[July 2, 2016] The U.S. military’s culture of viewing war and conflicts as apolitical has created a blind spot from which it must recover if it is to successfully fight the nation’s enemies in the future. The means by which the military fights (its equipment, ammunition, etc.) is the best in the world and its fighting forces are – for the most part – excellent at what they do. But our senior military leaders no longer have the will to involve themselves in the political dialog necessary so that the nation understands to fight means to win.
Just yesterday, the U.S. Navy’s report of January’s capture of two American Riverine Command Boats by Iranian military naval forces is telling. It concludes that the incident “was the result of failed leadership at multiple levels from the tactical to the operational.”1 Clearly a damning description but it is not just a reflection of the navy forces themselves but of the commanders above them, the Secretary of the Navy, and the White House.
Senior military leaders must have on-going conversations with politicians about war and about combat. The old civil-military relationship of the military executing the decisions of the president without thought or input is over. And while this conversation is not new the concept of those who must carry out orders applies to everyone, not just those in the military.
What the incident does show is that what occurs at the most senior political level has an affect at the must junior leader level. The unidentified U.S. Navy commander said that he calculated that Tehran’s desire to keep the nuclear deal with the U.S. alive would also protect the 10 American sailors if they surrendered. During the investigation he said that “Mr. Obama would not want me to start a war over a mistake, over a misunderstanding.”
The position of Commander-in-Chief, the one held by President Obama, should be used to unequivocally communicate that it is the military’s job to aggressively fight and win wars … and this means small skirmishes also. In this Obama has failed. His failure translates downward throughout the chain of command to the lowest sailor, airman, marine, and soldier. Politics defines the way our forces conduct themselves in combat.
If there is a problem with the military understanding their role, it is the inherent responsibility of senior military officers to push upward their concerns and it is the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus’s job to translate that for the President. Clearly this was not done and the result was an embarrassment for America and the U.S. Navy. That is why the navy doesn’t understand the concept that their job is to fight and win.
The problem for the United States is whether President Obama will take corrective action. Most military folks I know say he doesn’t even recognize his role in this because he sees it through the eyes of partisan politics. The navy will discipline its sailors and their commanders and new rules will be put into place but the naval culture will remain unchanged because military leaders and politicians don’t recognize the need to be more engaged.
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