Warrior Ethos Memo

The intention of this paper is to introduce my leadership philosophy. I will start off defining leadership as well as explaining my leadership philosophy. I will then share a summary of an interview with a Squadron Commander about a difficult situation that he needed to use his philosophy to work through and analyze how my philosophy applies to the same situation followed by a brief summary.

In Col J. William DeMarco’s essay, Leadership Philosophy 101: Who Are You?, he states that every leader must have a direction and a personal vision. Col DeMarco calls this concept “Leadership Philosophy,” a concept which resonates through many of the assigned readings. My personal philosophy focuses on servant leadership at its core. Servant leadership is defined as “serving subordinates as much, or more, than they serve their bosses.” Servant leaders don’t stay behind desks, they address the needs of their Airmen, and take care of them like family. The commander interview highlights the critical nature of this leadership method. This paper will compare my personal philosophy with those of my commander and his past leadership crisis

“I am an expert and a professional, I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the Untied States of America in close combat,” One of the most important lines in the whole creed. It defines what a soldier is. As an expert we know everything we need to know about our job and more, as a professional, we do it better than anyone one else. When I graduated from basic training my mom herd us recite the soldiers creed and when she greeted me at the end, she asked me if I was ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of America, without hesitation I replied, “Of course, I have to keep you’ll safe don’t I?” Right there she knew I was where I was supposed to be, in the army.

The creed of the noncommissioned officer is a baseline for all noncommissioned officers Corporal all the way up to Sergeant Major, on how to conduct oneself in the leading of soldiers. It does not outline every single situation you may come into throughout your military career but if you live this creed then you should be set for success. In this paper we are going to take an in depth look into the creed and how you can apply every aspect of it to leadership.

Leadership goals should always contain methods of a continuous process of learning through education, training, and individual experiences that help ensure that the message will be communicated in a confident and competent manner when leading troops. Soldiers tend to follow leaders that demonstrate and live the Army values, while displaying their confidence in every decision that affects change. Leaders are not born as organizational or tactical leaders; but grown by their genetic determinism, which is inside and the characteristics they work toward; that mold is which type leader they will become. Not just anyone can lead; you must have the desire to lead, be willing to make the commitment to being a leader, and prepare yourself properly, then you have the desire to become a leader. (Fulton, 1995).

My leadership philosophy revolves entirely around the Army Values. In every action I take as a leader, I assess whether or not it lines up with the Army Values and the potential impacts. I have had a variety of leadership assignments during my career, all requiring a different leadership approach, spanning from team leader through platoon sergeant. My conflict resolution skills have greatly evolved through my twelve years in the Army, from rudimentary conversations to in depth problem solving. My professional development has had a profound effect on my leadership abilities, from NCOPD’s to mentorship from senior non-commissioned officers (NCO’s).

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

As a professional leader, role models are an important source of inspiration and development. The ability to deliberately aim to improve as a leader is equally important. In the Army, the Leadership Requirements Model found in doctrine provides the framework necessary to make those deliberate improvements. This framework presents the opportunity to analyze our leadership role models using the Leadership Requirements Model and assess how that leader has contributed to the Army or the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Corps. Additionally, it is important to apply the same analysis to how that role model has influenced our own leadership. Lastly, with these considerations in mind, leaders can project into the future and determine what kind of legacy they wish to leave. The purpose of this analysis is to explore these opportunities and the relationships between doctrinal leadership, a legacy leader, and my own leadership and legacy. My father, retired Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) Nelson Stydinger, had a significant influence on the profession during his own service. He also represents my most important leadership influence throughout my career and his record informs the type of legacy I would like to leave as an Army leader.

It is said that the Warrior Ethos is a society-wide foundation. This implies the strength of our families, friends, and anyone who would have the courage to defend their children, home and values of their culture. The Warrior Ethos is something that is taught to us. It is modeled by the people we look up to in our lives. This is all in regards to our upbringing.

As an individual in the Army you have the duty of being a soldier but as a leader you have to be a soldier and a leader. Without being a soldier you cannot accomplish your duty as a leader. Being a leader in the Army is a duty in itself. You could say that you have 2 duties. That is why these two are closely related to each other. Another Army value that would go together with duty would be selfless service. Selfless service is the act of putting once self before a particular group. The group that we as soldiers put ourselves before is the citizens of our country and other counties that need our assistance such as Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the value that would instill duty in us as a soldier. Without selfless service, we would not be in the Army performing our duties today. I don’t think I need to state and example because is already something we doing by being in the military. The last Army value that would relate to duty would be personal courage. Personal courage is the act of actually having the strength, physically and mentally, to perform your duties as a soldier. I think it is the most important value next to duty. Without personal courage you would not be able to pick up a weapon to defend this country which is our primary as soldiers. It facilitates our responsibilities as soldiers. Without it we would not have the courage to be at our appointed place of duty. Duty is not just related to our Army values. It is also defined the Soldier’s

I am Joseph Maruska, I am currently a Major in the United States Air Force. This essay will introduce you to my personal command philosophy. It will also summarize and analyze a brief interview recently conducted with a current squadron commander using my own leadership philosophy as a guide. Throughout this essay I will draw upon my own personal experiences and thoughts, lessons discussed throughout the Leadership and Command Course, as well the discussion with a current squadron commander. Leadership and command styles come in many different forms and there is not necessarily a correct or incorrect way to lead depending on your organization or current turn of events. This essay is simply my thoughts after being in the Air Force for the last eleven years.

A quote from a poet, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” (Goodreads Inc.). Soldiers are a different breed of citizens. They fear death, but don’t mind facing it. They march onto unfamiliar land, without full understanding of why they fight this enemy, but rather are comforted by knowing what they fight to protect.

Leadership, according to the Army doctrine, represents individuals’ ability to influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization (“Leadership” FM 6-22). However, the varying characteristics of individuals that the Army attracts may instill this doctrine in many different ways, leading to different representations of leadership. Some individuals choose to lead their subordinate in a stern matter, only displaying matured emotions and a “tough-loving” attitude to guide them in the right direction. Others

Every uniformed Army professional knows the Soldier’s Creed. The tenth line of the Soldier’s Creed - “I am an expert and I am a professional,” is a powerful statement recited during significant occasions including enlistments, graduations, first formations, promotion boards, change of command ceremonies, and deployment ceremonies. The NCO Creed even includes the bold statement, “No one is more professional than I,” in the opening line. For these words to ring true, the Army must deliver training sufficient to certify professional Soldiers and leaders at all levels. The Army’s ability to recognize this need and adapt its methods speaks volumes for the Profession of Arms. The three components of the Army’s leadership model -

Pressfield writes “each of us struggles every day to define and defend our sense of purpose and integrity, to justify our existence…to understand, if only within our own hearts, who we are and what we believe in.” This struggle might be Fallujah for a chosen few, or working the night shift for others. “The Warrior Ethos” does not provide a definitive answer as to what makes someone a warrior,