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Thread: Ill Informed Blog Post at AM on Advisors

  1. #61
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default Well, er, okay...

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Eagle View Post
    Gotta disagree with the "so easy a caveman could do it" position.
    But I don't think that's what I said...

    I thought I said ""Advising is not easy but it isn't all that hard, either and ones effectiveness as an advisor is directly related to his currency and subject matter knowledges and abilities.""(emphasis added)
    There are a host of reasons why perfectly good officers and NCOs fail miserably when trying to advise others. Some of it has to do with the degree of sophistication required to shift from being a doer and a trainer to being an advisor, and some of it has to do with inter-cultural stuff.
    True, no question -- and language...

    Plus a lot of it -- failure to do well -- and perhaps even most of it has to do with the attitude and the ego of the Adviser in question but it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to screen for that. Not least because different cultures affect people in odd ways. For example, I did not like one culture I worked with and did like the other while a friend who had experience in the same two nations reversed that.

  2. #62
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    Default Ken

    We're clearly on the same sheet. The "cavemen" postulators are the ones who come down on the far opposite end of the Nagl corps. The truth is somewhere in the amorphous middle.

  3. #63
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default Sorry, my misundertook...

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Eagle View Post
    We're clearly on the same sheet. The "cavemen" postulators are the ones who come down on the far opposite end of the Nagl corps. The truth is somewhere in the amorphous middle.
    Yea verily on that middle.

    And my silly kids say I'm too quick to bridle at stuff...

  4. #64
    Council Member jkm_101_fso's Avatar
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    Default Not a host of reasons, just a few

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Eagle View Post
    Gotta disagree with the "so easy a caveman could do it" position. There are a host of reasons why perfectly good officers and NCOs fail miserably when trying to advise others.
    The most prevalent defect I saw in those officers and NCOs who were poor advisors was their complete lack of maturity.

    I define maturity as the willingness to understand your role, mission and constraints as an advisor.

    When I heard NCOs or Officers say: "These Iraqis are all F***** up", it was usually indicative of their performance as an advisor.

    Granted, some of those that failed as advisors maybe (or have been) great Platoon sergeants, company commanders and staff guys.

    Some of it has to do with the degree of sophistication required to shift from being a doer and a trainer to being an advisor, and some of it has to do with inter-cultural stuff.
    I personally didn't believe the transistion from "doer to advisor" was that difficult...and I'm an average performer. There were guys on my team and others that were (are) much better officers than me. It was difficult for them because they made it hard for themselves; specifically, their crappy attitude from start to finish. Not sure if it was because they didn't want to be on a MiTT or because they didn't like Iraqis. It doesn't matter; they did a disservice to the mission, other team members and the IA.

    To be a successful advisor, a guy has to WANT to do well; put his personal feelings or grudges aside and execute.

    By execute, I mean sincerely and wholeheartedly put their best effort into making their foreign counterpart the best performer he can be. This can only be done with patience, time and consistency. Particularly with Iraqis, they know when someone doesn't sincerely want to help them, and it will effect the relationship and his performance.

    EDIT:
    One Caveat: It is crucial that the MiTT team chief is the most mature (see definition). His attitude will have a lot to do with the team's (and thus foreign unit) performance.
    Last edited by jkm_101_fso; 01-09-2009 at 09:06 PM. Reason: forgot one thing...
    Sir, what the hell are we doing?

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