My List

There’s a quote that I’ve always found unfortunately humorous – and accurate: “War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.” Besides geography, there’s another association I make with war – music. 
 
I will always associate Garth Brooks’ “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places” with Desert Storm. It seemed like the Armed Forces Network (AFN) played it continuously. Then, there was a song from Phase Two of the Afghanistan Campaign. I enjoyed it so much that I intended to have it played at my retirement ceremony. It was just one of the many moving songs by Toby Keith -- a great American patriot. 

Toby’s song is titled “My List” and is in the genre of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle.” There’s something about being away from your wife and kids for a year at a time (except for a two-week R&R) that accentuates all the milestones you’re missing. A partial excerpt of the lyrics from “My List” follows:

Under an old brass paperweight is my list of things to do today,
Go to the bank and the hardware store, put a new lock on the cellar door.
I cross 'em off as I get 'em done but when the sun is set,
There's still more than a few things left I haven't got to yet…

Go for a walk, say a little prayer, take a deep breath of mountain air,
Put on my glove, play some catch, it's time that I make time for that.
Wade the shore, cast a line, look up a long lost friend of mine,
Sit on the porch and give my girl a kiss.
Start livin' that's the next thing on my list.

When talking with Soldiers concerned about their kids back home, I’d tell them two things. First, that I believed God would honor their sacrifice, and secondly, there is no better way to teach your children the importance of duty, honor and loyalty than living it. After all, I’d remind them, it wasn’t like we were on a protracted fishing expedition or out playing golf. Nonetheless, it was obvious to all of us that we were missing a great deal. 

Since I was medically retired (after 35 years of service), I never did get to play that song at a ceremony. So what brought that song back to my mind now? It was an appointment with the VA last week. The doctor was asking me about my mental health and TBI. I told her that the toll multiple deployments exacts is bad, but what’s even worse is the insult of watching those hard fought for cities and provinces falling back into the hands of the enemy.

During the Cold War, I was in West Germany where we faced-off with the Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact. We were trained to know that Russia could not be trusted. To watch them now walk into Ukraine virtually unopposed is exasperating. To watch them align themselves with Iran, Iraq and Syria, move their forces into the Middle East, and then bomb our allies is sickening. 

Driving home from the VA hospital that day, my blood was beginning to boil. Not like the pressure cooker used by the Boston bombers, but more like a cauldron – boiling because of a belief that our government is making it mighty comfortable for our enemies and not adequately aiding our allies. And that’s when the idea of a “list” came clearly to mind. Only this list is not of things I want to do – this list is for our current Commander-in-Chief to check-off.

Mr. Obama – please put this under a paperweight:

-- You owe Mitt Romney an apology. When he told you in the debate about Russia, “This is without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe. They fight for every cause for the world’s worst actors.” You arrogantly mocked him, “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.” Sadly, Romney was past right.

-- You owe the 4,491 US Gold Star families and the 32,226 American wounded from Iraq an apology. Not because you started the war, but because you lost the war. You failed to heed the advice of your military commanders and leave a residual force.

-- You owe the families of the Benghazi four and the video maker you blamed it on (and later arrested) an apology.

-- You owe our children an apology for the Trillions in debt you’ve amassed.

I could go on, but I’ve got to go play catch.

This column appears in The Upson Beacon, 14 OCT 2015 published in Upson County, GA.

The Pulley

The other day I was stopped at a “T” intersection waiting on an approaching car to pass by before I could proceed. There was also a gray squirrel crouching in the middle of the road. The squirrel suddenly realized that the car I was waiting on was bearing down on him. He ran left, then right, then left, and then right – and to my utter amazement, the car passed right over him --allowing him to escape unscathed. It‘s worth noting that the car never deviated. Whether the driver was oblivious to the squirrel or just staying true to his course, I don’t know. 

The US Army has a course that’s specifically designed to facilitate the type of deliberate decision making that the squirrel so successfully employed. This course doesn’t consist of classes and lectures. It’s known as the Leader’s Reaction Course (LRC). In many ways, it resembles the typical Army obstacle course but serves a different purpose.

The Army has two types of obstacle courses: The Conditioning Obstacle Course “develops physical capacities, fundamental skills, and abilities that are important to Soldiers in combat operations. It has low obstacles that must be negotiated quickly.” The Confidence Obstacle Course “has higher and more difficult obstacles than the conditioning course. It gives Soldiers confidence in their mental and physical abilities and cultivates their spirit and daring. Confidence obstacle courses incorporate complex obstacles that involve height and are not run for time.”

Although the LRC may physically resemble the two aforementioned, it is designed to more fully exercise the analytical and leadership faculties. The concept for the Leader’s Reaction Course reportedly began with German psychologists during the late 1920s. They were interested in the selection process of prospective officers. Their selection process included, “tests for imagination and rapid learning ability; capacity for swift adjustment; emotional stability and security of conduct. They found that a series of leader situations provided an opportunity to observe the presence of the desirable leader skills.”
 
After WWII, the British adapted the German leader evaluation concept including the LRC. An LRC was eventually established by the US Air Force at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. “It was used there as one of the four means to evaluate students of the Squadron Officers Course.” In September 1953, the Infantry School at Fort Benning built an LRC for West Point cadets who were coming to attend a summer training program in 1954.
 
The Army’s intent behind the LRC is to improve the student’s leadership ability; assess the student’s leadership traits and behaviors; provide the student with a means of making a self-evaluation of his leadership abilities; and provide students the opportunity to observe the strengths and weaknesses of others during a team operation.

Many years ago, while at Fort Bragg, NC, I was in a position to watch numerous teams negotiate a particular LRC obstacle. That obstacle had some walls and poles that had to be climbed as well as some ditches that had to be forded. The equipment provided at that obstacle included some boards, some fuel drums, about 75 feet of large diameter rope and a very large pulley with a hook on the top.

Obviously, the leadership dynamics of each team were different. In some instances, one guy took charge and was very directive in nature, obviously efficient, but the pitfalls to that approach are also numerous. In some cases, there was a more deliberative, democratic, committee like methodology. Others broke down into teams and tried to gain efficiencies in their simultaneity. While that was all very interesting, that is not what amazed me about that particular obstacle.
 
What fascinated me the most that day was not the various leadership approaches or divisions of labor. What captivated me was how each and every team earnestly tried to figure out how to employ the rope and pulley. Without fail, for at least fifteen minutes, they all struggled with that pulley. They tried to hook it to things, tried routing the rope through the sheave, etc., etc. -- all to no avail. In fact, the pulley served no useful purpose whatsoever – it was in actuality, a hindrance.

How many times have I, like the squirrel, dashed about going nowhere or vainly tried to figure out how to employ the “pulley”? Perhaps the better reaction -- as prescribed by the greatest Leader:  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Lord, help us to lead by following You.

This column appears in The Upson Beacon, 7 OCT 2015 published in Upson County, GA.