[April 19 2016] A good friend of mine, I’ll call him Bill, was a truly good leader of soldiers. He was an U.S. Army Infantry officer and he was the type of person you wanted to be in charge of troops in time of war. Bill was aggressive, reliable, trustworthy, and could operate with little guidance or help. His weakness was that he struggled to keep up with professional development requirements of the army. For leaders to be successful, however, keeping up with advances in your professional field is an absolute necessity.
We were both lieutenant colonels when selected for the U.S. Army War College1 (a requirement for additional promotions). Not everyone is accepted and the dropout rate during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was relatively high, so Bill considered that option. The reason soldiers join the military is to serve and to serve during wartime in a combat environment is the pinnacle of why we joined.
Both of us were battalion commanders on 911 when terrorist struck the U.S. homeland; yet neither of our units were chosen to deploy to combat. We completed our command tours and then attended the War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; a beautiful area with plenty of hills and trees and a place to relax a little. Bill didn’t want to relax; he wanted to get to war because that’s why he joined in the first place.
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” – Aristotle, Philosopher
When we entered the War College they give you an initial writing assignment; an assessment of your academic skills. My paper, which I spent many hours on, came back as “marginally written” but the grader said that I wasn’t required to rewrite it. Bill had to rewrite his paper three times. It was obvious that his thinking was elsewhere and anyway, why should he be writing papers when our peers were engaged in combat.
At the Army War College they break you up into what is known as Seminar Groups of about 15 people each. There was a good mix of military branches (Infantry, Engineer, etc.), military services (we had a Navy officer), and an occasional senior government civilian employee for us to draw upon the expertise of others. Bill struggled throughout the course for many reasons and at the time I didn’t think he had his heart in it to finish. Eventually we both graduated and took our units to war.
Later after we both retired, I asked Bill about his time at the little town in Pennsylvania where we spent so many days in the study of strategy and military history. He told me that the professional development of the War College was, in fact, crucial for his success as a senior commander in Iraq. Not only was the classroom instruction useful in expanding his thinking about war but the defense department networks he made were invaluable.
A few years after graduation, both Bill and I were promoted at the same time to Brigadier General … also known as “baby general.” Bill had learned his lesson and professional development cannot be overlooked as a much needed asset for any soldier. He was later to become a cheerleader for Infantry officers to attend the War College. His motto and the motto of the U.S. Infantry is “follow me.”
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