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Military leadership development history
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Black Hearts tells the story of a few bad soldiers from 1st platoon, Bravo company of the 1-502nd Infantry Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division, that was plagued with toxic leadership and lack of control over soldiers. The book documents the events that led to the ultimate demise of the soldiers involved in the horrific incident that occurred on March 12, 2006. Four soldiers were arrested in the brutal murder of an Iraqi family, which was a result of the lack of leadership and structure these soldiers received. Black Hearts takes a deep look into what happened to this troubled platoon and what unfortunate events occurred during their deployment. This whole battalion was at a disadvantage before they left the states, given the mission of replacing the 48th Infantry brigade in south Baghdad. Unlike the usual five to six months that a unit would typically get to conduct recons and gather intel on the AO that they would be occupying, 1st battalion was to gather all they could in 6 weeks. LTC Kunk was chosen by Col Ebel to head the fight in the population centers for the reason that he thought he would be engaging and capable of communicating others. This proved to be the first major problem in the chain of command that would hinder the efficiency of operations. While at JRTC preparing for the deployment 1st platoon, Bravo company made a tactical error resulting in the capture of 9 soldiers. Even with this information Kunk had developed a plan with no input from any of his company commanders, and he wouldn't accept any kind of input or use the assets that he had at his disposal. LTC had little to no bearing communicating with his subordinates, destroying the confidence in his commanders and ruining his communication lines. If th... ... middle of paper ... ...ront because he wouldn't ask his soldiers to do something that he himself would not be willing to do. He showed great personal courage by living this lifestyle, realizing that his chances of surviving the deployment was very slim and still volunteered to put his own life at risk as often as he could afford. He also was very loyal to the people to his left and right. He would take extra guard shift in order to allow his platoon members to get more sleep, taking the stress of constant action off of his subordinates. Although he was only in leadership for a short time he was still credited with allowing his platoon to maintain the relaxed standards that they initially struggled with and the cause for much of the abuse that they received from LTC Kunk. He was not upholding the standards and therefore not fulfilling his duty to maintain his platoon to the Army standard.
The book summarizes the struggles that Bravo Company faced from the start even before deployment. The unit was initially sent to JRTC at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and made many tactical errors during their rotation. 1st platoon had many individuals captured from the start, and the leadership automatically decided that Captain Goodwin would be incompetent for the following deployment while LTC Kunk would be difficult to work with for the upcoming year. Once they came out from JRTC, Bravo Company and Charlie Company were both given the toughest missions. Bravo Company was assigned to the most dangerous AO in the so-called triangle o...
Black Hearts was about the 2005-2006 deployment of the 101st‘s second brigade‘s 1-502nd (First Strike) to Iraq. The book more specifically honed in on Bravo Company and their first platoon’s decent into complete madness throughout the deployment. The 1-502nd and its commander Lt Col Kunk, was tasked with the mission of getting control of and hold the land in-between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Kunk was a particularly difficult man to get along with. He would explode and go on a tirade over just about anything, big or small. This caused serious problems at meetings when he only wanted things his way and would personally attack his commanders who he thought he could not trust. This area had been recently dubbed as the “Triangle of death”. The cities that were in this area were Yusufiyah, Mahmudiyah, Lutufiyah, and notably a thermal power plant that was never finished that housed many insurgents almost like a FOB. Bravo Company was sent to take care of a particularly nasty part of the Battalion’s AO; The north-western-side that encompassed Yusufiyah and the unfinished thermal power plant. Upon arrival to Iraq and to their AO, Bravo Company was to take over the duties of the 48th infantry brigade who was there before them. After riding around with the 48th Brigade to learn how things were being run, Bravo Company started to realize how scared the 48th were to even leave the wire. Any patrols that needed to be done were done in a Humvee that just raced around the area and got back to the FOB ASAP. Once they fully took over their AO from the 48th they started on building up fortifications and doing patrols of the area. One road in particular, Route Sportster, had been giving patrols and Humvees trouble since it was always laden...
A small free kiss in the dark is a book written by Glenda Millard in 2009, the book shows the story of a young boy during the war. Also based on war, tomorrow when the war began, is a movie released in 2010, about a young group of people who return home from a camp to be confronted with a war. Both the book and the movie have similar characteristics and differences between them.
I read the book Soldier X by Don L. Wulffson that takes place during the world war II period. The main character of the book is a 16 year old German boy named Erik Brandt. Although Erik lives in Germany he is also half Russian and speaks Russian very well. Erik does not want to be a part of Hilters Nazi army during world war II but he is forced to fight on the side of the Nazis. During one battle of the war is he forced under a tank during a large scale battle with the Russians. He has no choice but to change clothes and gear with the Russian soldier and be now becomes part of the Russian army. He spends some time in the Russian army and then he gets wounded. He gets send to a Russian hospital and meets a nurse named Tamara. He falls in love with her but then one day the hospital is bombed and he has to escape with her and out of Russia. The story comes to an end with Erik and Tamara escaping Europe and making to over the Atlantic ocean to the United States to have kids and live the rest of there lives.
Wallace Terry has collected a wide range of stories told by twenty black Vietnam veterans. The stories are varied based on each experience; from the horrific to the heart breaking and to the glorified image of Vietnam depicted by Hollywood. Wallace Terry does not insinuate his opinion into any of the stories so that the audience can feel as if they are having a conversation with the Vietnam Veteran himself. Terry introduces the purpose of the book by stating, “ Among the 20 men who portray their war and postwar experiences in this book. I sought a representative cross section of the black combat force.”(p. XV) Although the stories in this book were not told in any specific order, many themes became prominent throughout the novel such as religion, social, and health.
