Military Leadership Analysis

1. Leaders in the military must exhibit a deeper understanding of situational awareness and care for their personnel, vice those leading within organizations. During my time in the military I often pondered the use and need for military officers. Why not just let senior enlisted military members who have been involved in the organization for more than a decade be in charge? They have experience and a working knowledge of the group. My questions were answered on the night of March 1st, 2012 on a distant Afghanistan ridge. It had been a very long day of manual mine clearance in a contested region of the country. My partner Justin was clearing an area of Improvised Explosive Devices and something went terribly wrong. We had missed a mine and five of our partner nation soldiers were killed by it. The scene was chaotic and we were all searching for answers. I knew that would be a day I would never forget and …show more content…
When transitioning to the private sector, military leaders must relearn tactics, techniques, and procedures. Not mentioned in the article, is the time-sensitive environment that military members are accustomed to working in (Bartone, Kirkland, 1991). Time, in my opinion, is the most crucial aspect of military decision making. Leaders are given a task, often times with no deadline, but leaders know very well that the obstacle is supposed to be overcome within a minimal amount of time. Military leaders are also not given a cost-ceiling when purchasing items, especially during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Levine, 2011). Therefore, when transitioning to the private sector, military leaders are entering a dynamic, cost-effective, and analytical environment. They must slow down and take on a cost-effective mindset, constantly weighing their options, benefiting the organization. I do not see the transition being too cumbersome; however, military leaders need to enter the private sector with an open mind and be malleable, or face a rough