[July 24, 2018] Army Vet has a lot to say about the U.S. Army and how its leadership lacks the courage to train and keep real warriors.
U.S. Army senior leaders and their political civilian leadership no longer have the guts to develop warriors within its ranks. During World War II and the Korean War, being a real warrior was an obligation of all soldiers. The purpose of our army was to destroy enemies of the United States – pure and simple. This was a particularly strong tradition in the U.S. Army and Marines. Together they were the ground force that put boots on the ground to kick butt and kick it hard. General George Patton got it right when he said that our purpose of the military is to kill the enemy. There is no substitute for winning wars by killing the enemy and the more you kill the better. Seem too harsh? That has been the way wars were fought since before recorded history. Why? Because it works anything else is dangerous and stupid.
Why has the U.S. Army leadership become too timid to develop and keep real warriors? I think there are two major reasons for the army’s lack of warrior fighting spirit. First and of least importance is our overreliance on superior technology. It’s easy to get lazy and divorce ourselves from the nasty, brutish, and ugly side of war; better, we tell ourselves, to look the other way and use stand-off, long distance weapons to “destroy” the enemy. Our courage will not be tested when we do it that way. No longer are we required to look the enemy in the eye and see his fear when we kill. It’s sanitary killing at its finest. Our technology and our societal need for technology to make our lives easier in peacetime and when war requires us to never see the enemy, we lose our desire to be a warrior.
Second, and most importantly, is we’ve lost our will to fight like men. We are no longer vicious in warfare and this shows itself in our integration of military lawyers into combat units and the expansion of “support” units. War is complex and combat commanders are reluctant to do anything that would put themselves, their soldiers, or the U.S. Army in jeopardy over a small legal blunder. They are less concerned about fighting the enemy than about protecting their butts. In military-speak, they are “risk adverse.” Moral courage is lacking in the senior ranks across the U.S. military structure and is not limited to the U.S. Army since the U.S. Navy and Air Force is worse. Only U.S. Marine senior commanders are interested in building warriors and they must do so with the utmost of caution.
And while overreliance on technology and losing our will to fight like men are the main reasons of our loss of the warrior in our soldiers, there are other factors that encourage this unfortunate situation. Our political leaders are a bunch of wussies. For the most part, they are gutless, Harvard-schooled boy wonders who never had their thinking challenged. They also never had their butt whipped by someone who didn’t think or act like them. It’s amazing how much we can learn from other cultures when we are getting our butt smashed into the ground by the biggest guy on the international playground. Our military leaders need to get their warrior-supporting act together. Else we will lose the next war like we lost since the Vietnam War.
Keep them coming Army Vet.
Certainly thought provoking. I’m not sure how bad it is since I have no connection to the US military but I would guess that it must be bad. I’ve seen other articles on this very issue but they are more politically correct in how they describe it.
I really liked your article today, Army Vet. Well developed and right to the point. Anyone reading it should be frightened at what it says about our military today. Thanks for bringing this up; something that I did not know about.
I agree with you Len that Gen Satterfield has allowed some great guest writers here at his leadership website.
Good comment, Len.
Another wonderful article from Army Vet today. I would like to add that this problem has been a long time in the development of most Western-nation militaries. The USA is clearly the leader (not a good thing) but it is not all their fault for having a military that is overreliant on superior technology. Cheers.
While I am a regular reader here at https://www.theleadermaker.com, I’m not always in agreement with the writers. However, Army Vet is one of the best and his opinion is much appreciated. Thanks to Army Vet today for a great post.
When Max commented below that “stupid is as stupid does,” I nearly snorted my coffee up my nose. Good thing it was cooling down at the time. What I wanted to say was that it is good that we have folks like Army Vet who can “see” clearly that our military needs more warriors. Thanks for a great post.
Yes! And we should apply this to all the other US military services. There are simply not enough men and women who take military life seriously and that is the fault mainly of our senior military commanders. Politicians have always been stupid when it comes to the military. Well, most of them anyway. I can think of Lincoln and Roosevelt which had it right but the rest of them are weak.
Here is a great article that supports what you’re saying, Army Vet. It was published a few years ago.
“Where Have All the Warriors Gone?” – https://www.washingtonian.com/2015/05/21/where-have-all-the-warriors-gone/
Best quote “Great military leaders have always had guts, toughness, daring. But now our armed services are led by men who act more like corporate managers than soldiers. Could MacArthur make General today? Could we win a war?”
Yes! Yes! You are spot on with this article and thanks for highlighting it for us.
Here’s another that notes we have too many bureaucrats and not enough warriors.
“Too many bureaucrats not enough warriors?”
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Too+many+bureaucrats+not+enough+warriors%3F-a0393874561
I’m a fan of yours Army Vet since you made your first post here. Thanks from me and my family for a great article today.
I’m new to this leadership blog and first time commenting. Thanks to Gen. Satterfield for hosting great guest writers like Army Vet who know how to make complex problems easy to understand. Great article today Army Vet. Thank you.
Welcome aboard, “Kid 1945.”
Yes, welcome Kid 1945. Thanks for your comments.
I love it. Such a non-PC blog post today and one that has made me start it off with a smile to know that there are folks like you who know how to identify serious problems and offer solutions.
Sad, but true. Thanks Army Vet. I too am a great fan of yours.
“Stupid is as stupid does.” We all know that quote is from the movie Forrest Gump and it is so appropriate here. If you have a military and spend vast amounts of money on it, then its primary function should be to kill the enemy until the enemy realizes there is no alternative but unconditional surrender. Whenever the USA is involved, that is the way it should always be, else we should not get involved. Only thru mental weakness can it be that way so we must decide as a nation to elect only those strong on national defense.
Well said, Max. You always seem to get to the point quickly.
I agree completely with you.
You crack me up with your comments. Thanks, Max for making my day.
Great comment Max.
😉 I agree and thanks for the great comments.
Spot on. Something I’ve been saying for years. We need a huge increase in fighters, not technicians. The opposite is true in our US military, of course. Thanks for getting to the point quickly and putting a spotlight on the stupidity of our politicians.
Good blog post today, Army Vet. Thanks for bringing this to Gen. Satterfield’s blog and making it one of our big stories of the week (or the year).
Wow, nice article today. I didn’t realize that things were so bad and that our current lack of warriors has been a situation for a long time. The decline of our military has only been that way because of the lack of courage by our senior leaders to really do something about it.
Very good article and right on target. I must, sadly, agree with you.
I agree, sad but true.
Thank you for your service and for verifying that you see it the same way as Army Vet.
I’m one of your biggest fans on the web. Thanks Army Vet for all you do !!!!!
Me too. Another fan here.
Yep, me too.
Me also. Cheers from Down Under.
Thanks Janna.
Hey everyone. Thanks for the positive feedback. I think most of us here have been a big fan of Army Vet since his beginning posts at Gen. Satterfield’s leadership blog.