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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Armed Forces Officer, by U. S. Department
+of Defense
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Armed Forces Officer
+       Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2
+
+
+Author: U. S. Department of Defense
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2008  [eBook #25482]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARMED FORCES OFFICER***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Audrey Longhurst, Chris Logan, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
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+
+
+THE ARMED FORCES OFFICER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Department of Defense
+
+United States
+Government Printing Office
+Washington: 1950
+
+
+
+
+OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
+
+WASHINGTON
+
+
+                                                       _November 1950_
+
+_This manual on leadership has been prepared for use by the Department
+of Army, the Department of Navy, and the Department of Air Force, and
+is published for the information and guidance of all concerned._
+
+                            [Illustration: (Signature) G. C. Marshall]
+
+
+
+
+                                                DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
+                                  WASHINGTON 25, D. C., _20 June 1956_
+
+Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2, The Armed Forces Officer, is
+issued for the use of all concerned.
+
+By Order of _Wilber M. Brucker_, Secretary of the Army:
+
+                                                    MAXWELL D. TAYLOR,
+                                         _General, United States Army,
+                                                      Chief of Staff._
+
+Official:
+
+    JOHN A. KLEIN,
+    _Major General, United States Army,
+    The Adjutant General._
+
+
+
+
+THE
+ARMED FORCES
+OFFICER
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    CHAPTER                                                       PAGE
+
+         I. THE MEANING OF YOUR COMMISSION                           1
+
+        II. FORMING MILITARY IDEALS                                 14
+
+       III. RESPONSIBILITY AND PRIVILEGE                            25
+
+        IV. PLANNING YOUR CAREER                                    32
+
+         V. RANK AND PRECEDENCE                                     41
+
+        VI. CUSTOMS AND COURTESIES                                  50
+
+       VII. KEEPING YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER                             63
+
+      VIII. GETTING ALONG WITH PEOPLE                               69
+
+        IX. LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP                                  79
+
+         X. MAINSPRINGS OF LEADERSHIP                               93
+
+        XI. HUMAN NATURE                                            99
+
+       XII. GROUP NATURE                                           110
+
+      XIII. ENVIRONMENT                                            121
+
+       XIV. THE MISSION                                            131
+
+        XV. DISCIPLINE                                             139
+
+       XVI. MORALE                                                 147
+
+      XVII. ESPRIT                                                 158
+
+     XVIII. KNOWING YOUR JOB                                       166
+
+       XIX. KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR MEN                                  176
+
+        XX. WRITING AND SPEAKING                                   182
+
+       XXI. THE ART OF INSTRUCTION                                 196
+
+      XXII. YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR MEN                       206
+
+     XXIII. YOUR MEN'S MORAL AND PHYSICAL WELFARE                  213
+
+      XXIV. KEEPING YOUR MEN INFORMED                              222
+
+       XXV. COUNSELING YOUR MEN                                    228
+
+      XXVI. USING REWARD AND PUNISHMENT                            240
+
+     XXVII. FITTING MEN TO JOBS                                    246
+
+    XXVIII. AMERICANS IN COMBAT                                    255
+
+   APPENDIX
+
+         I. RECOMMENDED READING                                    264
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE
+
+THE MEANING OF YOUR COMMISSION
+
+
+Upon being commissioned in the Armed Services of the United States, a
+man incurs a lasting obligation to cherish and protect his country and
+to develop within himself that capacity and reserve strength which
+will enable him to serve its arms and the welfare of his fellow
+Americans with increasing wisdom, diligence, and patriotic conviction.
+
+This is the meaning of his commission. It is not modified by any
+reason of assignment while in the service, nor is the obligation
+lessened on the day an officer puts the uniform aside and returns to
+civil life. Having been specially chosen by the United States to
+sustain the dignity and integrity of its sovereign power, an officer
+is expected so to maintain himself, and so to exert his influence for
+so long as he may live, that he will be recognized as a worthy symbol
+of all that is best in the national character.
+
+In this sense the trust imposed in the highest military commander in
+the land is not more than what is encharged the newest ensign or
+second lieutenant. Nor is it less. It is the fact of commission which
+gives special distinction to the man and in turn requires that the
+measure of his devotion to the service of his country be distinctive,
+as compared with the charge laid upon the average citizen.
+
+In the beginning, a man takes an oath to uphold his country's
+Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, to bear true
+faith and allegiance, and to discharge well and faithfully the duties
+of office. He does this without any mental reservation.
+
+Thereafter he is given a paper which says that because the President
+as a representative of the people of this country reposes "special
+trust and confidence" in his "patriotism, valor, fidelity, and
+abilities," he is forthwith commissioned.
+
+By these tokens, the Nation also becomes a party to the contract, and
+will faithfully keep its bond with the man. While he continues to
+serve honorably, it will sustain him and will clothe him with its
+dignity. That it has vouched for him gives him a felicitous status in
+our society. The device he wears, his insignia, and even his garments
+identify him directly with the power of the United States. The living
+standards of himself and of his family are underwritten by Federal
+statute. Should he become ill, the Nation will care for him. Should he
+be disabled, it will stand as his guardian through life. Should he
+seek to advance himself through higher studies, it will open the way.
+
+Other than the officer corps, there is no group within our society
+toward which the obligation of the Nation is more fully expressed.
+Even so, other Americans regard this fact with pride, rather than with
+envy. They accept the principle that some unusual advantage should
+attend exceptional and unremitting responsibility. Whatever path an
+American officer may walk, he enjoys prestige. Though little is known
+of his intrinsic merit, he will be given the respect of his fellow
+citizens, unless he proves himself utterly undeserving.
+
+This national esteem for the corps is one of the priceless assets of
+American security. The services themselves so recognize it. That they
+place such strong emphasis upon the importance of personal honor among
+officers is because they know that the future of our arms and the
+well-being of our people depend upon a constant renewing and
+strengthening of public faith in the virtue of the corps. Were this to
+languish, the Nation would be loath to commit its sons to any military
+endeavor, no matter how grave the emergency.
+
+The works of goodwill by which those who lead the national military
+forces endeavor to win the unreserved trust of the American people is
+one of the chief preservatives of the American system of freedoms. The
+character of the corps is in a most direct sense a final safeguard of
+the character of the Nation.
+
+To these thoughts any officer who is morally deserving of his
+commission would freely subscribe. He will look beyond the letter of
+his obligation and will accept in his own heart the total implications
+of his new responsibility.
+
+So doing, he still might see fit to ask: "But to what do I turn my
+thoughts? How do I hold myself so that while following the line of
+duty, I will also exemplify those ideals which may inspire other men
+to make their best effort?"
+
+It is suggested that there is a one-word key to the answer among the
+four lofty qualities which are cited on every man's commission.
+
+That word is _Fidelity_.
+
+As for patriotism, either a man loves his country or else he would not
+seek commission at its hands, unless he be completely the rascal,
+pretending to serve in order to destroy.
+
+Valor, on the other hand, can not be fully vouchsafed, since it is not
+given to any man to know the nature and depth of his personal courage.
+
+Abilities vary from man to man, and are partly what heredity and
+environment have made them. If nature had not imposed a ceiling, mere
+striving would make every man a genius.
+
+But Fidelity is the derivative of personal decision. It is the jewel
+within reach of every man who has the will to possess it.
+
+Given an officer corps composed throughout of men who would make the
+eternal try toward bettering their professional capacities and
+furthering the working efficiency and harmony within all forces, the
+United States would become thrice-armed though not producing one new
+weapon in its arsenals.
+
+Great faith, rightness of mind, influence over other men, and finally,
+personal success and satisfaction come of service to the ideals of the
+profession. Were these strengths reflected throughout the officer
+body, it could well happen that because of the shining example, the
+American people would become more deeply conscious of the need to keep
+their own fibers strong than has been their disposition throughout
+history.
+
+Accepting these truths as valid, a man still must know where he stands
+before making a true reckoning of his line of advance. This entails
+some consideration of himself (_a_) as to the personal standard which
+is required of him because of his position in relation to all others
+(_b_) as to the reasons in common sense which make this requirement,
+and (_c_) as to the principles and philosophy which will enable him to
+play his part well.
+
+The military officer is considered a gentleman, not because Congress
+wills it, nor because it has been the custom of people in all times to
+afford him that courtesy, but specifically because nothing less than a
+gentleman is truly suited for his particular set of responsibilities.
+
+This is not simply a bit of self-adulation; it is distinctly the
+American tradition in the matter. The Nation has never attempted to
+draw its officers from a particular class. During World War II,
+thousands of men were commissioned in our forces who had enjoyed
+little opportunity in their earlier environments. They were sound men
+by nature. They had courage. They could set a good example. They could
+rally other men around them. In the eyes of the services, these things
+count more than any man's blood lines. We say with Voltaire, "Whoever
+serves his country well has no need of ancestors."
+
+On the other hand, from the time of the Colonies, this country has
+despised press gangs, floggings, martinetism, and all of the other Old
+World military practices which demeaned the rank and file. Its
+military system was founded on the dignity of man, just as was its
+Constitution. The system has sought ever since to advance itself by
+appealing to the higher nature of the individual. That is why its
+officers need to be gentlemen. To call forth great loyalty in other
+people and to harness it to any noble undertaking, one must first be
+sensible of their finer instincts and feelings. Certainly these things
+at least are among the gentle qualities which are desired in every
+military officer of the United States:
+
+    1. Strong belief in human rights.
+
+    2. Respect for the dignity of every other person.
+
+    3. The Golden Rule attitude toward one's daily associates.
+
+    4. An abiding interest in all aspects of human welfare.
+
+    5. A willingness to deal with every man as considerately as if he
+    were a blood relative.
+
+These qualities are the epitome of strength, not of softness. They
+mark the man who is capable of pursuing a great purpose consistently
+in spite of temptations. He who possesses them will all the more
+surely be regarded as a "man among men." Take any crowd of new
+recruits! The greater number of them during their first few days in
+service will use more profanity and obscenity, talk more about women
+and boast more about drinking than they have ever done in their lives,
+because of the mistaken idea that this is the quick way to get a
+reputation for being hard-boiled. But at the same time, the one or two
+men among them who stay decent, talk moderately and walk the line of
+duty will uniquely receive the infinite respect of the others. It
+never fails to happen!
+
+There is the other matter about how a man should feel toward his own
+profession. Simply to accept the fact that the bearing of arms is a
+highly honorable calling because the book says so should not suffice
+one's own interest in the matter, when a little personal reflection
+will reveal wherein the honor resides.
+
+To every officer who has thought earnestly about the business, it is
+at once apparent that civilization, as men have known it since the
+time of the Greek City States, has rested as a pyramid upon a base of
+organized military power. Moreover, the general possibility of world
+cultural progress in the foreseeable future has no other conceivable
+foundation. For any military man to deny, on any ground whatever, the
+role which his profession has played in the establishment of
+everything which is well-ordered in our society, shows only a faulty
+understanding of history. It made possible the birth of the American
+system of freedoms. Later, it gave the nation a new birth and
+vouchsafed a more perfect union.
+
+Likewise, we need to see the case in its present terms. One may abhor
+war fully, despise militarism absolutely, deplore all of the impulses
+in human nature which make armed force necessary, and still agree that
+for the world as we know it, the main hope is that "peace-loving
+nations can be made obviously capable of defeating nations which are
+willing to wage aggressive war." Those words, by the way, were not
+said by a warrior, but by the eminent pacifist, Bertrand Russell. It
+does not make the military man any less the humanitarian that he
+accepts this reality, that he faces toward the chance forthrightly,
+and that he believes that if all military power were stricken
+tomorrow, men would revert to a state of anarchy and there would ensue
+the total defeat of the forces which are trying to establish peace and
+brotherly love in our lives.
+
+The complete identity of American military forces with the character
+of the people comes of this indivisibility of interest. To think of
+the military as a guardian class apart, like Lynkeus "born for vision,
+ordained for watching," rather than as a strong right arm, corporately
+joined to the body and sharing its every function, is historically
+false and politically inaccurate. It is not unusual, however, for
+those whose task it is to interpret the trend of opinion to take the
+line that "the military" are thinking one way and "the people" quite
+another on some particular issue, as if to imply that the two are
+quite separate and of different nature. This is usually false in
+detail, and always false in general. It not only discounts the objects
+of their unity but overlooks the truth of its origins.
+
+Maybe they should be invited to go to the root of the word. The true
+meaning of "populus," from which we get the word "people," was in the
+time of ancient Rome the "armed body." The pure-blooded Roman in the
+days of the Republic could not conceive of a citizen who was not a
+warrior. It was the arms which a Roman's possession of land enabled
+him to get that qualified him to participate in the affairs of state.
+He had no political rights until he had fought. _He was not of the
+people; they were of him!_ Nor is this concept alien to the ideals on
+which the Founding Fathers built the American system, since they
+stated it as the right and duty of every able-bodied citizen to bear
+arms.
+
+These propositions should mean much to every American who has chosen
+the military profession. A main point is that on becoming an officer a
+man does not renounce any part of his fundamental character as an
+American citizen. He has simply signed on for the post graduate course
+where one learns how to exercise authority in accordance with the
+spirit of liberty. The nature of his trusteeship has been subtly
+expressed by an Admiral in our service: "The American philosophy
+places the individual above the state. It distrusts personal power and
+coercion. It denies the existence of indispensable men. It asserts the
+supremacy of principle."
+
+An understanding of American principles of life and growth, and
+personal zeal in upholding them, is the bedrock of sound leading in
+our services. Moral and emotional stability are expected of an
+American officer; he can usually satisfy his superiors if he attains
+to this equilibrium. But he is not likely to satisfy himself unless he
+can also achieve that maturity of character which expresses itself in
+the ability to make decisions in detachment of spirit from that which
+is pleasant or unpleasant to him personally, in the desire to hold
+onto things not by grasping them but by understanding them and
+remembering them, and in learning to covet only that which may be
+rightfully possessed.
+
+An occasional man has become wealthy while in the services by making
+wise investments, through writings, by skill at invention, or through
+some other means. But he is the exception. The majority have no such
+prospect. Indeed, if love of money were the mainspring of all American
+action, the officer corps long since would have disintegrated. But it
+is well said that the only truly happy people on earth are those who
+are indifferent to money because they have some positive purpose which
+forecloses it. Than the service, there is no other environment which
+is more conducive to the leading of the full life by the individual
+who is ready to accept the word of the philosopher that the only
+security on earth is the willingness to accept insecurity as an
+inevitable part of living. Once an officer has made this passage into
+maturity, and is at peace with himself because the service means more
+to him than all else, he will find kinship with the great body of his
+brothers-in-arms. The highest possible consequence can develop from
+the feelings of men mutually inspired by some great endeavor and
+moving forward together according to the principle that only those who
+are willing to serve are fit to lead. Completely immersed in action,
+they have no time for smallness in speech, thought or deed. It is for
+these reasons that those who in times past have excelled in the
+leadership of American forces have invariably been great Americans
+first and superior officers second. The rule applies at all levels.
+The lieutenant who is not moved at the thought that he is serving his
+country is unlikely to do an intelligent job of directing other men.
+He will come apart at the seams whenever the going grows tough. Until
+men accept this thought freely, and apply it to their personal action,
+it is not possible for them to go forward together strongly. In the
+words of Lionel Curtis: "The only force that unites men is conscience,
+a varying capacity in most of them to put the interests of other
+people before their own."
+
+The services are accustomed to being hammered. Like other human
+institutions, they are imperfect. Therefore the criticisms are not
+always unjust. Further, there is no more reason why the services
+should be immune to attack than any other organic part of our society
+and government.
+
+The service officer is charged only to take a lively interest in all
+such discussions. He has no more right to condemn the service unfairly
+than has any other American. On the other hand he is not expected to
+be an intellectual eunuch, oblivious to all of the faults in the
+institution to which he gives his loyalty. To the contrary, the nature
+of that loyalty requires that he will use his force toward the
+righting of those things which reason convinces him are going wrong,
+though making certain that his action will not do more damage than
+repair.
