Leaders For Tomorrow Challenges For Military Leadership In The Age Of Asymmetric Warfare

Since the end of bipolarism, the concept of asymmetric warfare, and of asymmetric conflict in general, has been increasingly applied with regard to armed forces activities and tasks. This book presents the findings of comparative empirical research conducted in selected military units by a group of distinguished experts on military organization, who hail from the eight participating countries: Bulgaria, Cameroon, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Philippines and Spain. It discusses remarks made by military leaders with extensive experience in the field regarding current doctrines on military leadership and their applicability in the field, as well as proposals and suggestions for new directions. “It is a complex relation, always based on respect and politeness, but often with mismatched interests.” (Army Colonel). “It makes you realize that there is a cultural gap. You must firstly understand who you are going to relate to, and the culture of these people, and then try to establish a certain kind of relationship. Often the platoon commander states his objective and must try to establish a relationship, contact with the village chief.” (Army Lieutenant, Platoon Commander). “[In Afghanistan] We had meals with the locals, sometimes the food didn’t taste good, but you had to eat it if you wanted to be welcomed back again” (Army Captain, Company Commander). These are just some of the many voices stemming from the ground in diverse international asymmetric conflict theatres (in Iraq, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan...), comments by military officers, commanders at different hierarchical levels, asked to reflect on their experiences as military leaders in crisis response operations. Military professionals, and military leaders in particular, perceive themselves as facing ambiguous situations that require an update in their professional training, and new skills to confront unexpected and unpredictable factors. Drawing on lived experiences, the book offers insights into what a new kind of leadership means when leaders have to cope with diverse and unclear missions. It also addresses leadership styles and behaviours, as well as individual adaptive behaviours on the part of military leaders, with special reference to middle and middle-high level ranks, such as captains, majors and colonels. Given its scope, the book will appeal not only to military professionals and military affairs scholars and experts, but also to readers interested in gaining a better understanding of the challenges that international expeditionary units are facing in crisis areas around the globe.

"Today's military problems require today's solution, and this also applies to military leadership development. Through presentation of theoretical frameworks, case studies and applied research, we can see how the militaries of various IMLA (International Military Leadership Association) member nations prepare their current and future generations of military leaders to lead their soldiers in uncharted terrain, coping with complexity in an interlinked world. ...this book will contribute to a more thorough understanding of how military organizations in various parts of the world cope with the challenges of preparing their future leaders for challenges that are very different from the previous generations."--P. v.

The Asymmetric Warfare Group offers the Asymmetric Warfare Adaptive Leader Program (AWALP)--a 10-day course designed to enhance adaptive performance in leaders and promote innovative solutions in training in support of unified land operations. This report describes results of a systematic evaluation of AWALP, offers recommendations to improve the course, and provides recommendations for ongoing evaluation of AWALP and other courses or events that address adaptive performance and acquisition of other intangible skills. The study used a pretest-posttest design and collected data from 104 students who participated in AWALP. Results show substantial improvement in training outcomes, including students' self-efficacy for being adaptive and leading adaptive teams and knowledge of course concepts. Graduates also reported that they were applying course concepts on the job after returning to their units. In addition, students had exceptionally favorable reactions to AWALP and remained extremely positive about the course three months after graduation. Results indicate few needs for improvement in the course; the most important area to address is challenges in applying concepts on the job because of the command climate and entrenched leadership. Recommendations for ongoing evaluation focus on obtaining additional measures of adaptive performance, particularly to establish the impact of AWALP on subsequent job performance. The current success of AWALP suggests that its approach to training might be usefully expanded in the Army, and the authors discuss strategies to achieve broader dissemination. Finally, the authors describe how the methods used in this study might be applied to evaluating related training in other contexts.

