Understanding the Role of Leadership in the Army Essay

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Managing Army Change

Force Management Discussion Paper (ASSIGNMENT)

General Instructions

You may use the lessons (please request additional information if needed), readings and references (have been provided) to help you answer the questions. Reference the documents titled "F100 Lessons Overview" for determining if additional topic discussions (lessons) may be needed. Cite the sources you used to answer the discussion topics. Use footnotes (Turabian style) of documentation; do not use parenthetical citations. This includes direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries of the assigned readings, doctrinal references, or outside sources.

In academic writing, do not use first-person or passive voice.

Read the question thoroughly, and make sure you are answering the question being asked. As you formulate your responses, do NOT provide a simple summation to the question or your opinion. Use evidence (specific examples or concepts) from F100 as part of your answers. Imagine that you are submitting your answers to the first general officer in your chain of command.

Your answers will be typed and double-spaced. Use Times New Roman 12-pitch font and one-inch margins. Type your answers directly into the spaces provided. Write your responses as fully developed sentences and paragraphs. Your answer to each question should be no less than one-half page and no more than one full page.

1. The 2013 Army Strategic Planning Guidance (ASPG) describes an Army that is "globally responsive and regionally engaged -- one building toward a regionally aligned, mission tailored force that can Prevent, Shape and Win now and in the future." To guide this approach, the Army lists four imperatives that form the basis of the Army Campaign Plan:

provide modernized and ready, tailored land force capabilities to meet combatant commanders' requirements across the range of military operations;

develop leaders to meet the challenges of the 21st century;

adapt the Army to more effectively provide land power; and enhance the all-volunteer Army.

Which imperative is the most important and why? Give an example of something that the Army could do to enhance capabilities in that domain.

The development of leaders to meet the challenges of the 21st century is by far the most important imperative in the Army Campaign Plan, for without strong and effective leadership all the other imperatives fall by the wayside. As Gen. Martin E. Dempsey has stated, "Each of us must be a leader of consequence beyond our battalion, our squadron, our ship, and our unit."[footnoteRef:1] This is, as Dempsey implies, the essence of what it means to maintain the Profession of Arms in today's world. Without leadership, neither provision of land power, nor any all-volunteer Army will be effective in meeting the needs of and maintaining the integrity and spirit of mission demanded within the Army. Leadership provides the appropriate backbone of the Army; it provides the fundamental guidance that supports role players in their effort to make right and meaningful decisions both on and off the field of battle. Without it, there is no force within the Armed Forces that can sustain the movements of the machinery. As Hagel notes, the "challenges to our security and prosperity demand America's continued global leadership and engagement, and they require a principled realism that is true to our values."[footnoteRef:2] [1: Martin Dempsey, "Chairman's Strategic Direction to the Joint Force," 2.] [2: Secretary of Defense Speech to NDU (3 April 2013), F101: Strategic Change, 2.]

Thus an example of how the Army could enhance leadership is to emphasize in education and example the core values of integrity, honor, and justice that leaders everywhere hold as ideal -- and make these the basis of the Army Campaign Plan.

2. In the JCIDS process, what is the role of concepts in developing capabilities? As part of your answer, provide an example of how a concept drove an actual capability in one of the DOTMLPF domains.

Concepts drive the JCIDS process and its products. It is the concept that explains the way in which the forces will conduct their operation; the concept shows what capabilities are needed for the FSO to be executed completely and effectively against the adversary in the joint operational environment. The concepts guide the commander and utilize the art and science of military skill to successfully reach the goals set out for the force. Concepts in the Army are essentially made up of the descriptions of a military operation's future capabilities anywhere from 6 to 18 years ahead of the present time. Every concept addresses its own unique problems that need to be solved, how the solutions to these problems are worked out (what are the components of the solution, etc.), and how these component parts fit together to effect the actual solution.

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How a concept drove an actual capability in one of the DOTMLPF domains can be seen in the development of the Doctrine on the Speed of War in the 21st century: this concept addresses the problem of the pace with which warfare in the coming decade(s) will be fought: the Army Doctrine Publications of Doctrine 2015 help the Army to "transcend the traditional Army paradigm" and give a solution based on the "intellectual currency at the point of need."[footnoteRef:3] [3: Doctrine at the Speed of War: A 21st Century Paradigm for Army Knowledge, F102: Developing Army Organizational Capability,1.]

3. Explain which of the six PPBE principles appear NOT to be followed in the reading, "General Odierno, AUSA Winter Symposium."

Two of the six PPBE principles that appear NOT to be followed in the reading are the first and the fifth -- the first being "to provide essential focus on departmental policy and priorities for Army functional activities during all phases of PPBE" and the fifth being to "apply resources to achieve approved program objectives" and "adjust resource requirements based on execution feedback."

General Odierno noted that there were a diversity of challenges that the Army had to face but what he did not do was to focus on specific policies that could be enacted in departments in order to address issues, such as the "global financial crisis" that would inevitably impact the Army.[footnoteRef:4] Odierno simply pointed to a problem without identifying ways to address the problem or the manner in which the Army should prioritize its response to the issue. [4: Gen Odierno AUSA Winter Symposium, F103 Total Army Analysis, 1.]

General Odierno was also negligent in the realm of discussing how to apply the necessary resources to meet Army objectives. Resources need to be allocated in specific manners according to directives devised at the top and passed downwards through the chain of command. Allocation and application of resources must be detailed and explicit, but in Gen. Odierno's transcript there is no evidence of any thought given to this necessity. Thus, the two principles of the PPBE that Gen. Odierno appears NOT to mention are the principles of focus on departmental policy and the principles of resource allocation/implementation.

4. All official Army acquisition (Materiel Development) programs require an acquisition program baseline (APB). What are the primary APB components and what assessment tools, systems, or laws do decision makers use to measure a program's progress (or lack thereof)?

The assessment criteria for APB are "cost, performance and schedule" and serve as the guide for how a program should be "cheap enough, good enough" and "provided quickly enough."[footnoteRef:5] However, in the wake of two wars in recent years, new criteria have been developed and these can be called "emergent requirements" which are viewed as combatant commander driven and "deliberate requirements" which are seen as more of the "traditional route for capabilities," which are based on technical understanding and do not contain a degree of urgency or immediacy.[footnoteRef:6] [5: Material Development, F104: Developing Material Capabilities (Acquisition), 1.] [6: Material Development, F104: Developing Material Capabilities (Acquisition), 1-2.]

Decision makers, such as a PM (program manager), will monitor progress by assessing ADMs or "milestones" and making sure that these are met on a consistent and routine basis. If these milestones are being met, it indicates that program is making progress. If, however, they are not met, it registers as evidence that something in the program is not operating as it should and this is a sign that further investigation is needed.[footnoteRef:7] Moreover, PMs themselves are monitored in the sense that they have to report costs on a quarterly basis, which are given to Congress: these reports are called SARs (selected acquisition report). If a program has breached its APB, this breach must also be reported in what is called the Nunn-McCurdy Breach.[footnoteRef:8] Thus, there are a number of tools and procedures in place to make sure that programs are kept on track and are not wasting time, money and valuable resources. [7: Material Development, F104: Developing Material Capabilities (Acquisition), 10.] [8: Material Development, F104: Developing Material Capabilities (Acquisition), 11.]

5. Do the prioritizations outlined in the 2013 Manning Guidance agree with the imperatives of the 2013 ASPG? Why or why not?

The prioritizations of the 2013 Manning Guidance agrees with the imperatives of the 2013 ASPG. The 2013 Manning Guidance is….....

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