+
+His ultimate commanding loyalty at all times is to his country, and
+not to his service or his superior. He owes it to his country to speak
+the truth as he sees it. This implies a steadying judgment as to when
+it should be spoken, and to whom it should be addressed. A truth need
+not only be well-rounded, but the utterance of it should be cognizant
+of the stresses and objectives of the hour. Truth becomes falsehood
+unless it has the strength of perspective. The presentation of facts
+is self-justifying only when the facts are developed in their true
+proportion.
+
+Where there is public criticism of the services, in matters both large
+and small, the service officer has the right and the duty of
+intervention only toward the end of making possible that all criticism
+will be well-informed. That right can not be properly exercised when
+there is nothing behind it but a defense of professional pride. The
+duty can be well performed when the officer knows not only his
+subject--the mechanism itself--but the history and philosophy of the
+armed services in their relation to the development of the American
+system. Criticism from the outside is essential to service well-being,
+for as Confucius said, oftentimes men in the game are blind to what
+the lookers on see clearly.
+
+The value of any officer's opinion of any military question can never
+be any greater than the extent and accuracy of his information. His
+ability to dispose public thought favorably toward the service will
+depend upon the wisdom of his words rather than upon his military rank
+and other credentials. A false idea will come upon a bad fate even
+though it has the backing of the highest authority.
+
+Only men of informed mind and unprejudiced expression can strengthen
+the claim of the services on the affections of the American people.
+
+This is, of itself, a major objective for the officer corps, since our
+public has little studious interest in military affairs, tends ever to
+discount the vitality of the military role in the progress and
+prosperity of the nation and regards the security problem as one of
+the less pleasant and abnormal burdens on an otherwise orderly
+existence.
+
+It is an explicable contradiction of the American birthright that to
+some of our people the military establishment is at best a necessary
+evil, and military service is an extraordinary hardship rather than an
+inherent obligation. Yet these illusions are rooted deep in the
+American tradition, though it is a fact to be noted not without hope
+that we are growing wiser as we move along. In the years which
+followed the American Revolution, the new union of States tried to
+eliminate military forces altogether. There was vast confusion of
+thought as to what freedom required for its own survival. Thomas
+Jefferson, one of the great architects of democracy, and still
+renowned for his "isolationist" sentiments, wrote the warning: "We
+must train and classify the whole of our male citizens, and make
+military instruction a regular part of collegiate education. We can
+never be safe until this is done."
+
+None the less, the hour came when the standing Army was reduced to 80
+men. None the less, the quaint notion has survived that an enlightened
+interest in military affairs is somehow undemocratic. And none the
+less, recurring war has invariably found the United States
+inadequately prepared for the defense of its own territory.
+
+Because there has been a holdover of these mistaken sentiments right
+down to the present, there persists in many military officers a
+defensive attitude toward their own profession which has no practical
+relation to the strength of the ground on which they are enabled to
+stand. Toward any unfair and flippant criticism of the "military mind"
+they react with resentment, instead of with buoyant proof that their
+own minds are more plastic and more receptive to national ideals than
+those of any other profession. Where they should approach all problems
+of the national security with the zeal of the missionary, seeking and
+giving light, they treat this subject as if it were a private game
+preserve.
+
+It suffices to say of this minority that they are a barnacle on the
+hull of an otherwise staunch vessel. From such limited concepts of
+personal responsibility, there can not fail to develop a foreshortened
+view of the dignity of the task at hand. The note of apology is
+injected at the wrong time; the tone of belligerency is used when it
+serves no purpose. When someone arises within the halls of government
+to say that the military establishment is "uneconomic" because it cuts
+no bricks, bales no hay and produces nothing which can be vended in
+the market places, it is not unusual to hear some military men concur
+in this strange notion. That acquiescence is wholly unbecoming.
+
+The physician is not slurred as belonging to a nonproductive
+profession because he contributes only to the care and healing of the
+body, and through these things to the general well-being of society.
+Respect for formal education, organized religion and all of the
+enterprises built up around the dissemination of ideas is not the less
+because the resultant benefit to society is not always tangible and
+saleable. Hence to say that that without which society could not
+endure in its present form is "uneconomic" is to make the word itself
+altogether meaningless.
+
+In that inner power of courage and conviction which stems from the
+spiritual integrity of the individual, lies the strength of democracy.
+As to their ability to produce toward these ends, the military
+services can stand on the record. When shortly after World War II, a
+census was taken among the returned men, 60 percent said that they had
+been _morally strengthened_ by their military service in the American
+uniform. About 30 percent had no opinion or felt that military life
+had not changed them one way or the other. An insignificant minority
+considered themselves damaged. This is an amazing testimony in light
+of the fact that only a small fraction of American youth is schooled
+to believe that any spiritual good can come of military service. As to
+what it signifies, those who take a wholly materialistic view of the
+objects of the Republic are entitled to call the military
+establishment "uneconomic." The services will continue to hold with
+the idea that strong nationhood comes not of the making of gadgets but
+of the building of character.
+
+Men beget goodwill in other men by giving it. They develop courage in
+their following mainly as a reflection of the courage which they show
+in their own action. These two qualities of mind and heart are of the
+essence of sound officership. One is of little avail without the
+other, and either helps to sustain the other. As to which is the
+stronger force in its impact upon the masses of men, no truth is more
+certain than the words once written by William James: "Evident though
+the shortcomings of a man may be, if he is ready to give up his life
+for a cause, we forgive him everything. However inferior he may be to
+ourselves in other respects, if we cling to life while he throws it
+away like a flower, we bow to his superiority."
+
+Theodore Roosevelt once said that if he had a son who refrained from
+any worthwhile action because of the fear of hurt to himself, he would
+disown him. Soon after his return to civilian life, Gen. Dwight D.
+Eisenhower spoke of the worthwhileness of "living dangerously." An
+officer of the United States armed forces can not go far wrong if he
+holds with these ideas. It is not the suitable profession for those
+who believe only in digging-in and nursing a soft snap until death
+comes at a ripe old age. Who risks nothing gains nothing.
+
+Nor should there be any room in it for professional smugness, small
+jealousies, and undue concern about privilege.
+
+The regular recognizes as his peer and comrade the officer from any of
+the civilian components. That he is a professional does not give him
+an especial eminence, but simply a greater measure of responsibility
+for the success of the total establishment. Moreover, he can not
+afford to be patronizing, without risking self-embarrassment, such is
+the vast experience which many reservists have had on the active field
+of war.
+
+Toward services other than his own, any officer is expected to have
+both a comradely feeling and an imaginative interest. Any Army officer
+is a better man for having studied the works of Admiral Mahan and
+familiarized himself with the modern Navy from first-hand experience.
+Those who lead sea-going forces can enlarge their own capacities by
+knowing more, rather than less, about the nature of the air and ground
+establishments. The submariner can always learn something useful to
+his own work by mingling with airmen; the airman becomes a better
+officer as he grows in qualified knowledge of ground and sea fighting.
+
+But the fact remains that the services are not alike, that no wit of
+man can make them alike, and that the retention by each of its
+separate character, customs and confidence is essential to the
+conserving of our national military power. Unification has not altered
+this basic proposition. The first requirement of a unified
+establishment is moral soundness in each of the integral parts,
+without which there can be no soundness at all. And on the question of
+fundamental loyalty, the officer who loves every other service just as
+much as his own will have just as much active virtue as the man who
+loves other women as much as his own wife.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO
+
+FORMING MILITARY IDEALS
+
+
+Any stranger making a survey of what Americans are and how they get
+that way would probably see it as a paradox that within the armed
+establishment the inculcation of ideals is considered the most vital
+of all teaching, while in our gentler and less rigid institutions,
+there is steadily less emphasis on this subject.
+
+He would be entitled to the explanation that it is not so done because
+this has always been the way of Armies, Navies, and other fighting
+forces, or because it is universal in the military establishments of
+the twentieth century, but because nothing else would better suffice
+the American military system under present conditions.
+
+There are two main reasons why.
+
+The first is that we are an altogether unregimented people, with a
+strong belief in the virtues of rugged individualism and in the right
+of the average man to go along about as he pleases, so long as he does
+not do actual injury to society. Voluntary group cooperation rather
+than absolute group loyalty, developing from a strong spiritual bond,
+is the basic technic of Americans in their average rounds. It is
+enough to satisfy the social, political and economic needs of a
+democracy, but in its military parts, it would be fatally weak. There
+would be no possibility of achieving an all-compelling unity under
+conditions of utmost pressure if no man felt any higher call to action
+than what was put upon him by purely material considerations.
+
+Military ideals are therefore, as related to this purpose, mainly an
+instrument of national survival. But not altogether so, since in the
+measure that they influence the personal life and conduct of millions
+of men who move in and out of the services, they have a regenerative
+effect upon the spiritual fiber of the Nation as a whole.
+
+There is the second and equally important reason that, whereas wars
+have sometimes been fought for ideal causes, as witness the American
+Revolution and Civil War, war itself is never ideal, and the character
+of our people is such as to insist that from our side, its brutalities
+be minimized. The barbarian who kills for killing's sake and who
+scorns the laws of war at any point is repugnant to the instincts of
+our people, under whatever flag he fights. If we did not have some men
+of this type among us, our penitentiaries would not be filled. The
+ravages which they might commit when all of the barriers are down on
+the battlefield can be prevented only when forces as a whole believe
+that armed power, while not ideal in itself, must be made to serve
+ideal ends.
+
+To speak of ethics in the same breath with war may seem like sheer
+cant and hypocrisy. But in the possibility that those who best
+understand the use and nature of armed power may excel all others in
+stimulating that higher morality which may some day restrain war lies
+a main chance for the future. The Armed Services of the United States
+do not simply do lip service to such institutions as United Nations.
+They encourage their people to take a deep personal interest in every
+legitimate activity aimed to bulwark world peace. But while doing
+this, they keep their powder dry.
+
+Military ideals are not different than the ideals which make any man
+sound in himself, and in his relation to others. They are called
+military ideals only because the proving ground is a little more
+rugged in the service than elsewhere. But they are all founded in hard
+military experience; they did not find expression because some Admiral
+got it in his head one day to set an unattainable goal for his men, or
+because some General wished to turn a pious face toward the public,
+professing that his men were aspiring to greater virtue than anything
+the public knew.
+
+The military way is a long, hard road, and it makes extraordinary
+requirements of every individual. In war, particularly, it puts
+stresses upon men such as they have not known elsewhere, and the
+temptation to "get out from under" would be irresistible if their
+spirits had not been tempered to the ordeal. If nothing but fear of
+punishments were depended upon to hold men to the line during extreme
+trial, the result would be wholesale mutiny and a situation altogether
+beyond the control of leadership. So it must be true that _it is out
+of the impact of ideals mainly that men develop the strength to face
+situations from which it would be normal to run away_.
+
+Also, during the normal routine of peace, members of the Armed
+Services are expected to respond to situations that are more
+extensive, more complex, and take longer to reach fulfillment than the
+situations to which the majority of men instinctively respond. Even
+the length of the enlistment period looks like a slow march up a
+60-mile grade. Promotion is slow, duty frequently monotonous. It is
+all too easy for the individual to worry about his own insignificance
+and to feel that he has become lost in the crowd. Under these
+conditions a man may go altogether bad, or simply get lazy and rock
+with the grain. But nothing except a strong belief in the ideals he is
+serving will make him respond to the larger situation and give it his
+best effort. Ideals have the intensely practical end of strengthening
+men for the better discharge of duties which devolve upon them in
+their day-to-day affairs.
+
+What is the main test of human character? Probably it is this: that a
+man will know how to be patient in the midst of hard circumstance, and
+can continue to be personally effective while living through whatever
+discouragements beset him and his companions. Moreover, that is what
+every truly civilized man would want in himself during the calmer
+moments when he compares critically what he is inside with what he
+would like to be. That is specifically the reason why the promulgation
+of military ideals is initially a problem in the first person,
+singular. The Armed Services have in one sense a narrow motive in
+turning the thoughts of younger leaders toward a belief in ideals.
+They know that this is a lubricant in the machinery of organization
+and the best way to sweeten the lives of men working together in a
+group toward some worthwhile purpose. But there is also a higher
+object. All experience has taught that it is likewise the best way to
+give the individual man a solid foundation for living successfully
+amid the facts of existence, irrespective of his situation. The
+military system of the United States is not committed to grinding out
+warriors _per se_, but to the training of men in such manner that they
+will be able to play a better part anywhere, and will find greater
+satisfactions in what they do. All the time, when the service seeks to
+emphasize to its ranks what is the "right thing to do," it is speaking
+of that course of conduct which in the long run is most necessary and
+useful to the individual.
+
+As to what one man should seek in himself, in order to be four-square
+with his own life and all others who are related to his personal
+situation, it is simple enough to formulate it, and to describe what
+constitutes maturity of character. In fact, that can be done without
+mentioning the words "patriotism" and "courage", which traditionally
+and rightly are viewed as the very highest of the military virtues.
+
+No man is truly fit for officership unless in the inner recess of his
+being he can go along with the toast known to every American
+schoolboy: "My country, in her intercourse with other nations may she
+always be in the right! But right or wrong, my country!" And he will
+never do a really good job of supporting her standards if, when the
+clutch comes, he is lacking in intestinal fortitude.
+
+But there is this to be said about the nature of courage and
+patriotism, in the same breath that we agree they are essential in an
+officer of the fighting establishment--neither of these qualities of
+itself carries sufficient conviction, except as it is the product of
+those homelier attributes which give dignity to all action, in things
+both large and small, during the course of any average work day.
+
+When Dr. Johnson remarked that patriotism is the last refuge of a
+scoundrel he was not belittling the value of love of country as a
+force in the lives of men, but to the contrary, was pointing out that
+a profession of patriotism, unaccompanied by good works, was the mark
+of a man not to be trusted. In no other institution in the land will
+flag-waving fall as flat as in the Armed Services when the ranks know
+that it is just an act, with no sincere commitment to service backing
+it up. But the uniformed forces will still respond to the real
+article with the same emotion that they felt at Bunker Hill and Manila
+Bay.
+
+There is a Civil War story from one of the campaigns against Stonewall
+Jackson in the Valley. A Confederate who had had his leg shot away
+turned on his pallet to regard a Union private who had just lost an
+arm, and said to him, "For what reason did you invade us and make all
+this trouble?" The boy replied simply: "For the old flag." That may
+sound like sentiment from a distant past. But turn to the story of
+Major Devereux and the Marine defense of Wake Island. He wrote that
+the "music" had always gone sour, and had invariably broken down when
+he tried to play "The Colors." But on the morning of Pearl Harbor,
+when the flag was raised, the garrison already knew that the war was
+on. And for some reason which no man could account for, the bugler
+rose to the occasion, and for the first time, every note came straight
+and true. Devereux said that every throat tightened and every head
+went higher. Yet Devereux was a remarkably unmelodramatic fighting
+man.
+
+But to get back to those simpler virtues which provide a firm
+foundation for patriotism and may become the fount of courage, at
+least these few things would have to be put among the fundamentals:
+
+    1. A man has honor if he holds himself to a course of conduct,
+    because of a conviction that it is in the general interest, even
+    though he is well aware that it may lead to inconvenience,
+    personal loss, humiliation or grave physical risk.
+
+    2. He has veracity if, having studied a question to the limit of
+    his ability, he says and believes what he thinks to be true, even
+    though it would be the path of least resistance to deceive others
+    and himself.
+
+    3. He has justice if he acknowledges the interests of all
+    concerned in any particular transaction rather than serving his
+    own apparent interest.
+
+    4. He has graciousness if he acts and speaks forthrightly, agrees
+    warmly, disagrees fairly and respectfully, participates
+    enthusiastically, refrains from harboring grudges, takes his
+    reverses in stride, and does not complain or ask for help in the
+    face of trifling calamities.
+
+    5. He has integrity if his interest in the good of the service is
+    at all times greater than his personal pride, and when he holds
+    himself to the same line of duty when unobserved as he would
+    follow if all of his superiors were present.
