Behavior and Communication in the U.S. Army

The Army is an organization that imprints pride and discipline in its soldiers, both enlisted and commissioned officers, because of its

The sole reason for the Army’s existence is to defend the Nation, its Commonwealths, possessions, and interests against all enemies. The

In 2012, General Dempsey states “Mission Command is fundamentally a learned behavior to be imprinted into the DNA of a profession of arms.” The way Mission Command has evolved through the past years is indicative to the US Military adjusting to a new threat. The concept of Mission Command is not new, what is important is how General Dempsey states “Education in the fundamental principles of mission command must begin at the start of service and be progressively more challenging..” The General emphasizes the need for education at the start of the individual’s service. Additionally, this highlights the United States Army’s doctrinal adjustment to the new threat. During the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US faced an enemy whose creativity and adaptability are two of its greatest assets. The fast-paced situation changes in both of those AOs required tactical level leadership maintain the autonomy to “exercise disciplined initiative.” This type of initiative historically leads to mission success, specifically in fast-paced situations where a key to success is forcing the enemy to react.

The United States has become a very advanced and intimidating force to be reckoned with. Many different factors have led to a more efficient and effective fighting force, but one factor that stands out amongst the rest is the evolution of how the military communicates. One person is limited and can only do so much without the help from others. When you introduce another individual, you drastically increase productivity and safety. One famous scripture from the Bible is “Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” (New International Version, Leviticus 26.8) Having more than one individual working together is good, but the most important thing is communication. The military understands these two concepts and because of this the military has created a unique and complex way to communicate.

The American Army 's history, composition, and structure predisposed the leadership to a rigid fixation on conventional warfare. In contrast to the British army-as-force-projection model, the American Army found its first task a matter of national survival. This historical trend - the continued perception of the Army fighting a war of annihilation - helped in many ways to keep the Army purely focused on its military objectives. Unconditional surrender was the name of the game, and smaller political goals were seen at best as derivative to, and at worst, preventative of the fabled 'total victory '. The varied composition of personnel which make up the US army also ensured a degree of formality, and a deference to rank. The structure, born of open-combat wars at large scale, was constituted around large divisions, which often rotated officers and manpower in and out. In short, everything within the Army was organized -rigidly- around the principle of a large scale conventional war. What worked against the Germans would work against the Russians.

World War II was the worst war in history and impacted most countries in some way. This was a war between the Axis Powers and Allied Powers. The Axis Powers consisted of Germany, Italy and Japan while the Allied Powers was made up of Britain, Soviet Union, France and the United States. World War II started in 1939 and ended in 1945. It was the bloodiest war and killed approximately 70 million people. We were not only at war but United States was going through the Great Depression. The Great Depression was economical nightmare for Americans. Money became very scarce and families were struggling to survive. The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act was implemented to help those soldiers who returned home from the war. “Why Soldiers Don’t Talk” by John Steinbeck and “The Death of the Ball Turret and Gunner” by Randall Jarrell both looked at how war impact soldiers and how they deal with life after war.

They also have the capability to rapidly deploy more than 14,000 soldiers anywhere in the world within 18 hours (82nd Airborne Division 2000- 2018). Reason being is that the Army has communicated its vision and mission statement throughout the ranks from a private through four-star general by publishing Army Doctrine Publication (ADP1). Furthermore, the Army uses mission command to help foster the Army vision and mission statement. Mission command in the Army is defined as the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable the discipline, initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations (ADP6-0). The Army teaches its Army vision and mission statement to all soldiers at all ranks through various means, through its leaders,

Good managers, supervisors, and leaders take specific actions to create a climate that is conducive to open and honest communication. In this open communication climate, people feel free to give their input, contributions, and ideas, information is shared freely, conflicts are openly discussed and worked through internally, and people are more willing to express innovative ideas and to take risks. The basis of the open communication climate is trust. The leader establishes an environment of trust within and among all the people in the group. To begin to build or expand trust in your organization and to foster an open communication climate you have to keep your employees informed, provide an open door policy, and encourage employees to share information.

The United States Army is the main ground-force of the United States. Their main function is to protect and defend the United State with ground troops, tanks, artillery, attack helicopters,

I found that this chapter had a lot of topics that I found interesting and could relate to.

This extended reporting period has seen CAMM reintegrate into the Squadron with ease and efficiency; which has been noticed by his keen and profound attitude to regaining the skill set required of a senior member of the avionics section. His time as an Instructor at HMS Sultan has clearly given CAMM the skill set in mentoring and coaching his Division; which has been evident whilst working nights. Working as the avionics trade lead on the night watch for eleven months allowed continuity of the engineering personnel and tasks. His ability to foresee preventative maintenance tasks and associated problems; directing individuals is a clear indicator of his leadership capability and management style. Working whilst embarked on Joint Warrior saw an efficient Senior Rate that worked well both within the Squadron and externally to ships company; showing that his ability to communicate is well above that expected.

Leadership is crucial part of today’s army and leaders play a huge role in the accomplishment of the mission. I believe this is true, because leaders are the guys who are in close contact with the younger soldiers. They are the ones who counsel the soldiers and make them better and make a plan for that soldier to improve and become a better soldier. Leaders play a major role in the accomplishment of the mission, because officers and higher leaders cannot be everywhere at once, so they need a person they can trust to lead the charge and tackle the mission the right way

While I was in the military, I got to experience how ineffective and problematic vertical communication is. It was very aggregating when leaders would only provide small pieces of the puzzle even though I was key personnel in charge of the Battalion’s logistics. In chapter one, it talks about how communication is not linear but must operate circular (Hackman & Johnson, 2013, p. 8-9). Communication that comes full circle provides transparency at every level. Transparent communication will also show your followers how much you value and trust their abilities. It is amazing what people can accomplish if you provide them the whole picture. Leaders that use transactional communication are able to simultaneously recognize and respond to emotions

     The concept that is stressed in the Army from day to day is “Attention to detail.” The margin for error is so small that, one second too soon or one second too late, could cost someone their life. All leaders in the Army have this imprinted in their minds and hearts. They are required to carry out various tasks from day to day, some of which they are not sufficiently trained on, but they make due with what they

The actual cultural norm is just the opposite and that goes from the top generals to brand new recruits in basic training. For those who have spent time in the military, the familiar mantra from day one is continuous improvement. Each branch of the service (Army, Navy , Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) has its own cash award program. Each branch rewards innovation and ideas by giving away thousands of dollars to its