[July 26, 2017] Many years ago during a combat deployment, a good friend of mine had the duty to tell a General Officer that he would not use the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a construction project because they were too slow, too expensive, and not good enough. The only problem was that U.S. law required their use for all military construction.
Usually when a soldier tells a General Officer they will not do something, especially when military regulations demand it, then we call it a “career ending decision.” Under the circumstances at the time in combat, my friend saw no other choice if he were to accomplish the mission assigned. And an important mission it was, to protect coalition forces from direct and indirect enemy fire. And his plan worked.
There will be times in a leader’s life that none of their choices will be good. There will be those who nevertheless take the party line and go by the rules. Others will do the right thing by making a choice that could be unpopular, unorthodox, or “prohibited.” Moral courage is one character trait that such a leader needs in abundance; lesser persons have buckled under the pressure.
Anyone in a leadership position for a good deal of time has run across the dilemma of choosing between something too slow, too expensive, and not good enough (but is the easy, preferred, and traditional choice) or an alternative (but is difficult because it runs counter to the “rules”). Penalties for getting the choice wrong can be problematic and create circumstances that even the staunchest leader would find troubling.
My friend chose the difficult route, going counter to the law and a General Officer (my friend was not punished) but finding a way out that was rather creative and agreeable to all. Note that combat creates a degree of flexibility that cannot be appreciated unless one has been there. With the help of a lobbyist friend in Washington, D.C., he was able to obtain relief from the U.S. Congress.1 While this took time, it not only worked but pleased those involved.
Creativity, a positive attitude, a good network, and never-give-up mentality, were the right ingredients at the right time and place to make his solution work. He didn’t use the Corps of Engineers but instead used the U.S. Air Force equivalent; the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC).
Army engineers took a backseat for that project but ultimately he made them realize that there was competition and through competition they worked at being better, faster, and cheaper. This was a good lesson in the right kind of leadership.
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- This relief was no simple task but took about a month to get through Congress using a lobbyist and a few outside friends who were donors to a particular political party. My friend was later promoted to full Colonel and retired after 30 years of service.