+
+The list could be longer, but for the moment, we can let it go at
+that. These standards are not counsels of perfection; thousands of
+officers have adhered to them. But it should be said as well that if
+all leaders at the lower levels in all of the services were to conform
+in the same way, the task of higher command would be simplicity
+itself. The cause of much of the friction in the administrative
+machinery is that at all levels there are individuals who insist on
+standing in their own light. They believe that there is some special
+magic, some quick springboard to success; they mistakenly think that
+it can be won by bootlicking, apple-polishing, yessing higher
+authority, playing office politics, throwing weight around, ducking
+the issues, striving for cheap popularity, courting publicity or
+seeking any and all means of grabbing the spotlight.
+
+Any one of this set of tricks may enable a man to carry the ball
+forward a yard or two in some special situation. But at least this
+comment can be made without qualification: Of the men who have risen
+to supreme heights in the fighting establishment of the United States,
+and have had their greatness proclaimed by their fellow countrymen,
+there is not one career which provides any warrant for the conclusion
+that there is a special shortcut known only to the smart operators.
+True enough, a few men have gained fairly high rank by dint of what
+the late Mr. Justice Holmes called "the instinct for the jugular"--a
+feeling for when to jump, where to press and how to slash in order to
+achieve somewhat predatory personal ends. That will occasionally
+happen in any walk of life. But from Washington, Wayne, and Jones down
+to Eisenhower, Vandegrift, and Nimitz, the men best loved by the
+American people for their military successes were also men with
+greatness of soul. In short, they were idealists, though they likely
+would have disclaimed that label, since it somehow connotes the
+visionary rather than the intensely practical man.
+
+But it isn't necessary to look at the upper brackets of history to
+find the object lesson. The things that any man remembers about his
+own father with love and reverence have to do with his forbearance,
+his charity toward other men, his strength and rightness of will and
+his readiness to contribute of his force to the good of other people.
+Or if not his father, then it may be an uncle, a neighbor or one of
+his schoolmasters.
+
+In one way, however, it illuminates but half the subject to reflect
+that a man has to find purpose in himself before he can seek purpose
+in any of the undertakings of which he is a part or in the society of
+which he is a member. No man is wholly sufficient unto himself even
+though he has been schooled from infancy to live according to
+principles. His character and the moral strength from which he gains
+peace of mind need constantly to be replenished by the force of other
+individuals who think and act more or less in tune with him. His
+ability to remain whole, and to bound back from any depression of the
+spirit, depends in some measure on the chance that they will be
+upgrading when he is on the downswing. To read what the wisest of the
+philosophers have written about the formation of human character is
+always a stimulating experience; but it is better yet to live next to
+the man who already possesses what the philosophers are talking about.
+During World War II, there were quite a few higher commanders relieved
+in our forces because it was judged, for one reason or another, that
+they had failed in battle. Of the total number, there were a few who
+took a reduction in rank, went willingly to a lower post in a fighting
+command, uttered no complaint, kept their chins up, worked
+courageously and sympathetically with their commands, and provided an
+example of manhood that all who saw them will never forget. Though
+their names need not be mentioned, they were imprinted with the real
+virtue of the services even more deeply than many of their colleagues
+who had no blemishes on their records. Their character had met the
+ultimate test. The men who had the privilege of working close to them
+realized this and the sublime effect of this personal influence helped
+strengthen the resolve of many others.
+
+Because there is so much at stake in the matter, the services cannot
+depend solely upon such influence as would be exerted on their affairs
+by the occasional idealist, but must work for that chain reaction
+which comes of making the inculcation of military ideals one of the
+cardinal points of a strong, uniting inner doctrine. It is altogether
+necessary that as a body, the power of their thought be shaped along
+ideal lines. The ideal object must be held high at all times, even
+though it is recognized that men are not perfect, and that no matter
+how greatly they may aspire, they will occasionally fail. Nor is the
+effort to lead other men to believe in the transcendent importance of
+goodwill made less effective because the leader has a conscience about
+his own weakness, _provided he has the good sense not to flaunt it_.
+He need not be a paragon of all the virtues to set an example which
+will convince other men that his ideas are worth following. No man
+alive possesses perfect virtue, which fact is generally understood.
+Many an otherwise ideal commander is ruthless in his exactions upon
+his staff; many a petty officer, who has won the absolute love of all
+men with whom he served, has found himself in the middle because he
+couldn't think straight about his debts. But these things do not
+lessen the impact upon men of thinking together about common ideals
+and working together toward the fulfillment of some high obligation.
+The pursuit of ideals culminates in the experience of mutual growth.
+If that were not so, men who have served the arms of the United States
+would not continue to have a special respect for the uniform, and an
+extra reverence for the flag, for years after they have passed from
+the service. These emotions are not the consequence of habit, but come
+of having known the comradeship of other men whom they loved and
+respected, who shared these same thoughts, and believed in the same
+body of ideals.
+
+Any normal man loves his country and it is natural in him to regard
+highly the symbols through which this affection is expressed. An
+American child of kindergarten age already feels an emotional
+attachment for the national emblem. The recruit who has just entered
+upon service can begin to understand that his regard for his uniform
+must be a far different thing than what he felt about his civilian
+dress, since it is identified with the dignity of the Nation. His
+training in military ideals starts at this point, and for the main
+part is carried forward subtly, by transfer of this same feeling to
+all other objects associated with his military life. His perseverance
+in the care of weapons, in keeping his living quarters orderly and in
+doing his full share of work is best insured, not through fear of
+punishments, but by stimulating his belief that any other way of going
+is unworthy of a member of a fighting service.
+
+Precision in personal habits, precision in drill and precision in
+daily living are the high road to that kind of discipline which best
+insures cool and collected thought and unity of action on the field of
+battle. When men, working together, successfully attain to a high
+standard of orderliness, deportment and response, each to the other,
+they develop the cohesive strength which will carry them through any
+great crisis. For this reason mainly, military life is far more
+exacting than civil life. But the services hold that what is best for
+the many can be achieved without cramping the personal life or
+blighting individuality and initiative. Within the frame of our
+system, we can achieve obedience and discipline without destroying
+independence and impulse.
+
+This is idealism, though we seldom think about it in that light.
+Further, it is all the better that in the beginning these impressions
+are developed obliquely, rather than through the direct approach of
+reading a lecture on ideals and ethics, since it means that the man is
+assisted to reach certain conclusions by himself, and as Kant has
+said, those things which a man learns pretty much on his own become
+the ideas that he is least likely to forget.
+
+Looking at this subject in its largest aspect, it should be perfectly
+clear that any institution must know what its ideals are before it can
+become coherent and confident, and that there must be present in the
+form of clearly available ideas an imaginative conception of the good
+at which the institution aims.
+
+This is fully recognized in the American armed establishment. For many
+years, the program of indoctrinating military ideals has been
+inseparably linked with instruction in democratic ideals, teaching as
+to the American way of life and clear statement of the policies and
+purposes of the Government of the United States in its relations with
+all others powers and peoples.
+
+Moreover, it is an accepted principle in all services that this
+mission can not be carried forward competently except by those
+officers who are directly in charge of forces. It is not a job for
+chaplains or orientation specialists, because it cannot flourish
+unless it is in the hands of those leaders whom men know well and in
+whom they place their confidence. When men are well led, they become
+fully receptive to the whole body of ideas which their leaders see fit
+to put before them.
+
+There are two points which follow, as a matter of course.
+
+An officer's ability to talk effectively on these or other subjects to
+his men can be no better than his information, irrespective of his
+zeal or of his own firm belief in the ideals of his country and
+service.
+
+All other things being equal, his effectiveness will depend on the
+extent to which he participates in all of the other affairs of
+organization. If he is remote from the spirit of his own unit, and
+indifferent to the varying activities which enter into the building of
+that spirit, he will not have a sympathetic audience when he talks to
+men about the grand objectives of organization. There is something
+terribly incongruous about a man talking to troops on the ideal
+purposes of the military service if all they see of him convinces them
+that he is loyal only to his own rank and his pay check. It can be
+said without any qualification that when an officer's interest in the
+unit is limited strictly to those things which _have to be done_ in
+line of duty, even though he attends to them truly and well, he will
+never have a strong hold on the sympathy and imagination of his men.
+When he takes an enthusiastic part in the sports program of the ship,
+the company, the squadron or the battalion, even though he has no
+natural talent for sport, when he voluntarily helps in furthering all
+activities within the unit which are designed to make leisure more
+enjoyable, and when he is seen by his men attending religious
+exercises, his magnetism is increased. It was noteworthy during World
+War II that church attendance among enlisted personnel took a
+tremendous bound forward when it was seen that their officers were
+present at church services. This provided tremendous support to those
+chaplains who were intent not only on praising the Lord but on passing
+moral ammunition to all ranks so that they would be better prepared
+for the ordeal ahead.
+
+Recognizing that instruction in the duties of citizenship, and
+providing information which will enable Americans to have a better
+understanding of their national affairs, is part of the arch of morale
+and of a strong uniting comradeship, the Armed Services nevertheless
+hold that _the keystone of the arch, among fighting forces, is the
+inculcation of military ideals and the stimulation of principles of
+military action_. Unless orientation within the services is balanced
+in this direction, the military spirit of all ranks will suffer, and
+the forces will deteriorate into an assembly of Americans who,
+whatever their enthusiasms for the nation, will lack an organized
+capacity to serve it efficiently along the main line of resistance.
+
+To round out any discussion of how military ideals are formed, much
+more needs to be said about the nature of courage on the battlefield
+and, in preparation for it, about the winning and meaning of loyalty
+within the Armed Services and how instruction on these points and all
+related matters is best advanced within the organization.
+
+But the object of this chapter is to define certain governing
+principles. The substantive parts of the subject can be more clearly
+presented further along in the book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE
+
+RESPONSIBILITY AND PRIVILEGE
+
+
+There is a common saying in the services, and elsewhere, that greater
+privileges grow out of larger responsibilities, and that the latter
+justifies the former. This is part truth and part fable.
+
+In military organization, as in industry, business, and political
+life, the more important a man's position, the more lavish he is
+likely to be in his office appointments and living arrangements, and
+the greater the care that is apt to be taken in freeing him of
+trifling annoyances.
+
+But that is only partly because of the need for him to conserve his
+time and energy. When men are successful, they like the good things of
+life. Why deny it? Not one individual in 10,000 would aspire to power
+and authority if it meant living like a hermit.
+
+There is no way that the military establishment can denature human
+nature, and change this determining condition. Nor is there any reason
+why it should wish to do so. Its men, like all others, develop a sense
+of well-being from those advantages, many of them minor, which attend,
+and build prestige, both in private and in official life. The
+incentive system by which our country has prospered has always
+recognized that privilege is a reward for effort and enterprise. The
+American people have always accepted that reasonable, harmless
+privileges should attend merit. It is by enhancing the prestige of
+leaders and by making their positions attractive that the Armed Forces
+get better officers and men.
+
+One of the keenest-minded Americans of our time has said:
+"Responsibilities are what devolve upon a person, and privileges are
+what he ought not to have, but takes." In a perfect universe, that
+would be a perfect truth. But men being as they are, prideful and
+desirous of any mark of recognition, privileges are the natural
+accompaniment of rank and station, and when not wilfully misused, may
+contribute to the general welfare. At all levels, men will aspire
+more, and their ambition will be firmer, if getting ahead will mean
+for them an increase in the visible tokens of deference from the
+majority, rather than simply a boost in the paycheck. To complain
+about this quality in human nature is as futile as regretting that the
+sun goes down.
+
+However, since it is out of the abuse of privilege that much of the
+friction between authority and the rank-and-file arises, the subject
+can't be dropped at that point. What puts most of the grit into the
+machinery isn't that privileges exist, but that they are exercised too
+often by persons who are not motivated by a passionate sense of duty.
+For it is an almost inviolable rule of human behavior that the man who
+is concerned most of all with his responsibilities will be fretted
+least about the matter of his privileges, and that his exercise of any
+rightful privilege will not be resented by his subordinates, because
+they are conscious of his merit.
+
+We can take two officers. Lieutenant "A" enters the service with one
+main question in mind: "Where does my duty lie?" So long as he remains
+on that beam, he will never injure the morale of the service by using
+such privileges as are rightfully his as an officer. But in the mind
+of Lieutenant "B" the other idea is uppermost: "What kudos do I get
+out of my position?" Unless that man changes his ways, he will be a
+troublemaker while he remains in the service, a headache to his fellow
+officers and a despoiler of those who are under him.
+
+In recent years, we have learned a lot about American manpower. We
+have seen enough of the raw material under testing conditions to know
+that, with the exception of the occasional malcontent who was
+irreparably spoiled before he left home, American young men when
+brought into military organization do not resent rank, and are
+amenable to authority. Indeed, they expect that higher authority will
+have certain advantages not common to the rank-and-file, because that
+is normal in our society in all of its workday relationships.
+
+But they do not like to have their noses rubbed in it by officers who,
+having no real moral claim on authority, try to exhibit it by pushing
+other people around. And when that happens, our men get their backs
+up. And they wouldn't be worth a hoot in hades if they didn't.
+
+Even as privilege attends rank and station, it is confirmed by custom,
+and modified by time and environment. What was all right yesterday may
+be all wrong tomorrow, and what is proper in one set of circumstances
+may be wholly wrong in another.
+
+Take one example. In Washington's Continental Army, a first lieutenant
+was court-martialed and jailed because he demeaned himself by doing
+manual labor with a working detail of his men. Yet in that same
+season, Major General von Steuben, then trainer and inspector of all
+the forces, created a great scandal and almost terminated his
+usefulness by trying to rank a relatively junior officer out of his
+quarters. Today both of these usages seem out of joint. Any officer
+has the _privilege_ of working with his men, if he needs exercise,
+wishes to see for himself how the thing is done, or feels that an
+extra hand is needed on the job at a critical moment. As for any
+notion that his quarters are his permanent castle no matter who comes,
+he had best not make an issue of the point!
+
+But to emphasize it once again, duty is the great regulator of the
+proper exercise of one's rights. Here we speak of duty as it was meant
+by Giuseppe Mazzini, Italy's great patriot of the early Nineteenth
+Century, when he said: "Every mission constitutes a pledge of duty.
+Every man is bound to consecrate his every effort to its fulfillment.
+He will derive his rule of action from the profound conviction of that
+duty." For finally the key lies in this, that out of high regard for
+duty comes as a natural flow that sense of proportion which we call
+common sense.
+
+Adjustment and dignity in any situation are impossible when minds are
+bent only on a code of conduct rather than on action which is
+consistent with the far objectives. In the early stages of World War
+II, it was not unusual to see a junior officer walking on the public
+sidewalk, hands free, and looking important, while his wife tagged
+along, trying to keep step, though laden like a pack mule. This was
+because someone had told him that it was not in keeping with an
+officer's dignity to be seen heavily burdened. In the nature of
+things, anyone so lacking in gallantry as that would stimulate very
+little respect for the officer corps.
+
+Actually, in these times, there are relatively few special privileges
+which attend officership, and though the war brought perhaps a few
+excesses, the post war trend has been in the other direction.
+
+Normally, an officer is not expected to buck a chow line, or any other
+queue in line of duty, if he is sensibly in a rush. The presumption is
+that his time is more valuable to the service than that of an enlisted
+man. Normally, an officer is not expected to pitch a tent or spend his
+energy on any hand labor incidental to housekeeping. Normally, he has
+greater freedom of action and is less bound by minor restrictions than
+the ranks.
+
+But the accent in these things is decidedly on the word _normally_. If
+a mess line were in an area under general fire, so that added waiting
+meant extra danger, then only a poltroon would insist on being fed
+first. And while an officer wouldn't be expected to pitch a tent, he
+would dig his own foxhole, unless he was well up in grade. At that,
+there were a few high commanders in World War II who made it a point
+of pride to do their own digging from first to last. Greater "freedom
+of action," too, can go out the window, for conditions arise,
+particularly in war, when freedom of action can not be permitted
+anyone except the very top authority. When a general restriction is
+clamped down, the officer caught violating it is in more serious
+jeopardy than the enlisted offender.
+
+As the entire body of this book is directed toward the consideration
+of the fundamental responsibilities in officership, the special
+comments in this chapter will relate mainly to propositions not stated
+elsewhere.
