Yes -- let our enemies beware!
No -- too little education or knowledge of foreign cultures
No -- modern commo moves authority up, not down.
No -- strategy has become too complex for NCOs to understand, let alone execute.
No -- some other reason, explained below.
I'm not sure if A Message to Garcia teaches young leaders the right lessons. Especially if they are going to be directing tactical operations with strategic consequences, leaders need to know it's okay to ask questions, know the environment in which they are operating and gain an appreciation for the enemy situation before executing. MtG just sends the message to take the initiative blindly, without knowing what you are getting into.Originally Posted by RTK
Last edited by CR6; 09-17-2006 at 09:22 AM.
"Law cannot limit what physics makes possible." Humanitarian Apsects of Airpower (papers of Frederick L. Anderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University)
I see where you're coming from on this, but I'm going to stand my ground for the following reason.
Obviously the story was written in a very different era with much different circumstances. The important points I'd like to highlight are the fact that the young lieutenant was selected due to his abilities. His leadership trusted him to get the message to Garcia. We all have the "go-to" specialist in our organizations that we call upon when it comes down to it. I'm not just talking about the orderly room either.
Perhaps it's dawning on me that my experience is perilously different from others. I had young E5s and senior corporals in charge of towns and individual AOs within my troop AO. There were certain areas I just didn't need to go to often since they had the handle on it. They had the relationships with the local leadership. They interacted with the muktar, imam, mayor, and police everyday. They made progress. I resourced them with what they needed for success. I didn't have to get involved because they were innovative junior leaders who took a commander's intent, key tasks, and end state and ran with it. Picking out the ones that understand 2nd and 3rd order effects helps too.
In that respect, I would submit that the impact of second and third order effects is much more understood at the smaller tactical level than it is at higher levels. Strategic implications oftentimes circle back around and hit a unit in the throat tactically. For this reason, many junior leaders are cognizant and sensitive to the fact that Newton's Law of Motion has real consequences in the COIN environment and that the reaction usually has dynamic and real impacts on their day to day operations.
In the context of MTG, the young LT fulfilled the desired endstate, which is really all I was attempting to highlight.
I understand the point you are trying to make RTK and you have a load of COIN experience, whereas I don't have any. I agree that Rowan provides a model for a leader who gets "it" done, but it is worth pointing out that he had 17 years of service under his belt at that point (USMA Class of 1881), and that his real mission is a lot more interesting than Hubbard's imaginings!
That said, it sounds like you had some great young leaders working with you, and that you let them do their jobs.
Rowan's real background provides a model for the career of a COIN specialist before we even had COIN doctrine!
http://www.trivia-library.com/b/mili...wan-part-1.htm
Last edited by CR6; 09-18-2006 at 09:43 AM.
"Law cannot limit what physics makes possible." Humanitarian Apsects of Airpower (papers of Frederick L. Anderson, Hoover Institution, Stanford University)
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks