[November 19, 2015] The first two parts of this 3-part series proposed that the U.S. military has a leadership problem and it begins with the rejection of its mission to fight the nation’s enemies. The American military has experienced an increase in the overall number of its leaders at all levels since WWII but, I have proposed, it has concurrently seen a decrease in the quality of leadership.
At the end of the Vietnam War the American military was at its lowest level – its leadership measured qualitatively – since the American Revolution. Morale was low, honesty and integrity were buzzwords, and its ability to fight enemies of the nation was questionable. The seeds of its comeback rested in a few who were able to help right the wrongs of the military services that were allowed to grow and fester under the U.S. president and its Secretary of Defense.
Although today we are witnessing a downward spiral in leadership in the American military, it has yet to reach the post-Vietnam calamity of leadership. But what we see today is a widespread moral corruption that pervades the senior leadership. Some call it careerism, where they are more interested in their retirement and status than the selfless service of a truly dedicated military professional.
Most importantly we see this in the failure of leaders to lead. They fail to inform their civilian bosses of the problems with the war on terror, deal with the increased military suicide rate, and the decline in its health care. They also parrot the words of those civilians – politicians – who control the military and fail to push back on strategic mistakes. Furthermore, they fail to properly educate our political class about strategic issues and resolve themselves to talking about the tactical nature of our problems.
It is no wonder that the U.S. has no strategy to defeat and destroy the Islamic State or to create a safer America. Everything is tactics … a few troops here, a few troops there, a few bombers here, and a few bombers there. This will not work in the long term and quickly drains our resources.
There has been very little discussion about the military leadership problem among the candidates vying to be the next president. It should be because it will be one of the most important challenges they will face when assuming office. Tough, bold, decisive leadership will be needed; stronger than we’ve experienced in a long time.
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