+
+Though it has been said before, even so, it can be said again: It is a
+paramount and overriding responsibility of every officer to take care
+of his men before caring for himself. From the frequent and gross
+violation of this principle by badly informed or meanly selfish
+individuals comes more embarrassment to officer-man relationships than
+perhaps from all other causes put together. _It is a cardinal
+principle!_ Yet many junior officers do not seem to understand that
+steadfast fidelity to it is required, not lip service. "And of this,"
+as Admiral Mahan would say, "comes much evil." The loyalty of men
+simply cannot be commanded when they become embittered by selfish
+action.
+
+Then how deeply does this rule cut? In line of duty, it applies right
+down to the hilt! When a command is worn, bruised, and hungry,
+officers attend to their men's creature comforts and make sure that
+all is going well, before looking to their own needs. If an officer is
+on a tour with an enlisted man, he takes care that the man is
+accommodated as to food, shelter, medical treatment or other prime
+needs, before satisfying his own wants; if that means that the last
+meal or the last bed is gone, his duty is to get along the hard way.
+If a command is so located that recreational facilities are extremely
+limited, and there are not enough to go around, the welfare of the
+ranks takes priority over the interests of their commissioned leaders;
+in fact, it would be more correct to say that the welfare of men _is_
+the prior interest of the officer.
+
+These few concrete illustrations show, in general, what is expected.
+Once the main idea is grasped, the way of its total application
+becomes clear. Officers do not go around playing pigtail to enlisted
+men. But they build loyalty by serving the men first, when all
+concerned are following a general line of duty together.
+
+It is an incumbent responsibility on all officers to maintain the
+dignity of the uniform and prevent anyone from sullying it. This means
+not only the dress of person, but the uniform wherever it is worn
+publicly by any man of the United States forces. Where the offense is
+committed by a member of some other service and the disgrace to the
+uniform is obvious, it is the duty of the officer to intervene, or to
+bring about intervention, rather than to walk out on the situation.
+This calls for judgment, tact, nerve. The offense must be real, and
+not simply an offense against one's private sensibilities. But
+indecencies, exhibitionism and bawdiness of such a nature that if done
+on a reservation would warrant trial of the individual for unbecoming
+conduct will justify intervention by the officer under public
+circumstances.
+
+Similarly, any officer has a responsibility to any enlisted man who is
+in personal distress, with no other means of ready help. Suppose they
+just happen to meet in a strange community. The enlisted man's
+credentials are shown to be _bona fide_. But he has had his pocket
+picked, or has lost his wallet, or has just missed the train that
+would have carried him back from his leave on time, and he doesn't
+know what to do. For any officer to brush-off a forthright request for
+aid or advice under such circumstances is an unofficerly act.
+Likewise, if one suspects, just from appearances, that the man is in
+trouble and somewhat beyond his depths, it will be found that, far
+from resenting a kindly inquiry, he will mark it to the credit of the
+whole fighting system.
+
+To say that an officer owes a fellow officer no less consideration
+than this is to state the obvious. Officers meeting in transit usually
+get into conversation; it is a habit that adds much to one's
+professional education. When an officer is getting into a strange
+town, or arriving at a new post, anything done by a fellow officer to
+help him get oriented, or to make things friendly and easy for him,
+furthers the comity of the corps. Between officers of differing
+services these small courtesies are particularly appreciated. Nor does
+the matter end there. Within Unit A, the officers have the
+responsibility of continuing support to the officers of Unit C, Unit
+B, and so on. Though they are in a sense competing, each trying to
+build higher than the other, they must never forget that the basic
+technique of organization is cooperation. What "A" knows that has
+helped his unit, or whatever he can do to assist "B" and "C" without
+materially depriving himself, it becomes his official and moral
+obligation to transmit. An officer can never understand his own
+command problem very well unless he knows, at least a little, of how
+things are going in other units. And the statement can be reversed. He
+cannot judge the problems of other people unless he tries passionately
+to understand his own people.
+
+There are many other minor articles within what is sometimes called
+the "unwritten code" which help to regulate life in the services, and
+to sweeten it.
+
+But what counts most is not the knowing of the rule but the sharing of
+the spirit which gives it meaning and makes its proper administration
+possible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR
+
+PLANNING YOUR CAREER
+
+
+The main purpose of this book is to stimulate thought and to encourage
+the average young officer to seek truth for, and in, himself. It is
+never a good idea to attempt a precise formula about matters which are
+by nature indefinite and subject to all number of variable factors.
+
+Thus with respect to career planning, despite all of the emphasis put
+upon that subject in modern America, it would be plain error to infer
+that any man can become all-wise, as to the direction which he should
+take with his own life, simply by steeping himself in all of the
+information which is to be had on this subject.
+
+That might qualify him to give top-lofty advice to all others on how
+to make the start up the right ladder, and he would win a reputation
+as a personnel expert, which in itself is no mean assignment. But in
+all probability, he would still be doing better by himself than by any
+other individual.
+
+American library shelves are stacked with such books as "Planning Your
+Future," "New Careers for Youth," and "The Problem of Vocational
+Guidance." The pages are laden with sage counsel and bromidic
+expressions. But their chief public value is that they enabled a
+writer, his publisher and the bookseller to get a little further ahead
+in life.
+
+Reflecting the trend elsewhere in the national life, the Armed
+Services are equipped to give their forces the advantage of career
+management principles, and to assist their men to plan their
+professional careers. The opportunities and the job qualifications can
+be described. Also, somewhat more thoroughly than is done in civil
+life, the establishment's system of record-keeping throws a partial
+light on the aptitudes of the individual. The qualified man is soon
+known by his "spec number" or maybe two numbers. It might seem
+therefore that things are so well-regulated that the prospect of
+every man finding his niche is better than even.
+
+The fact remains that the majority of individuals spend the greater
+part of their lives doing something other than that which would bring
+out their best quality and give them the greatest satisfaction, mainly
+because accident, in one form or another, put them into a particular
+channel, and inertia kept them there.
+
+A boy builds model airplanes. His hobby being a force in his youthful
+years, he becomes a pilot, and then discovers to his shocked amazement
+that he does not have his heart in machines but in the management of
+men. A man who has lived his life among guns, and who enjoys the feel
+and the working of them, enters the service and permits himself to be
+made a food procurement specialist, having run that kind of business
+in civil life only because he had inherited it from his father. An
+officer assigned to a weapons detail finds it hard going. And the fact
+that he takes a delight in writing a good paper still does not signal
+to him that this is his main field and he should exploit it to the
+fullest!
+
+To what do these things point? In particular, to this, that despite
+all of the help which may be provided by outside agencies, finding the
+straight thoroughfare in work is mainly a problem of searching
+self-examination and personal decision. The impression which any other
+person may have of our talents and possibilities is largely formed by
+what we say, think and feel about ourselves.
+
+This does not require that constant introspection which is found in
+Cecil Forester's nervous hero, "Captain Horatio Hornblower." That man
+doubtless would have died of stomach ulcers before winning his second
+stripe. It is not a matter of, "How do I look to someone else?" but
+of, "What do I know about myself?" The kind of work which one likes
+best and does with the greatest facility, the avocational study which
+is pursued because it provides greater delight than an encharged
+responsibility, the talent which one had as a youth but was dropped
+because of the press of making a living, the task which looks alluring
+though one has lacked either the chance, or the courage, to try a
+hand at it--these are among the more fertile points of inquiry.
+
+Weighing it out, the service officer has an unrivaled opportunity for
+fruitful experiment.
+
+In the first place, he has made the fundamental decision to serve his
+country in the profession of arms. The meaning of that decision should
+not be lost on him. It is by nature patriotic. But if he regards his
+inheritance simply as a snug berth and the best way to provide "three
+squares" to himself and family throughout a lifetime, he is neither
+soundly patriotic nor intelligently selfish.
+
+After signing on the line for his country, the individual's duty to
+himself is to strive by every honorable means to move ahead of his
+competition by growing more knowledgeable and better qualified. _It is
+the inherent right of every officer to request such service as he
+believes will further his advancement_, and far from discouraging the
+ambitious man, higher authority will invariably try to favor him. In
+no other mode of life are older men so ready to encourage the willing
+junior.
+
+Gen. H. H. Arnold, the great air leader of World War II, is an
+inspiring case study with respect to several of these points. He wrote
+in "Global Mission" how he considered quitting the Army in disgust
+upon being commissioned in infantry, following graduation, so deeply
+was his heart set upon service in cavalry. But something held him to
+the assignment. Some years later he tried to transfer to ordnance
+because the prospect for advancement looked better. While still
+ruminating on this change, he was offered a detail to the newly
+forming aviation section of the signal corps, and took it, not because
+he had a clear vision of the future, but because it looked like a
+chance to get ahead. Thus, almost inadvertently, he met the
+opportunity of which came his world fame.
+
+This emphasizes another peculiar advantage belonging to the young
+officer who is trying to orient himself toward the line of greatest
+opportunity. In civil life, the man who flits from job to job is soon
+regarded as a drifter and unstable. In the military establishment an
+ability to adjust from job to job and to achieve greater all-around
+qualification by making a successful record in a diversified
+experience becomes a major asset in a career. Generalship, in its real
+sense, requires a wider knowledge of human affairs, supported by
+specialized knowledge of professional techniques, than any other great
+responsibility. Those who get to the top have to be many-sided men,
+with skill in the control and guidance of a multifarious variety of
+activities. Therefore even the young specialist, who has his eyes on a
+narrow track because his talents seem to lie in that direction, is
+well advised to raise his sights and extend his interest to the far
+horizons of the profession, even while directing the greater part of
+his force to a particular field.
+
+After all, variety is the spice of life, as well as a high road toward
+perfection. Of Princeton's 1932 class, 161, or 59 percent, were in the
+armed services during World War II. Questioned after the war 70
+percent of the total number replied that military service was
+interesting, broadening, and profitable. But the main point was that
+they said in overwhelming number that its great lure was that _they
+were doing something new_. They liked it because it gave them a
+legitimate excuse to quit their jobs and attempt something different.
+In the services, a man may give vent to this natural desire without
+impairing his record, and if he is young and not at all certain what
+is his favorite dish, the more he broadens his experience, the more
+likely it becomes that he will sharpen his view of his own
+capabilities.
+
+The possible hard consequence of looking at service opportunity
+through any one lens is epitomized in one paragraph of a
+reclassification proceedings on an officer relieved during World War
+II while serving as assistant division commander:
+
+    "Through no fault of his own, General Blank has never served with
+    troops since he was a captain during World War I. He has been
+    unable to keep pace with the problems of a commander on the
+    battlefield of today. He is unqualified for command of troops due
+    to lack of practical experience."
+
+It is hard to imagine a more dismal ending for a career than that of
+the man who aspires to rank, without having any honest concept of its
+proportionate moral responsibilities, particularly when the lives of
+others are at stake.
+
+So when we say that "career planning" is a springboard to personal
+success within the military establishment, it is not with the narrow
+meaning that any officer should proceed to limit his field of
+interest, decide quickly and arbitrarily where he will put his plow
+and run his furrow, and then sit down and plot a schedule of how he
+proposes to mount the success ladder rung by rung. That might suit a
+plumber, or tickle the fancy of an interior decorator, but it will not
+conserve the strength of the officer corps. Its consequence would be
+to stereotype the thinking faculties of a professional whose inner
+power flows from the questing imagination, eager curiosity and
+versatility of its individuals. Intense specialization, to the
+exclusion of all peripheral areas of knowledge, warps the mind and
+limits the useful action and influence of its owner. Dr. Vannevar Bush
+was a greater scientist on the day he made his decision to explore the
+sphere of military knowledge, and greater still when he applied
+himself to literature.
+
+There are few men of great talent who initially have an unswerving
+inner conviction that they possess the final answer, as to themselves.
+They may feel reasonably sure about what they would like to do, though
+still reserving an honest doubt about the validity of their instincts
+and of their power to compete. Even long and successful experience
+does not always allay this doubt. Said Washington, on being appointed
+Commander-in-Chief: "I beg it may be remembered by every man in this
+room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think
+myself equal to the command I am honored with." Assurance, or by its
+other name, self-confidence, is only a continuing willingness to keep
+coming back and trying, without fear of coming a cropper, but with a
+care to the constant strengthening of one's own resources. The motto
+of Admiral Robert E. Peary: "I will find a way or make one," is not
+over-bold; any officer can afford to paste the words inside his own
+hat. But in the hard game with which Peary's fame is forever linked,
+there were countless errors, an occasional hit, and at last a run.
+
+The health and progressive spirit of the services come of the
+many-sided officer who can make not one career for himself but three
+or four. Had officers from all services been unwilling to go into the
+industrial workshops and scientific laboratories of the Nation to try
+their hands at wholly new lines of work, had successful cavalrymen
+been unable to evolve as leaders of armored forces, had ship captains
+and ensigns disdained taking to the air, had foot soldiers refused the
+risks of parachuting and naval officers not participated as observers
+with the infantry line to further SFC (ship fire control) we would
+have run out of wind before winning World War II.
+
+Some months after the war ended, the Secretary of the Navy,
+recognizing the dilemma which confronted thousands of men who were
+asking whether the wave of the future would be to the specialist or to
+the all-around man, sent a message which applied not less to the
+officers of every service:
+
+    It is intended that the highest posts will be filled by officers
+    of the highest attainments, regardless of specialty. Be assured,
+    whatever may be your field of endeavor, that your future as an
+    officer rests, as it always has, in your hands. The outstanding
+    officer will continue to be he who attacks with all of his energy
+    and enthusiasm the tasks to which he is assigned and who grows in
+    stature and understanding with his years and with his experience.
+    Responsibility comes to him who seeks responsibility. It is this
+    officer, regardless of his field of effort, who will be called to
+    high command.
+
+There is not a chief of service who would shade the general tone of
+this paragraph if asked to put before his own officers the one rule
+which, most closely followed, would most surely bring success. Nothing
+need be added to it and nothing should be taken away; it states the
+case.
+
+At the same time, and as the message itself implies, specialization,
+like sex and the automobile, is here to stay. In the service,
+perforce, even the balanced, all-around man has his specialty. In the
+beginning, true enough, he may aspire only to being a soldier, marine,
+sailor or airman. That is good enough in the cocoon stage. But
+ultimately he emerges with the definite coloring of a ground fighter,
+a gunner, an engineer officer, a signals man, a submariner, a weapons
+man, a navigator, an observer, a transport officer or something else.
+If his tact, bearing and quick pick-up suggest to his superiors that
+he may be good staff material, and he takes that route, there are
+again branch lines, leading out in roughly parallel directions, and
+embracing activities in the fields of personnel, intelligence,
+operations, supply and military government. And each one of these main
+stems has smaller branches, greatly diversified. The man with a love
+for logistics (and few have it) might some day find himself running
+railroads or managing a port. The engineer could become a salvage
+officer working a crew of deep sea divers, or as easily a demolitions
+expert running a company of dynamiters. The expert in communications?
+His next task might be setting up a radio station near the North Pole
+or helping perfect radio control of troops over a 50-mile area.
+
+It is in these things that the privilege of free choice arises, for
+despite the popular theory that in the services you take what you are
+given and like it, the placement of officers according to their main
+aptitudes and desires is a controlling principle of personnel policy.
+It is recognized throughout the military establishment that, in
+general, men will do their best service in that field where they think
+their natural talents are being most usefully employed.
+
+Among the combat line commanders in World War II there were doctors,
+dentists and even a few ministers. They could have had places in their
+regular corps, but they were permitted to continue with the duty of
+their own choice.
+
+Concerning the main problem of the officer, in fitting himself for
+higher command, the controlling principle is well expressed in the
+words of a distinguished educator, Wallace B. Donham: "The hope of the
+wisdom essential to the general direction of men's affairs lies not so
+much in wealth of specialized knowledge as in the habits and skills
+required to handle problems involving very diverse viewpoints which
+must be related to new concrete situations. Wisdom is based on broad
+understanding in perspective. It is common sense on a large canvas. It
+is never the product of scientific, technological, or other
+specializations, though men so trained may, of course, acquire it."
