a bigger cause of death than the enemy.
Military leaders must understand that all tasks assigned to subordinates regardless of how menial have a relationship to the life and/or death of their subordinates. If subordinates will not obey the minor orders, and we leaders do not hold them accountable, they too lose sense of importance, why they do what they do. When subordinates do not understand why they are doing a task leadership has failed.
©2004 Mark C. Carroll
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