Initial Officer Selection

[Surferbeetle]

...and thinking, as always, hurts...

It also takes time my friend...

Seriously, I understand what you're writing and do not totally disagree but I do wonder if "the demands of the real world upon soldiers" is mostly true as seen through the eyes of the US Armed Forces and their products. We Americans have a tendency to over engineer and things and then, modify that to cope with desired form over function concerns and follow that with, in production, a desire to reduce costs. Those latter two 'adjustments' lead to sometimes less than stellar solutions...

Lot's of folks are doing their level best to meet expectations and trusting in 'the system'...but, to speak plainly, it seems that we are consistently screwing things up as a nation of late. We are collectively forgetting basics, ignoring obligations, taking what we can, fighting amongst ourselves over small things, lapping up shallow 24/7 propaganda of all types, electing questionable folk, and then not bothering to supervise our representatives or their shadowy financial patrons (and when did that last bit become desirable or legal?)...

Unfortunately i don't see the majority of those in charge - the elites, boomers (my bunch - i am on the tail end), or older folks (present company very much excluded, no disrespect intended) as really being engaged/committed to changing things...

That approach has enabled us to cobble together operations from scratch and on the fly, it has enabled us virtually alone in the world to have global reach and power -- but it has also meant that we often flounder and fail operationally and tactically once we get somewhere.

Outside of our borders 'Little Americas'/Posts/Bases/FOBs/ are perhaps emblematic of our ttp...there is only 'one true system' (and it's ours) so we wall ourselves up from local solutions/what works given local constraints (equilibriums worked out over long periods of time) wherever we are operating and force that square peg into that round hole...'they' will all learn English and American ways eventually, we just have to keep at it that's all....

Daily servings of ice cream, air conditioning, and big screen flat panels, in the field of all places...

Over time we are figuring out that it's not viable or sustainable, but progress is sure slow...

I often wonder if we have not by a practice of lowest common denominators ended up with many 'solutions' that are adequate but little more when more would be better and is achievable. I'm a firm believer in 75% solutions for combat but acknowledge that's not good enough for many logistic, support or engineering tasks. I also believe the old adgae "Best is the enemy of good enough" but for combat forces, I wonder if adequate is good enough?

I don't think so.

You have been more places and seen more than i...the only thing i could possibly add is to echo your observation that we are out of balance...

"Leadership uber alles" is not the answer but it seems to me 'management trumps leadership' is also not a good idea and my perception is as I wrote above about Officers "selected based on academic ability and not on leadership potential" -- "it is understandable. It is also able to be passed off as 'fair and objective' to legislatures concerned about such things -- it's easier, too than the hard work of assessing leadership potential. More importantly, as you say, it is dangerous"

I think it is, Steve, I think your comment is a reflection of the way we have elected to select and train, to do business. I also think there are better ways, Congress permitting -- they're a big driver of how we do business, perhaps too big...

It's taken me a long time to learn what little i know, and i don't presume to fully understood things...but...i am very leary of 'leaders' writ large who claim to have all the answers, especially at this uncertain inflection point in our collective history. For me effective and desirable leaders are multifaceted, involved, and genuinely care....when looking around i don't see very many of them at work at the moment, while constructive democracy appears to be on the wane and the power of the coercive state appears to be on the rise.

It feels like a storm is about to break...and while it is my sense that we will successfully get through it... it is also my hope that some of the nastiness and stupidity prominently on display throughout the world of late will not...

So as usual i guess, we are on our own and we will have to continue to make positive things happen within our small spheres of influence.

My grandparents on both sides of the family made it through the depression and the war...good people, good memories...my take away is that hard times don't last and friends and family make the tough times bearable and the fun times, of course, even better...