Texas A & M University : Black Hearts Book Analysis

When the men was wounded, and showed weakness the platoon leader gave comfort while getting him the help he needed. And when he wanted to hold another soldier’s hand, no judgment was given, just a hand and consolation. A strong bond had to be there, in the jungle among the grunts to save lives and stop one another from going crazy, as they only had each other.

Black Hearts was about the 2005-2006 deployment of the 101st‘s second brigade‘s 1-502nd (First Strike) to Iraq. The book more specifically honed in on Bravo Company and their first platoon’s decent into complete madness throughout the deployment. The 1-502nd and its commander Lt Col Kunk, was tasked with the mission of getting control of and hold the land in-between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Kunk was a particularly difficult man to get along with. He would explode and go on a tirade over just about anything, big or small. This caused serious problems at meetings when he only wanted things his way and would personally attack his commanders who he thought he could not trust. This area had been recently dubbed as the “Triangle of

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.

They found out they were going to one of the most if not the most dangerous place in Iraq South Baghdad also known as the Triangle of Death. October 2005 2nd Brigade started to arrive Kunk dispersed the Companies: Bravo-West, Charlie-South, Alpha-central, and Delta-North. Kunk assigned Bravo and Charlie who he believed to be his best companies the mission he judged to be the toughest. The relief in place and transfer of authority was quite displeasing many men said that the National Guard unit 48th were quite beaten up and done for. They claimed the men looked beat and scared letting the enemy dictate where they could and could not go and had very little intel on the AO and surrounding areas to pass along to them. As everyone started to settle in to their AO Kunk started focusing on the overall mission to fight the insurgency and support the people and train the IA. Now focusing in more on Bravo, Goodwin took over the Yusufiyah area and was very

Company Aytch, a memoir written by Sam Watkins, tells the personal tale of a lowly private fighting four long years in the American Civil War. Watkins was from Columbia, Tennessee, and was a part of Company H, 1st Tennessee Infantry. He recounts his military career in chronological order, from before the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 to the day the Confederacy surrendered at Nashville in 1865. Watkins is a humble writer, often reminds the reader that he is not aiming to provide a comprehensive account of the entire war, but rather a collection of personal stories. Military history books often recount the lives of generals and of great strategies, but this book insists that history should not exclude the common men who filled the ranks of the military.

Colonel (Col) Michael Steele’s resolute beliefs regarding how to prepare his unit for combat and his bravado demeanor commanded respect from other bemused military officers. While serving as Commanding Officer (CO), 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Col Steele aggressively cultivated a command climate focused on three core principles: personal protection, precision, and lethality. Although these three core principles narrowly aligned with the Army's "Soldier's Creed", Col Steele’s principles did not reinforce the Army’s individual and organizational core values. 3rd Brigade’s disassociated ethical subculture fostered a toxic environment which compromised both subordinate commanders' and individual soldiers' moral standards to various extents. Col Steele’s vague guidance concerning proper ethical behavior during the execution of high stress Counter-Insurgency (COIN) missions resulted in subordinates failing to conduct kinetic operations in accordance with established Army ethical standards. The military establishment shall remember May 09, 2006 as the day the revered "Rakkasans" failed to personify the unit's motto of "Ne Desit Virtus," meaning "Let Valor Not Fail". For on this day, four soldiers assigned to Charlie Company, known to the “Rakkasans” as the "Kill Company", murdered eight unarmed Iraqi citizens during Operation Iron Triangle. These four soldiers failed to understand the nature and consequences of their iniquities as they could no longer distinguish

Among these leaders was Bravo Company’s 1st platoon’s SFC Robert Gallagher. The platoon endured terrible living conditions including no running water and filthy living space. These inadequate living conditions must be met with some relaxation on the standards they were expected to follow. Company leadership viewed this as a bribe to keep the soldiers in high spirits. In reality, they set the stage for the erosion of the morals the enlisted soldiers are supposed to possess. While the morals were being chipped away, so was the original plan the battalion had hoped to follow. Fragmentation orders became a pseudo-standard for the boys of Bravo Company. What had originally started as short-term overnight patrol bases turned into fortified traffic control points with the exception of any form of fortification other than in notion only. Despite the fact that platoon-level leadership requested for supplies they were repeatedly turned down. A major breakdown in the communication between the leadership created a loss in faith in the higher leadership for the lower-enlisted soldiers on the ground. Very soon into deployment, Bravo Company began to experience contact with unseen enemy forces. The enemy was able to engage and plant IED’s and cause casualties while remaining elusive. After the first few casualties within the company, the mission to start set up traffic control points was to begin. While conducting patrols down the road time and time