+
+This puts just the right light on the subject. The military officer
+specializes strictly to qualify himself more highly in his main
+calling--the management of men in the practice of arms. Becoming a
+specialist does not _ipso facto_ make him a better officer, or win him
+preferment. It is part of the mechanism, though not the main wheel. As
+Admiral Forrest P. Sherman has so well said: "We are not pushed
+willy-nilly into specialization; there is never an excess of the
+all-around, highly competent combat officer."
+
+Concerning his choice, all general advice is gratuitous. Whatever
+might be written here would be worth far less than the counsel or
+suggestion of any superior, or for that matter, a colleague, who has
+observed his work closely over a long period, who has some critical
+faculty, and whose good will is beyond question.
+
+Particularly, the _voluntary_ advice of such a person is worth notice.
+That which is spontaneous usually has shrewd reason behind it. When
+counsel is deliberately sought, it may catch the consultant unaware,
+and in lieu of saying that which is well-considered, he may offer a
+half-baked opinion, rather than be disappointing. But when another
+person having one's trust, says: "Your natural line is to do
+thus-and-so," it is time to ask him why, and check his reasoning with
+one's own. Worth just as much earnest consideration is his negative
+opinion, his strong feeling that what one is about to undertake is not
+particularly suitable.
+
+As for the man himself, it remains to survey thoughtfully the whole
+range of possibilities, to keep the mind open and receptive to
+impressions, to experiment but take firm hold in so doing, to tackle
+each new task with as much enthusiasm as if it were to be his life
+work, to ask for difficult assignments rather than soft snaps and to
+be calmly deliberate, rather than rashly hasteful, in appraising his
+own capabilities.
+
+Self-study is a lifetime job. A great many engineers didn't realize
+that they were born to make nuclear fission possible until there was
+a three-way wedding between science, industry and the military in
+1940. Many officers who have had a late blooming as experts in the
+field of electronics and supersonic speeds had lived out successful
+careers before these subjects first saw daylight.
+
+As Elbert Hubbard said of it, the only way to get away from
+opportunity is to lie down and die.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE
+
+RANK AND PRECEDENCE
+
+
+The regulations that govern precedence among officers of the same
+service and among the services in relation to each other have a very
+real utility not only in determining succession to command and as
+reminders of the authority to which all persons in the Armed Services
+are subject but in providing precedent for all official or ceremonial
+occasions in which officers or organizations of the several services
+may find themselves cooperating. It is easy to imagine the confusion
+that would result without such rules, especially if a junior commander
+of a senior service had to defend the right of his organization to
+occupy the place of honor ahead of a very senior commander with a
+detachment from a junior service. These regulations are also the
+arbiter in disputes arising between officers of equal rank who aspire
+to command of the same unit.
+
+The legislation which separated the Air Force from the Army again
+raised the question of precedence in parades and ceremonies. Since the
+Air Force is the junior service, as to date of recognition, the change
+indicated the following parade order: (Reference, _Federal Register_,
+Volume 14, Number 160, August 19, 1949, page 5203)
+
+    1. Cadets, United States Military Academy.
+
+    2. Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy.
+
+    3. Cadets, United States Coast Guard Academy.
+
+    4. United States Army.
+
+    5. United States Marines.
+
+    6. United States Navy.
+
+    7. United States Air Force.
+
+    8. United States Coast Guard.
+
+    9. National Guard of the United States.
+
+    10. Organized Reserve Corps of the Army.
+
+    11. Marine Corps Reserve.
+
+    12. Naval Reserve.
+
+    13. Air Force National Guard of the United States.
+
+    14. United States Air Force Reserve.
+
+    15. Coast Guard Reserve.
+
+    16. Other training organizations of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy,
+    Air Force, and Coast Guard, in that order, respectively.
+
+During any period when the United States Coast Guard shall operate as
+a part of the United States Navy, the Cadets, United States Coast
+Guard Academy, the United States Coast Guard, and the Coast Guard
+Reserve, shall take precedence, respectively, next after the
+Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy, the United States Navy, and
+the Naval Reserve.
+
+In any ceremony in which any or all of these components act together,
+the table of precedence in appropriate regulations determines their
+location in the column.
+
+The ranks and insignia in the Armed Services have been substantially
+the same since 1883. During World War II there were newly established
+the five star ranks of general of the army and fleet admiral. After
+the first World War the rank of general-of-the-armies was created to
+honor General Pershing, who was permitted to choose the number of
+stars he would wear. He chose four. After the Spanish-American War the
+rank of admiral-of-the-navy was established for Admiral Dewey. No one
+has held this rank since.
+
+On November 15, 1776, Congress established the ranks of admiral,
+vice-admiral, rear admiral and commodore corresponding to general,
+lieutenant general, major general, and brigadier general. It also
+established three grades of naval captains--captain of a 40-gun ship
+and upward to rank with colonel, captain of a 20 to 40-gun ship to
+rank with lieutenant colonel, captain of a 10 to 20-gun ship to rank
+with major, and lieutenant to rank with captain in the Army.
+
+Although the top naval ranks were provided, the only two officers ever
+to attain a higher rank than captain prior to 1862 were Ezekiel
+Hopkins, whom Congress on December 22, 1775, commissioned with the
+rank of _C-in-C of the Fleet_, and Charles Stewart who was
+commissioned _Senior Flag Officer_ by Congress in 1859. Hopkins and
+Stewart were called "commodore" as was any other captain who commanded
+more than one ship.
+
+During our War of Independence, the Army had the rank of ensign and
+the Navy did not. The several Army ranks were then distinguishable by
+the color of the cockade, green for lieutenant, buff for captain, and
+pink or red for a field officer. As early as 1780 major generals wore
+two stars on their epaulettes and brigadier generals one. During our
+quasi-war with France, toward the end of the eighteenth century,
+Washington was commissioned lieutenant general, our first, and three
+stars were prescribed to be worn by him.
+
+In the Army Register for 1813 the rank of ensign had disappeared but
+there were third lieutenants (as in the Soviet Army today) and
+coronets. In 1832 the eagle was adopted as the insignia of colonel in
+the Army and in 1857 the lieutenant colonel, captain, and first
+lieutenant wore the same insignia as today. These insignia were
+adopted some time in the interval between 1847 and 1857. The gold bar,
+insigne of the second lieutenant, was authorized just prior to World
+War I.
+
+The Navy has used the same shoulder insignia as the Army since the
+Civil War. However, shoulder insignia on blues were discontinued by
+the Navy in 1911 but the insignia were still prescribed on epaulettes.
+The Navy adopted the eagle for captain in 1852, twenty years after it
+had been approved by the Army for colonels.
+
+In the first half of the last century the Navy List contained officers
+of four grades only. A captain wore three stripes, a master
+commandant, two (master commandant, established in 1806, was changed
+to commander in 1837;) and a lieutenant, one. A master had no stripe
+but three buttons instead. There were midshipmen too, but they were
+warrant officers and _aspirants_ for commissioned rank as the present
+French term designates them.
+
+Our first full general was U. S. Grant and our first full admiral,
+David D. Porter; both won their rank in the Civil War. In that war
+there was a large increase in the Navy and more naval ranks were
+established. In 1862 ensign was provided in the Navy to correspond to
+second lieutenant; and the term lieutenant commanding became
+lieutenant commander. An ensign wore one stripe as now; an additional
+stripe was added for each rank till the rear admiral had eight. Since
+1869 the senior officers have worn the same stripes as now prescribed.
+In 1883 the rank "master" was changed to lieutenant, junior grade.
+
+The rank of commodore, which had been abolished, was temporarily
+revived during World War II. The rank of passed-midshipman was
+abolished about 1910; thereafter graduates of the Naval Academy were
+commissioned ensign. The rank of ensign had previously been attained
+by passed-midshipmen after 2 years at sea and a successful examination
+at the end of that cruise. The only permanent change in recent years
+was the addition of aviation cadet to both the Air Force and Navy
+listings. The warrant rank of flight officer in the Air Force, which
+was created during the war, has now been abandoned, all the flight
+officers then holding warrants either being commissioned second
+lieutenants or separated. The naval rank of commodore was likewise
+dropped, and brigadier generals of the Army and Air Force now rank
+with admirals of the lower half.
+
+The following are the present corresponding ranks in the Armed
+Services:
+
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+        NAVY     |   MARINE    |    ARMY     |  AIR FORCE  |    COAST
+                 |   CORPS     |             |             |    GUARD
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Fleet Admiral|             |General of   |General of   |
+                 |             |the Army     |the Air      |
+                 |             |             |Force        |
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Admiral      |General      |General      |General      |Admiral
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Vice Admiral |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |Vice Admiral
+                 |General      |General      |General      |
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Rear Admiral |Major        |Major        |Major        |Rear Admiral
+    (upper half) |General      |General      |General      |(upper half)
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Rear Admiral |Brigadier    |Brigadier    |Brigadier    |Rear Admiral
+    (lower half) |General      |General      |General      |(lower half)
+    and          |             |             |             |and
+    Commodore    |             |             |             |Commodore
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Captain      |Colonel      |Colonel      |Colonel      |Captain
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Commander    |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |Commander
+                 |Colonel      |Colonel      |Colonel      |
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Lieutenant   |Major        |Major        |Major        |Lieutenant
+    Commander    |             |             |             |Commander
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Lieutenant   |Captain      |Captain      |Captain      |Lieutenant
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Lieutenant   |First        |First        |First        |Lieutenant
+    (Junior      |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |(Junior
+    Grade)       |             |             |             |Grade)
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Ensign       |Second       |Second       |Second       |Ensign
+                 |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |Lieutenant   |
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Commissioned |Commissioned |Chief Warrant|Chief Warrant|Commissioned
+    Warrant      |Warrant      |Officer      |Officer      |Warrant
+    Officer      |Officer      |             |             |Officer
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Midshipman   |             |Cadet        |Cadet        |Cadet
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Warrant      |Warrant      |Warrant      |Warrant      |Warrant
+    Officer      |Officer      |Officer      |Officer      |Officer
+                 |             |Junior Grade |Junior Grade |
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    Aviation     |             |             |Aviation     |
+    Cadet        |             |             |Cadet        |
+    -------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+
+Officers of all the fighting service, whether regular or reserve, take
+precedence among themselves according to their dates of rank. Officers
+take command in their respective services in accordance with their
+dates of rank in the line, the senior, unless otherwise ordered,
+taking command, whether regular or reserve. The command of a task
+force or group composed of commands from two or more services devolves
+upon the senior commanding officer present in the force or group
+unless otherwise designated by the appropriate common senior, acting
+for the President.
+
+The obvious exceptions to this are that officers outside the line
+(that is, commissioned in specialized branches or corps) cannot
+command line organizations. They may, however, in the Army and Air
+Force, command organizations within the structure of their own corps.
+Non-rated officers in the Air Force and Navy are not eligible to
+command tactical flying units. As a specialized case of command, the
+assigned first pilot and airplane commander of any aircraft continues
+in command even though a pilot senior in rank may be aboard.
+
+Retired officers of the Army rank at the foot of active officers of
+the same grade; those of the Navy according to date of rank.
+
+Changing personnel policies have been reflected by frequent revisions
+of the scale and grade given noncommissioned leadership. This subject
+should therefore be checked against current regulations. But as a
+rough guide, the following can be taken as the corresponding
+noncommissioned grades and rates in the services:
+
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    PAY  |     NAVY AND     |    ARMY     |     AIR     |    MARINE
+    GRADE|   COAST GUARD    |             |    FORCE    |    CORPS
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-7  |Chief Petty       |Master       |Master       |Master
+         |Officer           |Sergeant     |Sergeant     |Sergeant
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-6  |Petty Officer     |Sergeant     |Technical    |Technical
+         |First Class       |First Class  |Sergeant     |Sergeant
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-5  |Petty Officer     |Sergeant     |Staff        |Staff
+         |Second Class      |             |Sergeant     |Sergeant
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-4  |Petty Officer     |Corporal     |Sergeant     |Sergeant
+         |Third Class       |             |             |
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-3  |[A]Airman         |Private      |Corporal     |Corporal
+         |[A]Constructionman|First Class  |             |
+         |[A]Dentalman      |             |             |
+         |Fireman           |             |             |
+         |Hospitalman       |             |             |
+         |Seaman            |             |             |
+         |Stewardsman       |             |             |
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-2  |Apprentice        |Private      |Private      |Private
+         |                  |             |First Class  |First Class
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+    E-1  |Recruit           |Recruit      |Private      |Private
+    -----+------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
+
+    [A] Does not apply to Coast Guard.
+
+Enlisted insignia of rank are of cloth, sewn on the sleeve of the
+outer garment. Army chevrons are worn on both sleeves with the point
+up, and special devices may be incorporated within the chevron to
+indicate specialties. Chevrons for combat soldiers are blue on a gold
+background, and all others are gold on a blue background. Naval
+chevrons are worn point down. Air Force chevrons have no point, but
+are a compound reverse curve with the deepest part of the curve worn
+down; over this is imposed a star within a circle. Marine Corps
+chevrons are worn on both sleeves with the point up and are gold on a
+crimson background for the dress blue uniform, green on a red
+background for the forest green uniform, green on a khaki background
+for the khaki uniform, and for combat uniforms the chevrons are
+stenciled on the sleeves in black ink.
+
+[Illustration: ARMY AND MARINE CORPS]
+
+[Illustration: NAVY AND COAST GUARD]
+
+[Illustration: AIR FORCE]
+
+All military and naval personnel are addressed in official
+correspondence by their full titles. Off duty in conversations and in
+unofficial correspondence, officers are addressed as follows:
+
+    ARMY, AIR FORCE, MARINE CORPS
+
+    All general officers                 General
+
+    Colonels and Lt. Colonels            Colonel
+
+    Majors                               Major
+
+    Captains                             Captain
+
+    Lieutenants                          Mister or Lieutenant
+
+    Lieutenants in Medical Corps         Doctor or Lieutenant
+
+    All Chaplains                        Chaplain
+
+    Army nurses                          Nurse
+
+    Cadets
+
+      (Official address)                 Cadet
+
+      (Unofficial address)               Mister
+
+    Warrant Officers                     Mister
+
+    All sergeants                        Sergeant
+
+    Corporals                            Corporal
+
+    Privates and Privates, First Class   Private Jones or Jones
+      When the name is not known, an Army private may be addressed as
+      "Soldier," and in the Marine Corps the term, "Marine," is proper
+      in such a case.
+
+    NAVY, COAST GUARD
+
+    All Admirals                         Admiral
+
+    Commodores                           Commodore
+
+    Captains                             Captain
+
+    Commanders                           Commander
+
+    Lieutenant Commanders, lieutenants,
+    ensigns and midshipmen               Mister
+
+    All Chaplains                        Chaplain
+
+    All medical officers (to commander)  Doctor
+
+Except when in the presence of troops, senior officers frequently
+address juniors as "Smith" or "Jones" but this does not give the
+junior the privilege of addressing the senior in any other way than
+his proper title. By the same token, officers of the same grade
+generally address one another by their first or last names depending
+on the degree of intimacy. The courtesy and respect for others which
+govern the conduct of gentlemen are expected to prevail at all times.
+
+Enlisted men are commonly addressed by their last names. Except in
+cases where the officer has a blood relationship or a preservice
+friendship with an enlisted man, the occasions on which an enlisted
+man can properly be called by his first name are extremely rare.
+Speaking face to face, it is proper to use either the last name,
+alone, or the title of rank, or the last name and any accepted
+abbreviation of the title. In calling First Sergeant Brown from among
+a group, it would be acceptable to call for "Brown" but better still
+"Sergeant Brown." In the Navy, the common practice in addressing Chief
+Pharmacists Mate Gale, for instance, would be either "Gale" or
+"Chief." On formal occasions, as in calling a senior enlisted man
+front and center at a formation, the full military title would be
+used: "Chief Bo's'ns Mate Gale and Master Sergeant Brown, front and
+center." The longer form of address would also be proper in directing
+a third party to report to Master Sergeant White.
+
+A painstaking observation of the courtesies due to ranks of other
+services is more than a sign of good manners; it indicates a
+recognition of the interdependence of the services upon one another.