Fussell believes that the soldier of world war two, "suffers so deeply from contempt and damage to his selfhood, from absurdity and boredom and chickenshit, that some anodyne is necessary", and that the anodyne of choice was alcohol. I would argue that Fussell is correct, especially regarding the connection between the absurdity of the war and the associated damage to soldiers image of themselves as good and patriotic, and the use of alcohol to block out the reality of the war. I think this connection is evident in the interviews presented in Terkel’s "The Good War", especially those of John Garcia and Eddie Costello.
In this book review I will be discussing chapters twelve, thirteen, and fourteen from the book “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamonds. Chapter 12 “Blueprints and Borrowed Letters” talks about the evolution of writing, whereas chapter 13 “Necessity's Mother” talks about the evolution of technology, and chapter 14 “From Egalitarianism to Kleptocracy” talks about the evolution of government religion. Jared Diamond believed that societies developed due to environmental differences. He suggested that some societies and cultures had advantages due to their geography. I will give a summary of the three chapters in this book and then I will give my opinion on Jared Diamond’s ideas.
Without a doubt, the men of this battalion greatly contributed to the final solution. The first action the 101st Battalion was order to do took place in Józefów. They went into the town and were ordered to "shoot anyone trying to escape" and "those that were too sick or frail to walk to the marketplace, as well as infants and anyone offering resistance or attempting to hid, were to be shot on the spot". (Browning, 57) They then trucked or marched the Jews they found into the woods just outside the village. "When the first truckload of thirty-five to forty Jews arrived, an equal number of policemen cam forward and, face to face, were paired off with their victims." (Browning, 61) The shear atrocity of this was too much for many of the policemen, so alcohol was provided to calm the men?s nerves. Only a dozen men stepped out and refused to shoot at all. As the day went on, however, many could not continue. They even had a "special technique" dubbed the "neck shot". "The men wer...
I attended the speech, How To Be Decent And White In An Era Of Black Rage, given by Leonard Pitts. Pitts presented the audience with loads of information pertaining to the book The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin. Personally. I learned quite a few new things from his speech. However, his interpretation of innocence really caught my attention. I learned to think about the use of innocence in The Fire Next Time in a completely new way. Pitts interpreted innocence as being the thing that constitutes the crimes against African Americans. Pitts connected this idea of innocence to many of his own real life experiences with black oppression. I have been made aware of these numerous accounts of racism being portrayed by the media. I just never figured innocence of all things to be the exact cause of these horrible accounts of black oppression.
Being an individual is difficult. The book “the chocolate war” approaches this topic of debate well. The author of the book, Robert Cormier, made the main character of his story experience this all too well. Jerry Renault, a skinny freshman football player tried to be different from everyone else but did that sure take him on a ride. Trying to be a apart from everyone has its ups and down. This is explained more further on.
I was lucky in the sense that I was raised with values that mirror the Army Values. These personal values coupled with the Army Values are what define my character and serve as a lighthouse for my actions. One of the traits that I appreciated and respected about LTC Coppersmith was his character. As a commander, I can imagine that it is sometimes difficult to know that the decisions that you are making are the best option. To know that you must make ethical and true, and that they fall in line with the Warrior Ethos. I had the privilege of being with LTC Coppersmith when he would make decisions about missions, or actions that affected the squadron. Being that we are an organization that has people as its greatest asset, mistakes were made and issues would arise, yet I cannot think of a single instance where LTC Coppersmith failed to stick to the Army Values when making a decision. This steadfast compass that he displayed trickled down through his formation to the troops. Subordinate leaders knew that every action that they took must mirror that of their commander, and that he expected all of his leaders to be of irreproachable character. The effects of LTC Coppersmith’s stance ensured that as Soldier developed into leaders, they would carry and implement the same adherence to the Army Values not only while in the squadron, but throughout
Soldier’s Heart a book by Gary Paulsen about a young boy by the name of Charley who turns into a young man with a soldier's heart by the end of the book. Charey, a fifteen year old boy growing up in Winona, Minnesota, wants to prove he can be a man and do what men do. Charlie just wants to prove to everyone he can be just as man as anyone else, and Charley thinks by going to war he can prove this, but Charley does not really know what comes from war, no one does.
Waiting for the Barbarians can be read as an allegorical attack to Apartheid South Africa. But it can also be read generally as an allegory of oppressor and oppressed. This is made possible by the writer not using specific temporal, geographical or historical context. He also uses an unnamed character, the Magistrate, as one of his main characters and hero. This essay centres at this particular character and the role he assumes. To achieve this end, first I will give a short plot of the novel putting the magistrate at the centre. Second, I will trace some of the echoes of the Life and Passion of Christ in the Magistrate’s experiences. Third, I will discuss whether he is a type of redeemer in a secular world. Then I will conclude.
The inherent leadership ability of CSM Hambrick is unparalleled by most leaders. His embodiment of the Army Values is evident to any Soldier that may observe or interact with him. As the Brigade CSM of the 506th Infantry Regiment, CSM Hambrick was known to spend little
In his novel A Hero of Our Time translated by Vladimir Nabokov, Mikhail Lermontov creates a character named, Pechorin based on his opinions to 19th century Russian society. Pechorin is cruel, selfish, and careless to the people but ironically, Pechorin’s refusal to marry either Princess Marry or Vera, reveals him to be as an honorable man. Although, Pechorin describes his life as full of boredom and his opinion to love is different, Lermontov again explains he should be represented as a respectful man. By Pechorin’s behavior and thoughts, Lermontov demonstrates an honorable man is not consistently sympathetic and understandable because truly, Pechorin’s behavior and thoughts are to depict how life may describe as meaningless and purposeless.