The current security environment is characterized by an increase in the number of wars and other human-generated problems that threaten the lives and peaceful co-existence of the human race. With the military tasked to stabilize the current security environment, the quality of the military leadership becomes increasingly important to ensure the success of this tasking. Today's deployment-focused and fast-paced army requires leaders who prioritize in a ready and trained unit as well as focusing on competitive intelligence in the military decision-making process and executing the current operation. This book aims to prepare a textbook for military students to understand the challenges for military leadership for each level of leadership. This book will support this goal through specifically focusing on the necessity of competitive intelligence in military decision-making process and executing current operations; the challenging role of military leadership in the current security environment translating the feedback from military leaders into effective applications prioritizing leader development activities in curbing challenges related to military leadership; integrating the leadership development into day to day activities; and integrating fruitful and experienced leader attributes and competencies across the development of Army leaders in military schools. The book will provide the military students with detailed information and knowledge on the current security environment, as well as the challenges of military leadership. Contrary to other books on military leadership that does not focus on the wider areas that affect the military leadership, this book will provide readers with a wealth of information on the paradigm of the army and its leadership in the current security environment. The book draws upon the contribution of successful military leaders, recent studies focusing on the army leadership, academic sources on military regulations and doctrine, and research on military best practices. A downloadable version of the book will be available, and a page will be designed to allow users to provide feedback.

Raising the Bar outlines the core concepts and practices developed by Major Don Vandergriff (United States Army, Retired) and now being applied across a wide spectrum of military leadership training. The text has become required reading for ROTC faculty and students. Don Vandergriff's experiences, research and interaction with fellow military professionals suggest that a cultural revolution within the U.S. military is essential if the nation is to successfully adapt and prevail in the emerging 4th Generation Warfare (4GW) or asymmetric warfare threat environment. An Army cultural revolution has three parts: 1. Strategic leaders must change a counterproductive array of long-established beliefs including many laws, regulations and policies, which are based on out-of-date assumptions. 2. Military leaders must drive and sustain a military cultural evolution through effective education and training of the next generation(s) of leaders in a system that is flexible enough to evolve alongside emerging changes in, and lessons from, war, society and technology. 3. Finally, senior leaders must continue to nurture and protect these younger leaders as they go out and put to practice what they have learned, and allow them to evolve. When the Army begins and sustains an evolutionary process of cultural change based on these or similar principles, it will be on the road to effective reform. This study aims to provide ways to plot and follow the transformational road map for the Army and nation to deal with the complexities of 4th generation warfare.

The fourth edition of this classic text continues its popular interdisciplinary approach to the topic of leadership, by examining the elements of military leadership from the perspective of contributors in the fields of history, business, religion, politics, and education. The fourth edition presents a broad spectrum of ideas and perspectives relating to military leadership in the current environment. It includes multinational views reflecting the global military stage. This new edition synthesizes classic pieces from the second and third editions with contemporary readings to provide the reader with important insights into the concepts of military leadership throughout the vagaries of regional conflict and maintenance of peace. The resulting synthesis stimulates the reader to understand the complex dynamics of effective leadership in the context of military history, values, and culture.

Today, emotional resilience is one of the most important competencies in the process of young people's transition to adult life and developing a meaningful career. Emotional resilience is also important for maintaining well-being after stressful events throughout life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have shown the negative impact of perceived stress on people's well-being, careers, and even their employability. At the same time, emotional resilience is important in everyday life as it protects against mental disturbances. Emotional resilience is a competence that can be developed under formal educational programs or trained using a range of training methods and tools. Emotional resilience is a trait people have from birth and develop throughout their lives. It is a trainable capability that can be used to display positive adaptation to stressful situations and cope with life's challenges.

The concept of asymmetrical warfare is a popular and much discussed issue in U.S. defense literature these days. Joint Vision 2010 (JV 2010),2 the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR),3 and the National Military Strategy (NMS)4 are just a few of the documents that express concern about it. Understandably, the Secretary of Defense has made addressing the phenomenon a central theme of his administration. All of that said, what exactly is meant by asymmetrical warfare? In broad terms it simply means warfare that seeks to avoid an opponent's strengths; it is an approach that tries to focus whatever may be one side's comparative advantages against its enemy's relative weaknesses.5 In a way, seeking asymmetries is fundamental to all warfighting. But in the modern context, asymmetrical warfare emphasizes what are popularly perceived as unconventional or nontraditional methodologies. For most potential adversaries, attacking the United States asymmetrically is the only warfighting strategy they might reasonably consider for the foreseeable future. The Gulf War was an object lesson to military planners around the globe of the futility of attempting to confront the United States symmetrically, that is, with like forces and orthodox tactics. In this essay I briefly examine how the West's cultural disposition and mindset affect its concept of asymmetrical warfare. I contend that the West's current focus may leave it vulnerable to asymmetrical challenges that arise from opponents whose cultural perspective differs significantly from that of the West.