Military Culture Shift

A guide to understanding and leading today's US military force. Significant shifts in military culture have created a complex set of challenges, impacting morale and motivation, recruitment and retention, and program participation. Military Culture Shift presents the story of US military service members, their families, and the institution itself, through the lens of multiple generations, and the major factors impacting modern-day recruitment, retention, leadership, and wellness. A licensed counselor and leadership consultant, author Corie Weathers draws from her own military spouse experience, her professional work with military families and leaders, and more than 15 years of research, to offer narrative history, insights, and perspectives on: Generational viewpoints, from World War I veterans to today’s recruits (Gen Z) Short- and long-term impact of Department of Defense budget decisions Emerging social trends within the military community, especially post-9/11 Cumulative effect of two decades of war on military family wellness Of special interest to military leaders, service members, military family members, as well as historians, politicians, educators, and counselors, Military Culture Shift helps readers understand and embrace: How past decisions have led to the current state Generational differences in motivation, trust in authority, and learning styles Why families aren't turning up for in-person and social events Communication shifts that impact cohesiveness Leadership strategies to influence positive changes going forward

This is a study of cultural change related to the Americanization of the Canadian Forces (CF) and their officer corps in the last half of the 20th century. The concept of culture is employed to explore Americanization of the CF because of its power to explain the essence of the Canadian & American military cultures and to understand the impact of new technologies on military culture in the future. Three representative theoretical constructs from the discipline of organizational behaviour are used to examine the concept of military culture in chapters covering culture as the bedrock of military effectiveness, the influences on military culture, and the characteristics of Canadian & US military cultures. This is followed by a look at the future of Canadian & US military culture through the lenses of the revolution in military affairs and operations other than war as potential influences on the development of these cultures. The study concludes with observations on the capability of the armed services to cope with change & the challenges of the future.

In 2021, a sexual misconduct scandal struck the Canadian military, leading to a profound crisis in leadership. While some more recent allegations came to light before the #MeToo movement, these latest revelations have historical roots in the 1990s, an era known to service members as the “decade of darkness.” Due to drastic budget cuts and allegations of serious crimes perpetrated by its members, the last decade of the twentieth century was a tumultuous time for the Canadian Armed Forces. Amid this period, a human rights tribunal ordered the military to open its combat positions to women and reach full gender integration by 1999. Yet by 2021, women made up only 16.3 per cent of personnel; women and LGBTQ+ service members continue to face sexual harassment and abuse at all levels. In The Ones We Let Down Charlotte Duval-Lantoine looks at failed efforts to achieve gender parity during the 1990s. She reveals an organization unwilling and unable to change, and attitudes held by military leaders that fed a destructive dynamic and cost lives. As the military grapples with its failure to address cultural misconduct and change its culture, The Ones We Let Down reflects on whether the right lessons were learned from the decade of darkness.

Examines military culture from a theoretical and a practical point of view Considers conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq that have highlighted the importance of culture as a concept in analyzing the ability of military organizations to perform certain tasks Culture has been described as the bedrock of military effectiveness because it influences everything an armed service does. The recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have highlighted the importance of culture as a concept in analyzing the ability of military organizations to perform certain tasks. In fact, a military's culture may determine its preferred way of fighting and dealing with other challenges, like incorporating new technologies, more than its doctrine or organizational structure. of view. It focuses on the Canadian and American military cultures, and it provides the first detailed examination of the culture of the Canadian Forces. It also compares their culture to that of the US armed forces. The book concludes that while the culture of the Canadian Forces has been Americanized to a certain extent, the culture of the US armed forces, due to changes in their personnel and roles, has experienced a certain degree of Canadianization at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries.

Examines how military culture forms and changes, as well as its impact on the effectiveness of military organizations.

African armed forces face many challenges with regard to military professionalism, as the latest coups in Mali and Niger, and the poor performance of the DRC's armed forces, illustrate. And military professionalism is linked to military culture, which is about the collective activities of armed forces, particularly their distinctive practices and collective understanding of shared goals and how to achieve them. A major challenge for the African Union as well as AFRICOM is to understand and reconcile its different military cultures, which are at a formative stage. But discussion of military culture largely occurs around North American and Western European armies. Nor are there many contributions from African scholars on the subject. This book offers a contemporary perspective on military culture within Africa, with contributions from scholars and practitioners from Africa as well as North America, Europe and Australia. The underlying argument is that African armed forces need to come to terms with the elements of military culture if they want to become more professional.

The human domain and culture have always been a consideration in military operations. Throughout the Army's history, commanders have learned this aspect of war, adapting and integrating their operational plans in order to address various disparities in cultural norms. Yet during the period after Vietnam, the United States Army as an institution neither recognized nor prepared requisite organizational and doctrine as a means to address the considerations. It instead focused on preparing for state-on-state, high intensity warfare.After the Cold War however, the Army found itself unprepared for the human domain in conflicts such as military operations other than war (MOOTW) and low intensity conflicts (LIC). The chasm between the need to understand the human domain verses the capability was exacerbated at the dawn of the twenty-first century as the Army found itself entrenched in wars among the people in Afghanistan and Iraq. By this point, the U.S. Congress demanded the military take action to become more culturally astute, launching the Army to begin to transform its doctrine. In order to demonstrate the operational shift, this research attempts to illustrate how the U.S. Army has subsequently identified several doctrinal considerations since the end of the Cold War referred to as the “engine of change” by General David Petraeus, enabling the broader force to develop necessary mechanisms for addressing cultural-related issues in the operational planning process.

Sponsored by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association. Reveals how examining climate and culture together can advance understanding of the behavior of individuals within organizations, as well as overall organizational performance in such diverse areas as financial planning, marketing, and human resource development.