The Black Hearts, By Jim Frederick

War has always existed. Although the purpose of war varies, the outcome is the same; many lives are changed and ruined. War is often used to gain power, resources, and land, but it disregards the lives of those fighting the fight. Martin Luther King stated, “The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” In three selections, “Medevac Missions,” “A Journey Taken with my Son,” and “At Lowe’s Home Improvement Center,” readers come to understand the truths of wars’ impact on the lives of those surrounding the soldier. Their friends change, their physical and psychological states change, but the hardest truth is adjusting to life back at home. Soldiers experience many life changes during active

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

They are in charge to develop another kind of leadership named Organizational Leadership. It consists of maintain critical skill, resourcing, and predicting second and 3rd order effects. It means that that different of direct leaders they do not need to concern about little details like if a soldier knows how to clean his rifle. Instead of this, they need a comprehensive vision of the all events. They must work to provide the conditions that a soldier receive a good rifle. To teach him how to use it is not their role. Consequently is more removed from the day-to-day actions. They pass their intents to the staff whose using the chain of command will do this information arrive at the “end of

The movie “Twelve O’ Clock High” is a case study in the application of leadership theory during World War Two. Gregory Peck portrays Brigadier General Savage, a United States Army Air Force officer thrust into a situation that requires a maximum effort both on the ground and in the air as he attempts to re-invigorate an undisciplined, anxiety ridden, and ineffective combat unit. Throughout the movie we observe Peck’s character employing a variety of leadership methods, but ultimately discovering that true combat effectiveness and cohesion is accomplished through a

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.

Balancing the role of the Professional Leader has been an ongoing issue for the Army since the latter decades of the 19th century when the U.S. Army was professionalized. The Army has struggled with the matter of balancing a force as massive as the Army. When out of balance the Army does not have the capability to send Soldiers where they are needed. During the Second War in Iraq it was obvious that the Army was not upholding this balance, junior leaders in the Army were fighting against a counterinsurgency campaign that they were ill prepared to handle due to a lack of necessary experience and equipment.

This paper on Leadership will compare the primary differences and characteristics between the tactical leader and the organizational leader. I will provide you with the basics for development, characteristics, and the fundamentals that help guide and influence each leader’s style and how they influence Soldiers to follow them. Leaders at all levels demonstrate their values, knowledge, skills, and abilities in many different means and methods in

As an army chaplain, I see leadership as a responsibility that must be upheld regardless of the situation. That means I should be able to demonstrate a good example of a true leader. My name is CH (CPT) Idowu, Oyedeji a C4 student at USACHCS, Fort Jackson, SC. I am writing this paper to share my view on what leadership philosophy should look like.

Robert E. Lee once said of leadership, “I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself” (Jones, 1875). This is an instance where I believe that even though this idea or thought was mentioned many years ago, it still has relevance today. I do not have an exact date of that quote, but with General Lee fighting in the Civil War, I would imagine it came somewhere in the mid-1800’s (The book it is found in was published after his death). Our current military leaders need to listen to advice like this quote, get out and know the people they put in charge so they are better able to make decisions on who should and should not actually be leading.

Successful leadership on a battlefield can be measured in different ways. It is possible for a good, successful leader to lose a battle. Conversely, it is possible for an ineffective leader to win a battle, given the right circumstances. What distinguishes a successful leader from an unsuccessful one is his/her ability to oversee an operation using effective mission command. In ADP 6-0, mission command as a philosophy is defined as “as the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations” (ADP, 1).

Black Hearts is a great example of the reality on how severe bad leadership skills can ripple throughout a unit and impact its overall mission. This book serves as a guide for future leaders of America and will set the examples of what not to do in leadership positions. The lessons we can take from these soldiers can help us as potential leaders to become more competent and effective. The fact that this book focused on the hardships, poor decisions and sound judgment of the soldiers it helped emphasize on what was not the best choice of action and leaves a moment for you as the audience to think how you would of done it better. So right or wrong there was a lesson to be learned and the book did a good job including the reader. This book

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara was not just a fiction novel, it was a story of a man who actually saw the battlefield of Gettysburg and learned about the battle and its importance. When he returned from the battle sight he decided to write a novel based on his experience there. Instead of creating fictional characters he used the names and experiences he had directly with the main characters of the novel. Not only did Shaara study and review letters, documents and journal enteries of the men for the interpretation, he made it more realistic and personal by the portrayal of his characters. In the paper we will address four of those main characters with their background and how they were relevant to the war. Shaara, gave us a look at each of their inner thoughts and emotions.

The concept is about understanding our troop’s reaction after returning from the war. Mainly external attributions have the most impact on our post-traumatic stress syndrome and any possibilities disorder occurred with them after returning from the war (Costello, 2014). The articles explained about the most extensive training taking place and they are trained to fight and combat on the war. This has caused them to traumatized mainly by fear and other factor about hiding, destroy the enemies. The main concern is about these troops having been trained to eliminate the enemies’ troop. Another important traumatized cause these troop to be intimidating is witness another wounded, destroy by the enemies. The other concern is being capture by the enemies and these individual could have possible been mistreat and sometime executed. Overall these element has cause them to be fear and cautious as they return back to the civilization.

In 1861, the United States fought a Civil War between the north and south. During this conflict family and friends were torn apart in allegiance between the two. This bloody war lasted for four years and gave way to horrific battles. During this time a man named Ambrose Bierce joined the 9th Indiana volunteers and was seriously wounded at the battle of Kennesaw mountain. Few years after the end of the civil war Bierce would write a book called Civil War Stories. In this book Bierce would take an opposite approach to his and others in this war. Most books in that time would glorify generals and great battles won. But Bierce would focus on the real battles and relate with the common soldier and the horrendous conditions and the repercussions

Numerous schools, seminars, training conferences have supplied me with data and formulas to work through situations and scenarios. Working with great leaders I emulated their mannerisms. The poor leaders I have encountered over the years have showed me how not to lead like them. However, what cannot be taught in my opinion, is judgement, character, core values and moral principles. It is my belief that if a leader truly relies on his moral compass for direction and code of conduct there must absolutely be full accountability and responsibility for personal actions. This obligation will transcend across all other facets of the leader’s life and influence his behavior and the behavior of his subordinates and peers. Leaders must make decisions on a daily basis that affect others, and in the case of a decision during war, this could mean the difference between life and death. Accountability and responsibility for personal actions forces a leader to really dig deep and make decisions they are willing to defend. There is no one to blame, no one to pass the buck to and no way to evade responsibility. Accountability forces honesty, because if you cannot be accountable and responsibility for your own actions it is inherently dishonest. This is tough part of leadership that has challenged me. It is easy to direct others to do your will and be an