+Failure to observe or to recognize the tables of precedence officially
+agreed upon among the services is both stupid and rude. Any future war
+will see joint operations on a scale never before achieved, and its
+success will be dependent in large part upon the cooperation of all
+ranks in all services. Likewise, in combined operations, the alert
+officer will take it upon himself to learn and respect the insignia,
+relative ranks, and customs of his Allies. By exerting himself in the
+recognition of other ranks, by exacting adherence to the official
+tables of precedence, he contributes not only to his own stature as a
+professional soldier, sailor, marine or airman, but adds to the
+reputation of his service.
+
+In the main requirements, military courtesy varies but little from
+nation to nation. During service abroad, an American officer will
+salute the commissioned officers and pay respects to the anthems and
+colors of friendly nations just as to those of his own country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX
+
+CUSTOMS AND COURTESIES
+
+
+Mutual respect and courtesy are indispensable elements in military
+organization. The junior shows deference to the senior; the senior
+shows consideration for him. The salute is the ancient and universal
+privilege of fighting men. It is a recognition of a common fellowship
+in a proud profession. Saluting is an expression of courtesy,
+alertness, and discipline. The senior is as obliged to return it as
+the junior is to initiate it. In fact, in the Army particularly, it is
+not unusual to see the senior salute first. Interservice salutes
+should be exchanged as punctiliously as between members of a single
+service, for both services stand to gain or lose by the manner in
+which this act is performed.
+
+The general rules governing saluting are based on common sense, good
+manners, and the customs of the times. For instance, soldiers actively
+engaged in sports are not required to salute, nor is any man leading a
+horse, since the sudden motion so near the horse's head might make it
+restive. There will always be occasions when it is inconvenient,
+impractical, or illogical to render or require the return of a salute.
+The intent of the regulation is not that it embarrass or demean the
+individual, but that it serve as a signal of recognition and greeting
+between members of the military brotherhood. According to regulations,
+in all services, the salute is initiated by the junior, and at any
+convenient distance that insures recognition, the least being about
+six paces. The form of the salute is the same in the Army, Navy and
+Air Force, and it is given either from the position of attention or at
+a walk. It is not given indoors except when reporting to another
+officer in an official capacity. In the Navy, it is customary for the
+junior initiating a salute to combine it with "Good morning, Sir," as
+a means of reinforcing its meaning as a greeting. Where this is done
+in the other two services, it is usually the result of a local
+directive expressing the wish of a particular commander. While it is
+expected that the junior will initiate such a greeting, there is no
+obligation upon him to do so, nor is there any reason that the senior
+may not say it first.
+
+The Navy and Air Force require that the junior, when engaged in work
+that brings him in reasonably frequent contact with the same seniors
+during the course of the working day, salute each senior officer the
+first time that he is passed during the day, but not subsequently
+unless a change in circumstances requires it. In the Air Force an
+enlisted mechanic working on the line would salute the engineering
+officer and his assistants the first time he recognized them during
+the day. If he passed one of the same officers later in the day, for
+example in front of the post exchange, he would salute again. The Army
+requires that a salute be given and returned each time the junior
+passes the senior, unless circumstances dictate that it be temporarily
+suspended by common agreement. The Commanding Officer of a naval
+vessel is saluted whenever met.
+
+Salutes are not mandatory on the driver of a vehicle, whether moving
+or idling at the curb, for the reason that the operator is presumed to
+need both hands for driving. Salutes are not exchanged between moving
+vehicles, between moving and halted vehicles, or between persons
+walking and persons riding in official cars except when it is obvious
+that the passenger is a senior, or when it is required as part of a
+ceremony. Official vehicles carrying general officers or flag officers
+will be clearly marked outside, and will be saluted. A salute is
+exchanged between persons in a parked vehicle and persons walking,
+unless the car is a bus or taxi. When two boats pass each other, the
+senior officer in each boat salutes without rising.
+
+Aside from saluting, there are certain other customs that govern
+conduct around official vehicles. Since the place of honor is on the
+right, the junior not only walks on the left, but rides there as well.
+In entering a car, the junior enters first, followed by other members
+of the party in inverse order of rank, each seating himself so that
+the senior may take position on the right side. In leaving the car,
+the senior debarks first. However, if following this general procedure
+would necessitate any member of the party climbing over another, or
+in any other way cause an awkward situation, the senior may enter
+first and alight last.
+
+The same rules govern for boarding and leaving small boats, except
+that the junior rides forward and the senior aft.
+
+In boarding aircraft with a single hatch, the pilot enters first,
+followed by the copilot and other members of the crew. With the crew
+in place, other passengers enter according to rank, the senior first;
+he takes the seat of his choice if the aircraft is equipped with
+seats. In either transport or tactical aircraft, the senior officers
+generally ride as far forward as possible. In leaving the aircraft,
+the aircrew who handle deplaning normally leave first, followed by
+passengers in order of seniority.
+
+The long association of the Air Force with the Army precludes any
+large body of custom and tradition that can be called peculiarly Air
+Force in origin or usage. In time undoubtedly a considerable body of
+distinctive official and social courtesies will grow, but at present
+most of the official and unofficial usages given here for the Army are
+understood to be applicable to the Air Force as well, and will be so
+treated.
+
+The hand salute is required on all military installations and in
+occupied territories, whether on or off duty; in all official greeting
+in the line of duty both on and off the base; for ceremonial
+occasions; and in honoring the National Anthem, or color, or
+distinguished persons.
+
+Since most military posts or bases are guarded on a twenty-four hour
+basis, the first official contact will be with the guard on the main
+gate. He may be a soldier or airman selected by roster and under the
+temporary control of the Officer of the Day, a Military Policeman
+wearing an MP brassard and under the command of the Provost Marshal,
+or a civilian guard either under the Provost or some other special
+staff agency of the Post or Base Commander. On the ordinary post or
+base, officers of other services will be admitted if wearing uniform,
+even when accompanied by civilian dependents. If the stay is of short
+duration, a "visitors" tag on the car may be sufficient; in other
+cases it may be necessary to secure a temporary pass from the Provost.
+
+Except for civilian guards, who do not salute, and who will be
+readily identified in their police uniforms, the guard, if armed with
+a pistol or carbine will give a hand salute. During the hours for
+challenging (usually extending from a short time before darkness until
+after reveille the next morning) sentries on an Army post may require
+any officer to halt, give his rank and name, and advance for
+recognition. The challenging sentry stands at "raise pistol" or "port
+arms" until the challenged party has been recognized, after which he
+simply returns his weapon to the normal carrying position; if armed
+with a rifle, he executes "present arms" and holds it until the salute
+is returned.
+
+On any post or base, the adjutant usually acts for the commanding
+officer in greeting the visitor and directing him to the various
+facilities of the base, although if the visit is to be of short
+duration--say, just for the purpose of seeing a friend--it would be
+impertinent to bother him. But if the visiting officer is reporting
+for temporary duty, or if he will be living in the immediate vicinity
+for some time on special detail and desires the use of post
+facilities, he is required to report to the adjutant.
+
+Most posts and bases have not only a bachelor officers quarters, more
+popularly known by the abbreviation BOQ, where the visitor may obtain
+lodging, but also a Hostess House where the officer may stay with his
+dependents. These accommodations are usually under the supervision of
+the Billeting Officer, who makes the assignments and charges a nominal
+fee for the services provided. Other facilities that the visitor may
+use include the Officer's Club and dining room, the Post Exchange
+(corresponding to Navy Exchanges), and the post theater. Under certain
+conditions the visitor may secure permission from the adjutant or
+executive to make purchases at the Commissary, which deals in
+foodstuffs and other perishables.
+
+Special dinners are served to the enlisted men on Christmas,
+Thanksgiving, July 4, New Year's Day and sometimes on February 22. The
+company commander and lieutenants of the company accompanied by their
+wives and families and other guests visit the dining room and kitchen
+just before Christmas dinner is served, often remaining for dinner as
+guests of the organization. In some companies the soldiers are
+permitted to invite their wives and other ladies to dinner. In some
+commands, the post commander accompanied by his staff and some of the
+ladies of the garrison visit all the dining rooms and kitchens just
+previous to dinner hour.
+
+A newly arrived officer on a post and the adult members of his family
+are usually invited to be in the receiving line at the first
+regimental function after their arrival.
+
+If you arrive at a post at which you expect to remain longer than 24
+hours you should check with the post adjutant for rules on calling.
+The adjutant will also give the normal calling hours in effect at the
+post or station. You are usually expected to call on the post
+commander. If assigned to duty there, you would normally call on all
+of your intermediate commanders at their offices. These calls should
+be made immediately after the call on the post commander. If unable to
+wear uniform, an explanation should be made for appearing in civilian
+clothes.
+
+When it is in keeping with local rules, as verified by the adjutant,
+you should follow the official visit by a social call on the post and
+intermediate commanders at their residence within 72 hours after your
+arrival. If the commander is married and his wife is present on the
+post, it is customary for you to make the visit accompanied by your
+wife. These calls should be formal and ordinarily last no longer than
+fifteen minutes.
+
+You need not make other calls until the officers of the battalion,
+regiment or garrison have called on you except that as junior officer
+you should make the first call on field officers of your organization.
+
+It is customary for all officers of a unit or garrison to call upon
+the commanding officer on New Year's Day. (Again the commanding
+officer's desire in this matter can be asked of his aide or adjutant.)
+
+The visitor at the average Army and Air Force post will probably see
+few ceremonies other than retreat. This ceremony, which closes the
+official day, may be accompanied either by appropriate bugle calls, or
+by a parade with a military band. In the former case, the music will
+sound _To the Color_, and in the latter, the _National Anthem_, while
+the flag is being lowered. Retreat is held daily at a fixed time,
+usually about 1700 hours. Posts with saluting cannon fire one round at
+the designated hour. At the first note of either the _National Anthem_
+or _To the Color_, all dismounted persons face toward the color or
+flag and render the prescribed salute from attention; the salute is
+held until the last note of the music has been played. In the event
+the flag cannot be seen and the location of the flag staff is unknown
+to the person saluting, he faces toward the sound of the music.
+
+At parades and reviews and on other occasions when uncased colors are
+carried, all military personnel salute at six paces distance and hold
+the salute until the color or standard is the same distance past. When
+personal honors are being rendered to general or flag officers at a
+review, all military personnel present and not in formation salute
+during the ruffles, flourishes, and march. When a cannon salute is
+given, personnel in the immediate vicinity conform to the actions of
+the person being saluted. No salute is required during the 48 gun
+salute to the Nation on the Fourth of July.
+
+Military personnel also salute during the passing of a caisson or
+hearse in a military funeral. If attending the services at the grave
+side either as mourners or as honorary pallbearers, they stand at
+attention with the head-dress over the left breast at any time the
+casket is being moved, and during the service at the grave, including
+the firing of the volleys and the sounding of _Taps_. In cold or
+inclement weather, the head-dress is left on and the hand salute is
+rendered during the movement of the casket, the firing of the volleys,
+and the sound of _Taps_.
+
+On ships having 180 or more men of the seaman branch, the side is
+attended by side boys for visiting officers of our Armed Services,
+except in civilian clothes, and for officers of the Foreign Service
+when they come on board and depart. This courtesy is also extended to
+commissioned officers of the armed services of foreign nations.
+Officers of the rank of lieutenant to major inclusive are given two
+side boys, from lieutenant colonel to colonel four side boys, from
+brigadier to major general six side boys, and lieutenant general and
+above eight side boys. Full guard and band are given to general
+officers, and for a colonel the guard of the day but no music.
+
+During the hours of darkness or low visibility an approaching boat is
+usually hailed "Boat ahoy?" which corresponds to the sentry's
+challenge, "Who goes there?" Some of the answers are as follows:
+
+    ANSWER          MEANING: Senior in boat is:
+
+    "Aye aye"       Commissioned officer
+
+    "No no"         Warrant officer
+
+    "Hello"         Enlisted man
+
+    "Enterprise"    CO of U.S.S. Enterprise
+
+    "Third Fleet"   Admiral commanding Third Fleet
+
+Similarly if the CO of the 13th Infantry is embarked or the CO of
+Fortress Monroe, the answers would be "13th Infantry" or "Fort
+Monroe."
+
+On arrival, at the order, "Tend the side" the side boys fall in fore
+and aft of the approach to the gangway, facing each other. The
+boatswain's mate-of-the-watch takes station forward of them and faces
+aft. When the boat comes alongside the boatswain's mate pipes, and
+again when the visiting officer's head reaches the level of the deck.
+At this moment the side boys salute.
+
+On departure, the ceremony is repeated in reverse, the bo's'ns mate
+begins to pipe and the side boys salute as soon as the departing
+officer steps toward the gangway between the side boys. As the boat
+casts off the bo's'ns mate pipes again. (Shore boats and automobiles
+are not piped.)
+
+You uncover when entering a space where men are at mess and in Sick
+Bay (Quarters) if sick men are present. You uncover in the wardroom at
+all times if you are junior. All hands except when under arms uncover
+in the captain's cabin and country.
+
+You should not overtake a senior except in emergency. In the latter
+case slow, salute, and say, "By your leave, sir."
+
+Admirals and captains when in uniform fly colors astern when embarked
+in boats. When on official visits they also display their personal
+flags (pennants for commanding officers) in the bow. Flag officers'
+barges are distinguished by the appropriate number of stars on each
+side of the barge's hull. Captains' gigs are distinguished by the name
+or abbreviation of their ships surcharged by an arrow.
+
+Where gangways are rigged on both sides, the starboard gangway is
+reserved for officers and the port for enlisted men. Stress of weather
+or expedience (in the discretion of the officer of the deck or OOD)
+may make either gangway available to both officers and men.
+
+Seniors come on board ship first. When reaching the deck you face
+toward the colors (or aft if no colors are hoisted) and salute the
+colors (quarterdeck). Immediately thereafter you salute the OOD and
+request permission to come on board. The usual form is, "Request
+permission to come aboard, sir." The OOD is required to return both
+salutes.
+
+On leaving the ship the inverse order is observed. You salute the OOD
+and request permission to leave the ship. The OOD will indicate when
+the boat is ready (if a boat is used). Each person, juniors first,
+salutes the OOD; then faces toward the colors, salutes and embarks.
+
+The OOD on board ship represents the captain and as such has
+unquestioned authority. Only the executive and commanding officer may
+order him relieved. The authority of the OOD extends to the
+accommodation ladders or gangways. He is perfectly within his rights
+to order any approaching boat to "lay off" and keep clear until in his
+judgment he can receive her alongside.
+
+The OOD normally conveys orders to the embarked troops via the Troop
+Commander but in emergencies he may issue orders direct to you or any
+person on board.
+
+The _bridge_ is the "Command Post" of the ship when underway, as the
+quarterdeck is at anchor. The officer-of-the-deck is in charge of the
+ship as the representative of the captain. Admittance to the bridge
+when underway should be at the captain's invitation or with his
+permission. You may usually obtain permission through the executive
+officer.
+
+The _quarterdeck_ is the seat of authority; as such it is respected.
+The starboard side of the quarterdeck is reserved for the captain (and
+admiral, if a flagship). No person trespasses upon it except when
+necessary in the course of work or official business. All persons
+salute the quarterdeck when entering upon it. When pacing the deck
+with another officer the place of honor is outboard, and when
+reversing direction each turns towards the other. The port side of the
+quarterdeck is reserved for commissioned officers, and the crew has
+all the rest of the weather decks of the ship. However, every part of
+the deck (and the ship) is assigned to a particular division so that
+the crew has ample space. Not unnaturally every division considers it
+has a prior though unwritten right to its own part of the ship. For
+gatherings such as smokers and movies, all divisions have equal
+privileges at the scene of assemblage. Space and chairs are reserved
+for officers and for CPO's, where available, and mess benches are
+brought up for the men. The seniors have the place of honor. When the
+captain (and admiral) arrive those present are called to attention.
+The captain customarily gives "carry on" at once through the executive
+officer or master-at-arms who accompanies him to his seat.
+
+If you take passage on board a naval vessel you will be assigned to
+one of several messes on board ship, the wardroom or junior officer's
+mess. In off-hours, particularly in the evenings, you can foregather
+there for cards, yarns or reading. Generally a percolator is available
+with hot coffee.
