Trust Ain’t Enough: Building an Intimacy Ethic between Officer and Enlisted
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By Clarence J. Henderson
April 01, 2021
Trust Ain’t Enough: Building an Intimacy Ethic between Officer and Enlisted
It had come to this. Soldiers exasperated beyond endurance could not stand it any longer, so they fixed bayonets and pressed them to the breasts of their officers. Starvation and near nakedness had driven them to take such desperate measures. And sure enough, the stir did them some good, and "provisions directly after" were provided.1 This account of defiance in the Continental Army of 1780 by Private Joseph Martin speaks to the unique circumstances that had arisen between officer and enlisted during that time. To inspire Soldiers to risk their lives and win wars can invoke exceptional circumstances driven by the deprivations of war. Though Private Martin’s example is extreme, the ability of an officer to sense, foresee and then correct a Soldier’s unique circumstance, whether in war or peace, is an essential component of good leadership.
The Army of today is lacking in its ability to sense the unique circumstances of its Soldiers. The murder of Fort Hood’s Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen is a regrettable example of leaders not maintaining awareness of the environment in which their subordinates operate and live. And this lack of awareness extends far beyond Fort Hood. From the Inability of a General Officer to understand her environment at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq to Platoon Leaders incapable of recognizing “hunter killer†teams in Maywand, Afghanistan, or contracting officers accepting bribes in Kuwait; the result of not sensing a Soldier’s unique circumstance has profoundly affected innocent people and impacted Army readiness for many years. The question that arises from all of this is how is it possible for a leader to be unaware of harassment, rape, robbery, and murder plots?
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2021/04/01/trust_aint_enough_building_an_intimacy_ethic_between_officer_and_enlisted_770838.html
