General Petraeus As A Visionary Leader

3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division must face reality. “The kill company” scandal has seriously damaged the image of the US Army, which in turn has challenged the trust the Nation places in its armed forces. More concretely, these events highlighted the need for strengthening the Rakkasans’ ethics standards. Soldiers are not warriors; they are ethical warriors, whose identity relies on two inseparable pillars: ethics principles and operational efficiency. The Army core values reflect this ethical identity and the duties that come with it. Understanding that warriors need solid ethical references, the Brigade will demonstrate commitment to the Army values, invest in ethics education, and engage leadership.

The 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, a unit known as the Rakkasans, were conducting Operation Iron Triangle in 2006 in Iraq when soldiers killed eight unarmed Iraqi men. The US military severely reprimanded the Commander of the Rakkasans, COL Michael Steele, for the unethical command climate his leadership allowed to exist within the unit at that time. This unit will need a new commander that can set and maintain an effective, ethical command climate through his leadership. That new commander should resolve the issues that led to the reported war crime in order to establish a culture that perpetuates an ethical command climate.

Ethics Theory for the Military Professional by Chaplin (COL) Samuel D. Maloney illustrates the complex ethical decision making process. Army Leaders are responsible for professionally, and ethically develop subordinates. Developing unethical subordinates in a zero defect Army is a leadership challenge. Goal-Oriented Aspirations, Rule-Oriented Obligations, and Situation-Oriented Decisions provide leaders an understanding of the ethical decision making process. The first step to Professionally developing subordinates is identifying, and providing input on all subordinate goals. Leaders are obligated to enforce rules and regulations. Understanding subordinate character provides leaders with the information to evaluate a soldier’s integrity. However,

Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” In 1776, by David McCullough, this quote truly resonates the fact that it is the little things that count, as not necessarily the big picture. Although there are many pitfalls the Americans go through during the course of this story, the outcome of the war would be a positive success to the Americans. As a result, good leadership is a very important factor in accomplishing a goal. Also, encouragement is a big help when it comes to boosting a soldier’s morale. Furthermore, endurance is vital to an army

The book Black Hearts opened my eyes to how leadership from a single Officer can have a grappling effect on such a wide range of soldiers from the lowest of ranks. One of the best takeaways from Black Hearts is to never do anything: illegal, unethical, or immoral. Although this is a easy statement to repeat, Black Hearts demonstrates the difficulties that lie behind these words. It has also painted a picture of how leadership can topple extremely quickly from a top down view. The Army is portrayed in a bad light throughout the book relentlessly. This is due to the concentration of poor leadership of the 1-502nd Regiment (Referred to as “First Strike”), a battalion of the 101st Airborne Division.

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.

Deceased philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “War does not determine who is right- only who is left”. Those left are the soldiers of the 1-502nd, specifically Bravo Company 1st plt, and the Janabi family and to a greater extent, the ever-changing global world we all live in today. The tragic events that conspired in a small Iraqi village became a microcosm of how leadership failures at every level shaped the actions of a few soldiers who committed atrocious acts. One can also see how a high operational tempo, along with prolonged violence and death, has on a person’s psyche. It is the ugly side of war that the average American citizen may not want to hear or talk about. For a soldier, it is inevitably what they train their

While under Major General David Petraeus, the 101st Airborne Division initially deployed, ready to engage insurgent forces. However, after arriving in Mosul, Iraq the division became heavily involved in a vital reconstruction effort. General Petraeus understood through his previous experiences that in war, reconstruction efforts are inevitable. His critical thinking and problem solving led to a three-pronged strategy to provide a secure environment, to restore basic life services and to facilitate a return to normalcy for the citizens of Mosul. In this paper, I will summarize how General Petraeus used critical thinking, problem solving and the “Screaming Eagles” to earn the hearts and minds of throughout Iraq.

I have seen firsthand how inspirational motivation can aid in utilizing the organizational and structural diversity of the joint force to accomplish the mission. I talked about my experiences with the Army and NATO while deployed. When I was faced with an ethical dilemma in regards to my competing values, I used critical thinking with intellectual courage to avoid an ethical relativism trap. The situations with my troop wanting to marry his partner and my civilian employees were examples I gave. Peter Pace made it to the pinnacle of military leadership.

INTRODUCTION General Petraeus was a career military officer who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was always competitive and strove for the best. According to a Vanity Fair, General Petraeus always told his soldiers “Life is a competitive endeavor” (Bowden, 2010). He held many commands, but gained most of his knowledge when selected as the deputy commander of a counter-terrorism joint task force.

There are a number of significant difficulties for today’s military - the Global War on Terrorism or what has recently been termed the “Long War;” weapon system acquisitions and personnel draw downs. The focus of this paper is on one strategic component of the military quest—Leadership. More specifically, it will center on servant leadership and its impact on the military’s vision.

As a Non Commissioned Officer in the Pennsylvania Army Nation Guard, I realize the importance and value of good leadership. A leader has to be able to understand and support their men, have initiative, be quick on their feet, and accept responsibility for their actions. The personal traits that I look for in a leader are courage, commitment, candor, competence, and integrity. Out of these the most important one to me, is integrity. A man’s word is his bond and the most important leadership trait there is. Looking back, the man I see as a great leader that possesses these traits is Ret. General Colin Powell. Colin Powell is one of the greatest military leaders in this country’s history. He served this country

General Petraeus was a career military officer whom graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point. He was always very competitive and would always strive for the best. According to a news feed, Petraeus always told his soldiers “Life is a competitive endeavor” (Bowmen, 2010). General Petraeus held many commands, but gained most of his knowledge when selected as the deputy commander of a counter-terrorism joint task force. His position taught him the crucial importance how excellent intelligence was to effective military operations and learned the mechanics of multinational operations. In 2002, Major General Petraeus assumed command for the US ARMY’s 101st Airborne Division. In 2003, tasked with the mission to stage the division in Kuwait, Petraeus was to occupy the Nineveh province, a sector of Iraq stretching over 75,000 square kilometers. In the direct center and having the best tactical advantage, the capital city of Mosul was where he would occupy first. Soon after the occupation of the city of Mosul, Major General Petraeus was successful during the occupation of Mosul, Iraq because he was able to direct his key leaders, lead his troops, and assess situations to accomplish the mission.

General Petraeus’ redefined operational approach successfully implemented counterinsurgency operations, engaged the populace and dominated offensive operations integral in defeating Al Qaeda in Iraq. In essence, General Petraeus’ revised operational approach included the challenges of engaging the Iraqi people as partners, the surge of forces needed in counterinsurgency operations, Iranian interventionism, and dominating and defeating Al Qaeda in Iraq. Domination (Phase III) defined includes operational focus on breaking the enemy’s will for organized resistance or control of the operational environment including full employment of joint force capabilities and sequencing of forces into the operational area.16 (JP5-0, p. xxiv) In that, General

Combating in modern warfare does not simply mean killing the enemy. There are ethical rules and standards of behavior that soldiers must strictly follow because these rules are essential for defeating the enemy, winning "hearts and minds" of potential allies, and maintain the morale of the troops. These tasks have become especially challenging in the face of the proliferation of guerilla warfare that has been adopted by weaker military forces in the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. In fighting insurgencies, abiding by the ethical standards of the Army behavior may be even harder than in fighting conventional battles. The ethical rules may sometimes put the soldiers in dangerous positions. Disregarding the acceptable standards of behavior, however, may have even graver consequences, putting innocent non-combatants at risk and risking total demoralization of the Army unit participating in disorderly behavior. It is therefore essential that Army leaders maintain an ethical command climate during the war.