In this week’s professional discussion I would like to consider the value of unlikely role models. We tend to look to those who resemble us for wisdom, both as individuals and organizations. Furthermore, we tend to want to look to those that are “better” according to seemingly objective criteria. I would submit that this perspective is too limited and for that puts at risk real opportunities to grow in wisdom and capability. Enjoy the read and please join the fray at #CCLKOW.
Last week the Marine Corps announced that it would re-brand its MARSOC units under the historic Raider moniker.
The grand history of the Marine Raiders is generally well known. Less well understood is that the Raider tradition is not a single, coherent thing. Two Raider legacies emerged from the war, as Mike Edson and Evans Carlson were given tremendous leeway in command to create their units as they saw fit. And here is where it gets very interesting, because Carlson’s Raiders were formed with a heavy dose of Chinese/PLA influence.
Evans Carlson was unique for many reasons. Most compelling for me, he was a man who took lessons and wisdom wherever they appeared regardless of source. This was nowhere more true than in his travels with the various Chinese forces confronting the Japanese in 1937. There Carlson had the opportunity to study closely the operations and values of the irregular warfare the PLA had adopted to fight the Japanese. Seeing their generally positive results – on the battlefield, within the units, and among the people in and near the Japanese occupation – impressed him. Many of the concepts he saw validated in China would be adapted and implemented within his Raider unit, to include the iconic battle cry, Gung Ho.
Consider that for a moment. The United States, which by the eve of WWII was already militarily potent, was taking lessons in warfare from what would have been considered at the time as a third rate army. Looking only at their record on Guadalcanal suggests that the PLA practices were indeed valuable to the Raiders. And yet conventional wisdom would never have identified the PLA as a role model for American military capabilities.
From the perspective of military innovation, from tactics to strategies, we find ourselves in very interesting times. In every corner of the globe there are niche military formations which, for their poverty and irregularity, for their freedom from institutional legacies and traditions, have taken what they needed from any sector to cobble together capabilities to relatively good effect. ISIS, for example, has created social media as a potent “arm” of its forces. Jihad by tweet won’t win any conflicts, but it certainly enhances ISIS’ interaction with its own audience and those it is trying to woo. That is but only one small piece of the innovation afoot in warfare. Even a military super-power could benefit from consideration of these advances, no matter that it might mean learning from an unlikely role model.
So, the questions for this week are:
In what areas do Western military capabilities lag behind contemporary weaker or lesser forces? That is, where might they benefit from an unlikely role model?
What or who is your unlikely role model of choice?
Even if we’re not all that vulnerable to conquest by traditional WMD’s, we may be vulnerable to financial warfare. Such attacks, and similar accidents, could wreak more havoc than otherwise on our economy. Fortunately there are possible solutions. To sign a petition to the President and Congress, please Google “Defending Against Financial War,” and select the URL which has 763/125/828. (Please tell your friends and relatives, too.)
WHEREHAVEALLTHESOLDIERSGONE says:
One thing all military men can learn from this ISIS (IS/ISIL) – military does the fighting only and not the hollering, the hot air, or any unnecessary verbal belching. For hatching bellicose statements/plans, please let the national leaders handle it. This way, soldiers fight soldiers, civilians need not get caught in a crossfire. ISIS has become what it is today because very powerful military men wanted to control the Levant (without consulting their civilian leaders). Amen.
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