+
+The Executive Officer is ex officio the president of the wardroom
+mess. The wardroom officers are the division officers and the heads of
+departments. All officers await the arrival of the Executive Officer
+before being seated at lunch and dinner. If it is necessary for you to
+leave early, ask the head at your table for permission to be excused
+as you would at home. The seating arrangement in the messes is by
+order of seniority.
+
+Naval Officers are required to pay their mess bills in advance. The
+mess treasurer takes care of the receipts and expenditures and the
+management of the mess. The mess chooses him by election every month.
+When assigned to a mess you are an honorary member. Consult the mess
+treasurer as to when he will receive payment for mess bills. Your
+meals are served by stewards who in addition, clean your room, make up
+your bunk, shine your shoes. This is their regular work for which they
+draw the pay of their rating. They are not tipped.
+
+The Cigar Mess is the successor of the old Wine Mess. You may make
+purchases from this mess, for example, of cigarettes, cigars, pipe
+tobacco and candies. The cigar mess treasurer will make out your bill
+at the end of the month or before your detachment. Before you are
+detached be sure that the mess treasurer and the cigar mess treasurer
+have sufficient warning to make out your bills before you leave. Once
+a ship has sailed, long delays usually occur before your remittances
+can overtake it. The unpaid mess bill on board is a more serious
+breach of propriety than the unpaid club bill ashore because of the
+greater inconvenience and delay in settlement.
+
+Passenger officers should call on the captain of the ship. If there
+are many, they should choose a calling committee and consult the
+executive officer as to a convenient time to call. The latter will
+make arrangements with the captain.
+
+Gun salutes in the Navy are the same as in the Army, except that flag
+officers below the rank of fleet admiral or general of the Army are,
+by Navy regulations, given a gun salute upon departure only. By Army
+regulations gun salutes for the same officers are fired only on
+arrival.
+
+The rules governing saluting, whether saluting other individuals or
+paying honor to the color or National Anthem, are the same for the Air
+Force as in the Army, with the minor exceptions already noted. Because
+a most frequent contact between the Air Force and the other services
+comes of the operations of air transport, an officer should know what
+is expected of him when he travels as a passenger in military
+aircraft.
+
+It is assumed that the majority of officers visiting an Air Force base
+will arrive by air at the local military airfield. In addition to the
+Base Operations Officer, who is the commander's staff officer with
+jurisdiction over air traffic arriving and departing, the Airdrome
+Officer is charged with meeting all transient aircraft, determining
+their transportation requirements, and directing them to the various
+base facilities. General officers and admirals will usually be met by
+the Base Commander if practicable. RON (Remaining Over Night) messages
+may be transmitted through Base Operations at the same time the
+arrival notice is filed.
+
+Pilots of transient aircraft carrying classified equipment are
+responsible for the safeguarding of that equipment unless it can be
+removed from the aircraft and stored in an adequately guarded area.
+Under unusual circumstances, it may be possible to arrange for a
+special airplane guard with the base commander.
+
+Passengers from other services, who desire to remain overnight at an
+air force station should make the necessary arrangements with the
+Airdrome Officer, and not attach themselves to the pilot who will be
+busy with his own responsibilities. By the same token, passengers of
+other services who have had a special flight arranged for them should
+make every effort to see that the pilot and crew are offered the same
+accommodations that they themselves are using, unless the particular
+base has adequate transient accommodations.
+
+Passenger vehicles are never allowed on the ramp or flight line unless
+special arrangements have been made with the Base Operations Officer;
+this permission will be granted only under the most unusual
+circumstances.
+
+The assigned first pilot, or the airplane commander, is the final
+authority on the operation of any military aircraft. Passengers,
+regardless of rank, seniority, or service, are subject to the orders
+of the airplane commander, who is held responsible for their adherence
+to regulations governing conduct in and around the aircraft. In the
+event it is impractical for the airplane commander to leave his
+position, orders may be transmitted through the copilot, engineer, or
+flight clerk, and have the same authority as if given by the pilot
+himself.
+
+The order of boarding and alighting from military aircraft--excluding
+the crew--will vary somewhat with the nature of the mission. If a
+special flight is arranged for the transportation of Very Important
+Persons, official inspecting parties, or other high ranking officers
+of any service, the senior member will enter first and take the seat
+of his choice, unless the aircraft is compartmented otherwise. Other
+members of the party will enter in order of rank, and precedence among
+officers of the same rank will be determined among the officers
+themselves. In alighting from the aircraft, the senior member will
+exit first, and the other members of the party will follow either in
+order of rank, or in order of seating, those nearest the hatch
+alighting first. The duties of the crew preclude their acting as
+arbiters in matters of precedence, and order of boarding and alighting
+will be decided among the members of the party.
+
+In routine flights, officers will normally be loaded in order of rank
+without regard for precedence, except that any VIP will be on- and
+off-loaded first; in alighting, officers will leave as they are seated
+from the exit forward--officers seated near the hatch will debark
+first, and so on to those who are seated farthest forward. In the
+event civilian dependents are being carried, or an enlisted man
+accompanied by dependents, they will be loaded after any VIP and
+before the officers, and leave in the same sequence.
+
+Aircraft carrying general or flag officers will usually be marked with
+a detachable metal plate carrying stars appropriate to the highest
+rank aboard, and will be greeted on arrival by the Air Force Base
+Commander, if the destination is an Air Force base. Other aircraft are
+usually met by the Airdrome Officer, who is appointed for one day
+only, and acts as the Base Commander's representative.
+
+Other personnel on active duty, seeking transportation on navigation
+or training missions, should realize that the flight is at the pilot's
+convenience. While the pilot will usually agree to any reasonable
+request, he can not deviate from his approved flight plan simply to
+accommodate a passenger. By the same token, passengers should be
+prompt, observe all pertinent safety regulations, and remain in the
+passengers compartment of the aircraft unless specifically invited to
+the flight deck or pilot's compartment. Under instrument
+conditions--so-called "blind" flying--continuous movement of the
+passengers of the aircraft makes unnecessary work for the pilot in
+maintaining balance, trim, and his assigned altitude. Passengers who
+are abnormally active while in the air are sometimes called--with
+exasperation--"waltzing mice."
+
+Since flights are somewhat dependent on weather, especially when
+carrying passengers, the decision of the pilot to fly or not to fly,
+or to alter his flight plan enroute will not be questioned by the
+passengers of whatever rank or service. Regulations governing the use
+of safety belts; wearing of parachutes; smoking during take-off,
+landing, fuel transfer, or in the vicinity of the aircraft on the
+ground are binding on all classes of passengers.
+
+When airplanes participate in the funeral of an aviator, it is
+customary to fly in a normal tactical formation, less one aircraft, to
+indicate the vacancy formerly occupied by the deceased. The flight
+should be so timed that it appears over the procession while the
+remains are being carried to the grave. Care should be exercised that
+the noise of the flight does not drown out the service at the edge of
+the grave.
+
+Other ceremonies, including Retreat and reviews, are the same for the
+Air Force as for the Army.
+
+By custom; and because it is the natural way of an American, the
+officers of the host service accord more than their average
+hospitality to the individual from any other service who may be
+visiting or doing duty among them. Even the young officer, having this
+experience for the first time, and in consequence feeling a little
+strange about it, is not permitted to feel that way long. He quickly
+finds a second home, provided there is that in his nature which
+responds to friendship.
+
+These amenities, carefully observed at all levels, contribute more
+directly to a spiritual uniting of American fighting forces than all
+of the policies which have been promulgated toward the serving of that
+object.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN
+
+KEEPING YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER
+
+
+In one of Lord Chesterfield's letters to his son there is to be found
+this bit of wisdom: "Dispatch is the soul of business and nothing
+contributes more to dispatch than method. Fix one certain hour and day
+in the week for your accounts, keep them together in their proper
+order, and you can never be much cheated."
+
+Although that is good advice in any man's league, there is just a
+little more reason why the military officer should adopt a system of
+accounting whereby he can keep his record straight, his affairs
+solvent and his situation mobile than if he had remained in civil
+life.
+
+He rarely, if ever, becomes permanently fixed in one location or
+remains tied to one group of individuals who know his credit, his
+ability, his past accomplishments and his general reputation. In the
+nature of his work, these things have to be reestablished from point
+to point, and if he personally does not take pains to conserve them,
+he can be certain only that no one else ever will.
+
+On the whole, the attitude of the services toward the private affairs
+and nonduty conduct of their officers can be best set forth by once
+again employing Chesterfield's phrases: "If you have the knowledge,
+the honor, and probity which you may have, the marks and warmth of my
+affection will amply reward you; but if you have them not, my aversion
+and indignation will rise in the same proportion."
+
+Reassignment to a distant station is of course a day-to-day
+possibility in the life of any military officer. Far from this being a
+general hardship, it is because the pattern of work and environment
+changes frequently, and the opportunity to build new friendships is
+almost endless, that the best men are attracted to the services. To
+vegetate in one spot is killing to the spirit of the individual who is
+truly fitted to play a lead part in bold enterprises, and for that
+reason there is something very unseemly and unmilitary about the
+officer who resists movement.
+
+On the other hand, a move order is like a club over the head to the
+officer who hasn't kept his own deck clean, has made no clear
+accounting of himself and is out of funds and harassed by his
+creditors.
+
+Concerning the evils of running into debt, there is hardly need for a
+sermon to any American male who has brains enough to memorize his
+general orders. As Mr. Micawber put it to David Copperfield, "The
+blossom is blighted, the leaf is withered, the god of days goes down
+upon the dreary scene, and--and in short, you are forever floored."
+The over-extension of credit is a not unknown American failing. It is
+now the nigh universal custom to overload the home with every kind of
+gadget, usually bought on time, and nearly all intended to provide the
+householder with every possible excuse for resisting human toil or for
+declining to use any personal ingenuity in making life interesting for
+his family. It is all good enough for those who must have it, but it
+is well for an officer to remember that the greater the accumulation,
+the less his chance of accommodating his personal establishment to the
+requirements of the service. All moves are costly, even though the
+government pays most of the freight.
+
+For these and many other reasons, the habit of systematic saving is an
+essential form of career insurance. The officer who will not deprive
+himself of a few luxuries to build up a financial reserve is as
+reckless of his professional future as the one who in battle commits
+his manpower reserve to front-line action without first weighing his
+situation.
+
+In the old days, keeping up with the Joneses was almost a part of
+service tradition. If the colonel's lady owned a bob-tailed nag, the
+major's wife could be satisfied with nothing less than a bay. And so
+on and on. Things are no longer that way. They have become much more
+sensible.
+
+There is one other kind of credit--the professional credit which an
+officer is entitled to keep with his own establishment. Junior
+officers are entitled to know that which their superiors are often
+too forgetful to tell them--that if they have made some especially
+distinct and worthy contribution to the service, it belongs in the
+permanent record. If, for example, an officer has written part of a
+manual, or sat on a major board or committee or provided the idea
+which has resulted in an improvement of materiel, the fact should be
+noted in the 201 file, or its equivalent. Such things are not done
+automatically, as many an officer has learned too late and to his
+sorrow. But any officer is within propriety in asking this
+acknowledgment from his responsible superior.
+
+The legal assistance office in an officer's immediate organization
+will usually suffice his needs in the drawing of all papers essential
+to his personal housekeeping.
+
+To make a will is merely good business practice, and to neglect it
+simply because one's holdings are small is to postpone forming the
+habits which mark a responsible person. Because of superstition and a
+reluctance to think about death, about three out of every four
+Americans die intestate. That is about as foolish as leading men into
+battle without designating a second in command. The Armed Services
+counsel all officers to take the more responsible view, and make it
+easy for their officers to do this duty without cost.
+
+A power of attorney enables one person to take certain legal steps for
+another in his absence, and execute papers which would usually require
+his signature. When an officer is going on an extended tour overseas,
+his interests are apt to be left dangling unless he leaves such a
+power with his wife, mother, best friend or some other person, thereby
+avoiding loss of money and excess worry.
+
+Any citizen may draw up a will in his own handwriting, and if it is
+properly attested, it will have some standing in court. Likewise, a
+power of attorney can be executed on a blank form. But it is foolish
+for a military officer to do these things halfway when the legal
+offices of the service are available to him, not only for performing
+the work, but for counseling him as to its effect.
+
+There is one other step that the responsible man takes on his own. It
+is not likely that his wife or any other person knows at any one time
+the whole story of his interests, obligations and holdings, as to
+where goods may be stored, savings kept, insurance policies filed,
+what debts are owed and what accounts are receivable. In the event of
+his sudden death, next of kin would be at a loss to know whom and
+where to call to get the estate settled smoothly, and with all things
+accurately inventoried. So it is a practical idea to keep an
+up-to-date check list in ledger form, but containing all pertinent
+information whereby things may be made readily accessible. If for some
+private reason, it is preferred not to leave this with next of kin, it
+can be kept in a top drawer at the office, where it could scarcely
+escape attention.
+
+A current inventory of household goods is also a safety and
+time-saving precaution. As changes occur, the list can be corrected
+and kept fresh. Then in case of a sudden move, there is almost nothing
+to be done in preparation for the movers, and in the event of loss
+anywhere along the line, one's own tables will provide a basis for
+recovery. Goods are not infrequently mislaid, lost, or damaged when
+shipped or warehoused, and the more authentic the description of the
+goods in question, the better the chances for the claim.
+
+For any officer with dependents, insurance is of course a necessity.
+How much it should be, and what its form, are matters for his judgment
+and conscience, and according to his circumstances. The services do
+not try to tell a man how he should provide for his family. Men of
+honor need no such reminder, though they may be bothered by the
+question: "How much can I afford?" On that point, sufficient to say
+that it is _not_ more blessed to be insolvent and worried about debts
+from being overloaded with insurance than for any other reason. Many
+retired officers supplement their pay by selling insurance. When a
+young service officer wants insurance counsel, he will find that they
+are disposed to deal sympathetically with his problem.
+
+A few recurrent expenses, such as insurance premiums and bond
+purchases, can be met with allotments through the Finance or
+Disbursing Officer. The forms for the starting of an allotment are
+quite simple. When an officer is going overseas, if his dependents are
+not to follow immediately, an allotment is the best way to insure
+that they will get their income regularly. Overseas expenses are
+usually quite light, which means that the allotment may safely be made
+in larger amount than half the monthly pay. Under certain
+circumstances, it may also be arranged for allotments to be made to
+banks, as a form of steady saving.
+
+Adverting for a moment to the question of what happens to a service
+officer when he becomes ridden by debt and plagued by his creditors,
+it is a fair statement that the generality of higher commanders are
+not unsympathetic, that they know that shrewdness and thrift are quite
+often the product of a broadened experience, and that their natural
+disposition is to temper the wind to the shorn lamb, if there are
+signs that he is making a reasonable effort to recover. When it
+becomes clear that he is taking the service for a ride and cares
+nothing for the good name of the officer corps, they'll send him
+packing. A man harassed by debt, and not knowing how to meet his
+situation, is always well-advised to go to his commander, make a clean
+statement of the case, and ask for his counsel.
+
+Every officer should be absolutely scrupulous about keeping a
+complete, chronologically arranged file of all official papers having
+anything to do with his status, movements, duties, or possessions.
+That may seem burdensome, but it is well worth doing, since one never
+knows when an old paper will become germane to a current question or
+undertaking.
+
+Likewise, receipts are necessary whenever one spends money on anything
+(for instance, travel) on which reimbursement is expected from the
+Government. Regulations are clear on this point--the Government simply
+will not give the individual the benefit of the doubt. No receipt; no
+check from the Treasury.
+
+The military society is a little more tightly closed than a civilian
+society, particularly in posts, camps and stations. For that reason
+the pressure from the distaff side is usually a little heavier. Wives
+get together more frequently, know one another better, and take a more
+direct interest in their husbands' careers than is common elsewhere.
+That has its advantages, but also its headaches. There is an
+occasional officer who is so immature in his judgments as to permit
+his wife's feelings about a colleague or a colleague's wife to
+supervene in the affairs of organization. This is one way to ask for
+trouble.