The critical leadership problem the 4th ABCT faces are consequences of the continued past brigade change of command without an organizational vision to address it, and different Commanders leadership styles that have affected the effectiveness, organizational culture, and climate within the 4th ABCT. This case study paper analyzes the critical leadership problems on the 4th ABCT. The aim of this essay is to explain how the Army leadership attributes; direction, guidance, and organizational vision; and a positive environment are factors that enable

Toxic leadership and climate defines the critical leadership problem within 4th ABCT. In conjunction, a lack of care for Soldiers and their families, favoritism, SHARP issues, and hazing have caused a unit to lose all trust in the previous Command Team. To correct these issues I will develop and implement my vision and a way ahead for the BCT using the 7 Step Model. Furthermore, I will place a great deal of emphasis on a specific portions of the Rocket Model, Organizational Culture “Iceberg”, and correcting the Five Dysfunctions of a Team

“Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir” is a memoir written by Joseph R. Owen, a lieutenant of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment. Lt. Owen narrates his experience as an officer in the Korean War, in an attempt to show the public what war is from a soldier's point of view. Readers are shown what sacrifices soldiers have to make during times of war, they are shown the experience of war through a different pair of eyes. The Chosin action is justly called majestic; and in this memoir, Lieutenant Owen tells the tale of the common men who made it so. Joseph informs the public about the experiences of the 7th Marine Regiment and the tragic end of the Chosin Reservoir where many Marines lost their lives. He shows us what sacrifices a soldier must make for his country, and he helps readers understand the impact of war on a man. The memoir was an extraordinarily detailed and realistic account of war, allowing the public to read the tale and enjoy not only a thrilling retelling of Chosin Reservoir, but also a memoir

Arriving in October 2005, the entire campaign units were struggling throughout with being over-tasked and under-staffed, and 1st platoon was a major victim of this occurrence. Relieving the 48th Infantry Brigade, who had no relations with the locals and very little presence in the AO, they had to reestablish control of the area around FOB Yusufiyah. With terrible living conditions and little to no equipment, the platoon had to juggle improving their fighting positions while at the same time secure the JSB and the AVLB. The company TOC had no kitchen to cook food nor any running water. Soldiers would fill sand bags from sun up to sun down trying to provide themselves with some sort of cover against attacks. The PSG Miller would request supplies constantly, but it seemed a low priority of the the higher command. This was a common theme throughout the time they were in the triangle of death. It wasn't often that officers would visit the FOB or provide supplies to enhance their situation, but when they did it was not a welcomed response. Kunk would come by and tell the soldiers how undisciplined and how little work they had completed with little consideration of how hard the soldiers had been working with the limited resources.

First Platoon had many leaders brought in to try and fix the platoon. Sergeant First Class Fenlason was brought into the platoon as the new platoon sergeant on February 4th, 2006. He was not respected right away because he was one who did not have any combat experience. He was just a desk worker who got brought in to fix the platoon with a cocky attitude. From the Joes perspective he did nothing but “{sit} around smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, and that’s it. He would do patrols once a month to go and talk to some leaders.” They hated

Toxic leadership and climate defines the critical leadership problem within 4th ABCT. In conjunction, a lack of care for Soldiers and their families, favoritism, SHARP issues, and hazing have caused a unit to lose all trust in the previous Command Team. To combat these issues I will develop and implement my vision and a way ahead for the BCT using the 7 Step Model. Furthermore, I will focus on specific portions of the Rocket Model, Organizational Culture “Iceberg”, and correcting the Five Dysfunctions of a Team to solve the problem.

The next part of the book detailed a very sharp decline in the morale and unit cohesion of Bravo Company, but primarily first platoon. The death of Nelson and Casica was the first. Nelson and Casica died when a shooter opened fire on a TCP with a 9mm at

“The Things They Carried,” written by Tim O’Brien, is a powerful short story regarding the Vietnam war. The author’s personal involvement with the army as an infantryman through the Vietnam war allows for the text to include realistic detail regarding a deployment. Although much of the story itself is simply describing what soldiers carried, relating back to the title, it also tells the story of Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, an officer, leading his men through marching from village to village. Through the story, Cross realizes what true leadership requires, but only after losing one of his men due to his lack of strong leadership. The text conveys that leadership is to lead others no matter the consequences and by disregarding love; O’Brien does this b y showing how love negatively impacted Cross, what possible consequences of strict leadership are, and the weight that a leader must carry.