“21st Century Leadership”

“If the Corps is to ride the ‘dragon of change’ into the 21st century, it must make a commitment to innovation”.

So said former Marine Corps Commandt General Charles C. Krulak. This last century had a high increase of technology, and it is obvious that mankind will have drastic leaps of innovations of technology in this 21st century. This is a field where the military should not wait for new technology to roll off the assembly line, but look at implementing the inventions while on the drawing board. Also, it is important to work with manufacturing industries in inventing technology to be used on future battlegrounds.

With this accelerated pace of technology coming to the Marine Corps, some may wonder what type of leaders to use in conjunction with these innovations. It should be safe to say; this is one area where there need not be any change, use the same type of leaders that the Marine Corps has always had in the past. The Marine Corps should keep on promoting people of high caliber and quality to leadership positions, just as years past. Modern technology should not dictate who leads, but the leader should dictate who will use it. A leader should not have to be adequately trained on all equipment, but should be trained on the fundamentals of all the equipment that is organic to his unit. Therefore, leaders will know how to operate it, if the time rises. Also, this will help the leader in understanding which subordinates are well trained on the specific equipment and who needs to be cross-trained or re-trained. He should be able to operate and possibly repair the equipment under his responsibility as much as possible. This does not indicate that he must know every aspect of the items, nor be more proficient than his Marines. A leader could have the lowest I.Q. within his unit and still lead them through victory. Even though one may not be mentally intelligent, a person can still be mentally sharp. A leader needs to understand who is best with the equipment organic to the unit, and who is better with the idiosyncrasies of the equipment.

Leadership is not for the person who will feel intimidated if someone under his command knows more about the equipment. This is selfish pride that will hurt a leader in decision-making. I have seen commanders refuse to send their Marines to advance technological schools due to fear of the subordinates learning more than they. This attitude only hurts the Corps and weakens a command to function properly. Situations like this could possibly even cause a unit to not accomplish its mission. It may also hamper morale once the Marines realize there is no desire for needed training.

As leaders have been taught to have their Marines trained as much as possible in order to be combat ready, ensure the Marines attend the required schools and conduct as much training as possible. This same aspect of thinking should spill over into any extra or needed training when it comes to technological equipment, especially with the rapid increase of technological advancements. Any type of additional training should be encouraged by the command. As equipment becomes obsolete at a quicker rate than before, training for newer machinery must be accomplished, whether it is by sending your Marines to a school or conducting classes within the unit. As a leader, have the most qualified person concerning the equipment in question to conduct the classes with well-written lesson plans. Or if need be, bring in someone from outside the unit to conduct the training. This can be a fellow Marine from another unit or maybe even a representative of the company that manufactured the equipment. The most important situation here is that the Marines are not just trained on any new equipment for administration purposes, but taught adequately for its operations. Do whatever it takes to have this accomplished. It will be crucial to have all your Marines ‘up to speed’ on all of the equipment. That is why it so important for a leader to have initiative in all aspects, if not this could cripple commands effectiveness.

Any equipment that has become obsolete, and not sent back through the supply system then maintained the equipment in operational order and maintain all the publications. The reason for this is, if the unit is called into combat, the obsolete items could be used as ‘back-up’ gear. This had been a tradition in the Corps many years back, to use old and broken equipment, maintain the equipment in a good working order to be used in combat, and accomplish the mission. It could also be used in a units training program. Just because it is obsolete does not mean it cannot be useful. This way, Marines will be able to operate them if the occasion arises.

Platoon and company commanders should make time to conduct localized training on all organic equipment, where all personnel will be involved. It could be a Weapons Platoon conducting training on modifications of a weapon or a new type of weapon. It could be tank crews working with mechanics and re-training with new technology corporate in the cupola, or communications personnel trouble-shooting or updating modifications on their radios. This should be done on a periodic basis.

Leaders should also encourage any other mode of training and set the example. To start with, Marines should complete all MCI (Marine Corps Institute) courses dealing with their MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) and equipment they operate. After that, enrollment in correspondence courses from other military services that are equivalent to one’s MOS and the equipment used. Leaders should also look at possible off base education; this could be at nearby colleges, vocational schools or civilian correspondence courses that are equivalent to the job of the Marines. A leader should research all potential possibilities to improve a Marines training. One can also encourage and conduct research of foreign armies who are utilizing the same or similar technology that is similar to your unit’s function (i.e. Israelis have been using highly advanced electronics in their counter-terrorism). These procedures could also be added into the unit’s SOP (Standard Operating Procedures).

As a leader, your focus for discipline and training should be a ‘long range goal’. Have them ready to take your place once you have moved on. This should even apply to when Marines will become civilians one day.

The military has always strived to use and upgrade technology. It was the Sumerians that invented the chariot, and then the Romans improved it to larger and more durable ones centuries later. Technology will keep on going through this path of constantly improving. As leaders, we must keep abreast of what is at our disposal and ensure that our Marines are capable, without a doubt that they can operate and maintain the equipment. Just as the training is needed for war-fighting, the same attitude and initiative must be involved for technological equipment as well. Leaders, this is one of your many responsibilities.

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