+
+Gossip is to be avoided because it is vicious, self-destructive,
+unmanly, unmilitary and, most of the time, untrue. The obligation of
+each officer toward his fellow officer is to build him up, which
+implies the use of moral pressure against whatsoever influence would
+pull him down. While the love of scandal is universal, and the
+services can not hope to rid themselves altogether of the average
+human failings, it is possible for any man to guard his own tongue
+and, by the example of moderation, serve to keep all such discussion
+temperate. Were all officers to make a conscious striving in this
+direction, the credit of the corps as a whole, and the satisfactions
+of each of its members in his service, would be tremendously
+increased. Besides, there is another point: gossip is the mark of the
+man insufficiently occupied with serious thought about his personal
+responsibilities. His carelessness about the destruction of the
+character of others is incidental to his indifference to those things
+which make for character in self.
+
+As for the rest of it, we can turn back to Chesterfield, with whom we
+started. For how might any man state it more neatly than with these
+words:
+
+"Were I to begin the world again with the experience which I now have
+of it, I would lead a life of real, not of imaginary pleasure. I would
+enjoy the pleasures of the table and of wine, but stop short of the
+pains inseparably annexed to an excess of either.
+
+"I should let other people do as they would without formally and
+sententiously rebuking them for it. But I would be most firmly
+resolved not to destroy my own faculties and constitution in
+complaisance to those who have no regard for their own.
+
+"I would play to give me pleasure, but not to give me pain. That is, I
+would play for trifles in mixed companies, to amuse myself and conform
+to custom. But I would take care not to venture for sums which if I
+won I would not be the better for, but if I lost, should be under a
+difficulty to pay."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT
+
+GETTING ALONG WITH PEOPLE
+
+
+The main answer can be stated almost as simply as doing right-face.
+Hear this:
+
+If you like people, if you seek contact with them rather than hiding
+yourself in a corner, if you study your fellow men sympathetically, if
+you try consistently to contribute something to their success and
+happiness, if you are reasonably generous with your thoughts and your
+time, if you have a partial reserve with everyone but a seeming
+reserve with no one, if you work to be interesting rather than spend
+to be a good fellow, you will get along with your superiors, your
+subordinates, your orderly, your roommate and the human race.
+
+It is easy enough to chart a course for the individual who is wise
+enough to make human relationships his main concern. But getting the
+knack of it is sufficiently more difficult that it is safe to say more
+talk has been devoted to this subject than to any other topic of
+conversation since Noah quit the Ark. From Confucius down to Emily
+Post, greater and lesser minds have worked at gentling the human race.
+By the scores of thousands, precepts and platitudes have been written
+for the guidance of personal conduct. The odd part of it is that
+despite all of this labor, most of the frictions in modern society
+arise from the individual's feeling of inferiority, his false pride,
+his vanity, his unwillingness to yield space to any other man, and his
+consequent urge to throw his own weight around. Goethe said that the
+quality which best enables a man to renew his own life, in his
+relation to others, is that he will become capable of renouncing
+particular things at the right moment in order warmly to embrace
+something new in the next.
+
+That is earthy advice for any member of the officer corps. For who is
+regarded as the strong man in the service--the individual who fights
+with tooth and nail to hold to a particular post or privilege? Not at
+all! Full respect is given only to him who at all times is willing to
+yield his space to a worthy successor, because of an ingrained
+confidence that he can succeed as greatly in some other sphere.
+
+For a fresh start in this study of getting along with people, we could
+not do better than quote what was published some time ago in the
+United States Coast Guard Magazine. Under the title "_Thirteen
+Mistakes_," the coast guardsmen raised their warning flares above the
+13 pitfalls. It is a mistake:
+
+    1. To attempt to set up your own standard of right and wrong.
+
+    2. To try to measure the enjoyment of others by your own.
+
+    3. To expect uniformity of opinions in the world.
+
+    4. To fail to make allowance for inexperience.
+
+    5. To endeavor to mold all dispositions alike.
+
+    6. Not to yield on unimportant trifles.
+
+    7. To look for perfection in our own actions.
+
+    8. To worry ourselves and others about what can't be remedied.
+
+    9. Not to help everybody wherever, however, whenever we can.
+
+    10. To consider impossible what we cannot ourselves perform.
+
+    11. To believe only what our finite minds can grasp.
+
+    12. Not to make allowances for the weakness of others.
+
+    13. To estimate by some outside quality, when it is that within
+    which makes the man.
+
+The unobserving officer will no doubt dismiss this list as just so
+many cliches. The reflective man will accept it as a negative guide to
+positive conduct, for it engages practically every principle which is
+vital to the growth of a strong spiritual life in relation to one's
+fellow men.
+
+Certain of these points stand out as prominently as pips on a radar
+screen to the military officer bent on keeping his own ship out of
+trouble. The morals contained in 4, 5, 12, and 13 all come to bear in
+the story told by Sgt. Fred Miller about Pvt. Fred Lang of Hospital
+No. 1 on Bataan. Miller had tried to do what he could for Lang, but no
+one else in the detachment was willing to give him a break. He was an
+unlettered hillbilly and, being ashamed of his own ignorance, he was
+shy toward other men. The rest of the story is best told in Miller's
+words.
+
+"When the Japs made their first bombing run on Marivales, most of us,
+being new at war, huddled together under such cover as we could find.
+Some people were hit outside. We stayed where we were. But we looked
+out and saw Lang. He was trying to handle a stretcher by himself,
+dragging one end along the ground in an effort to bring in the
+wounded. I remember one member of our group remarking, 'Look at old
+Lang trying to do litter drill right in the middle of a war.' Lang was
+killed by an enemy bomb that night. I guess he had to die to make us
+understand that he was the best man."
+
+There is hardly an American who has been in combat but can tell some
+other version of this same story, changing only the names and the
+surroundings. All too frequently it happens in the services--we look
+at a man, and because at a casual inspection we do not like the cut of
+his jib, or the manner of his response, or are over-persuaded by what
+someone else has said about him, we reach a permanent conclusion about
+his possibilities, and either mentally write him off, or impair our
+own capacity for giving him help.
+
+It suffices to say that when any officer has the inexcusable fault
+that he takes snap judgment on his _own_ men, he will not be any
+different in his relations with all other people, and will stand in
+his own light for the duration of his career. Which leads to one other
+observation. When any man, bearing a bad efficiency report, comes to a
+new organization, it is a fact to be noted with mild interest, but
+_without any prejudice whatever_. Every new assignment means a clean
+slate, and there should be no hangover from what has happened,
+including the possible mistaken judgments of others. The system was
+never intended to give a dog a bad name. To be perpetually supervised,
+questioned and shadowed is to be doubted, and doubt destroys
+confidence and creates fear, slyness and discontent in the other
+individual. Every man is entitled to a fresh hold on security with his
+new superior. Any wise and experienced senior commander will tell you
+this, and will cite examples of men who came to him with a spotty
+record, who started nervously, began to pick up after realizing that
+they were not going to get another kick, and went on to become
+altogether superior. For any right-minded commander, it is far more
+gratifying to be able to salvage human material than to take over an
+organization that is sound from bottom to top.
+
+However, the truth in point 9 applies universally. The studied effort
+to be helpful in all of our relations with our fellow men, and to give
+help not grudgingly, but cheerfully, courteously and in greater
+measure than is expected, is the high road to wide influence and
+personal strength of character. More than all else, it is the little
+kindnesses in life which bind men together and help each wayfarer to
+start the day right. These tokens are like bread cast upon the water;
+they ultimately nourish the giver more than the direct beneficiary.
+One of our best-known corps commanders in the Pacific War made it a
+rule that if any man serving under him, or any man he knew in the
+service, however unimportant, was promoted or given any other
+recognition, he would write a letter to the man's wife or mother,
+saying how proud he felt. He was not a great tactician or strategist
+but, because of the little things he did, men loved him and would ride
+to hell for him, and their collective moral strength became the
+bastion of his professional success.
+
+Of Maj. Gen. Henry T. Allen, who commanded our first Army of
+Occupation in Germany, a distinguished contemporary once said: "It
+surprised us that Allen did so well; in the old Army we regarded him
+as a swashbuckler." Maybe that was because he was a cavalryman and
+liked to strut, and he liked to see chestiness in his own people,
+right down to the last file. But General Allen was infinitely
+considerate of the dignity of all other men, and he disciplined
+himself to further their growth and give them some mark of his
+thoughtful regard so far as lay within his power. It was because of
+his rich understanding humanity, and not through any genial slackness,
+that he kept a tight hold on discipline. To the units he commanded he
+gave his own tone. He warmed men instead of chilling them with fear.
+Thousands returned to civil life better equipped for the passage
+because of what they had seen him do and heard him say.
+
+So we can link points 1, 6, 7, and 8 from the Coast Guard's list into
+one binding truth not less essential to sound officership than to
+action anywhere which seeks the cooperation and goodwill of men: _It
+is not more blessed to be right than to be loved_, Henry Clay's remark
+that he would rather be right than president notwithstanding. The
+absolute perfectionist is the most tiresome of men, and a waster of
+time and of nerves. The stickler, the fly-speckler, the bully and the
+sadist serve only to encumber those parts of the establishment which
+they touch; their subordinates spend part of their own strength
+clearing away the wreckage which these misfits make.
+
+Other than these comments, it is not necessary to say a great deal
+about the _inner qualities_ which give an officer a free-wheeling
+adjustment with other persons in all walks of life. Once again,
+however, it might be well to speak of the importance of enthusiasm,
+kindness, courtesy, and justice, which are the safeguards of honor and
+the tokens of mutual respect between man and man. This last there must
+be if men are to go forward together, prosper in one another's
+company, find strength in the bonds of mutual service, and experience
+a common felicity in the relationship between the leader and the led.
+
+But it is sadly the case that the reputation of any man, as to what he
+is inside, forms in large measure from what others see of him from the
+outside. That is what makes poignant the story of Pvt. Fred Lang; like
+a singed cat, he was better than he looked. In the military service,
+more than elsewhere in life, manner weighs heavily in the balance, if
+only for the reason that from the public point of view, the military
+officer is supposed to look the part. He is expected to be the
+embodiment of character, given to forthright but amiable speech,
+capable of expressing his ideas and purpose clearly, careful of
+customs and good usage, and carrying himself with poise and assurance.
+For if he does not have the aura of vitality, confidence and
+reflection which is expected in a leader of men, it will be suspected
+that he is incapable of playing the part. However unfairly
+discriminating that judgment may seem to be, in comparison with the
+attitude toward other professions, it has a perfectly logical basis.
+The people are willing to forgive preoccupation in all others, since
+how an engineer dresses has no relation to his skill as a
+mathematician, and when a doctor mumbles it doesn't suggest that he
+would be clumsy with a scalpel. But when they meet an uncivil or
+unkempt officer, or see an untidy soldier or bluejacket on the street,
+they worry that the national defense is going to pot. One reason for
+the great prestige of the Marine Corps is that the public seldom, if
+ever, sees a sloppy marine, though its members do sometimes look a
+little gruesome on the field of battle.
+
+The officer corps does have its share of "characters." Some are men
+born in an uncommon mold, with a great deal of natural phlegm in their
+systems, a gift for salty speech and a tendency to drawl their words
+as if their thoughts were being raised from a deep well. Usually, they
+are men of extraordinary power, and are worth any dozen of that
+individual who scuttles about like a water bug, making an exhibition
+of great energy but, like the whirling dervish, keeping in such
+constant motion that he has no chance to observe what goes on under
+his nose. Here, as in all things, it is steadiness that does it. The
+blunt soldier, the old sea-dog type of naval officer, is endurable and
+even lovable in the eyes of most other people, when he has done his
+scrapping with fire rather than firewater, when his personal
+credentials are sound, and when his outward manner is bluff in both
+meanings of the word. But the fakers who affect the crusty manner, the
+glaring eye and the jutting jaw, simply because they are wearing
+military suits and think mistakenly that these things are in the
+tradition, will be recognized as counterfeit as quickly as a lead
+quarter.
+
+There is nothing else that serves as well as the natural manner, with
+some polishing of the surfaces here and there, and a general
+tightening at the corners.
+
+While a partial check list is not likely to reform the establishment
+overnight, if kept simple enough, it may afford help to an occasional
+individual, instead of giving him the fear that he is falling apart at
+the seams.
+
+The smartest physical culturists are swinging around to the idea that
+correct posture alone is the great secret of physical fitness, that if
+a man sits well, stands erect and walks correctly all the time, he is
+doing more for his health and longevity than all of the setting-up
+exercises and sweat baths yet devised. At the same time he is making a
+favorable impression on all who see him. Clumsy one-sided postures,
+fidgeting on a chair, slouching while sitting or standing, moving
+along at a shambling gait and speaking with the chin down on the chest
+produce quite the opposite effect. Right or wrong, they are taken as a
+sign of indolence, fatigue, or inattention. There is always an hour
+for complete physical relaxation, for stretching and letting the
+muscles melt; Winston Churchill attributed a large part of his vigor
+and recuperative powers to the habit of taking a 30-minute cat nap in
+midday. That is a smart trick if one can master it. But trying most of
+all for _physical ease_ when in conversation, or at conference, or in
+attending to any matter wherein one comes under the surveillance of
+those whose good opinion is worth cultivating is as certain a handicap
+as putting excess weight on an otherwise good horse.
+
+In the services, as in any situation in life in which deference to
+higher opinion is compelled by the nature of an undertaking, the young
+will do well to consider the wisdom of the precept, "Be patient with
+your betters."
+
+It is lamentably bad judgment to act by any other rules. Where
+differences of opinion exist, time and forbearance not infrequently
+will work the desired change, where stubbornness or rudeness would
+utterly fail. More than that, a junior owes this much consideration to
+any senior whose heart is in the right place. It is bad manners, but
+even worse from the standpoint of tactics, to attempt publicly to
+score a victory over a senior in any dispute, or to attempt by wit to
+gain the upperhand of him in the presence of others. Though the point
+may be gained for the moment, it is usually at the cost of one's
+personal hold on the confidence of the senior.
+
+But there is also the other side of the case, that the superior should
+deal considerately with any earnest proposal from his subordinate,
+rather than dashing cold water in his face, just because he has not
+thought his proposition through. One of the best-loved editors of the
+United States, Grove Patterson, of Toledo, Ohio, was remembered by
+every young journalist who ever came under him because of the care
+with which he supported every man's pride. A youngster would go in to
+him, filled with enthusiasm for some idea, which he himself had not
+bothered to view in the round. Patterson would listen carefully, and
+would then say: "That's a corking idea. Take it and work it out
+carefully, going over every aspect of it. Then bring it back to me."
+On second thought, the youngster would begin having his own doubts,
+and would shortly begin hoping that the chief would forget all about
+the subject, which he invariably did. Many celebrated commanders in
+our military services have won the lasting affection of their
+subordinates by employing exactly this method.
+
+Men like the direct glance. They feel flattered by it, particularly
+when they are talking, and in conversation they like to be heard
+through, not interrupted in mid-passage. That is true whatever their
+station. Nobody likes to be bored, but fully half of boredom comes
+from lack of the habit of careful listening. The man who will not
+listen never develops wits enough to distinguish between a bore and a
+sage and therefore cannot pick the best company. The vacant stare, the
+drifting of eyes from the speaker to a window, or a picture or a
+passing blonde, though greatly tempting in the midst of long
+discourse, are taken only as signs of inattention. Many a young
+officer called to the carpet for some trivial business has managed to
+square himself with his commander just by looking straight and talking
+straight in the few moments that decided his future.
+
+Elsewhere in the book, a great deal has been said about the importance
+of the voice and of developing one's powers of conversation. Not a
+great deal more needs to be added here. But there is no excuse for the
+officer who talks so that others must strain to hear what he is
+saying--unless he is suffering from laryngitis. It is simple enough
+to keep the chin up and let the words roll out. Many persons have the
+bad habit of letting the voice drop at the end of a sentence; the
+effect on the other party is like watching a man run away from a
+fight. For clear understanding, and to create a good impression, there
+should be a cheerful lift upward at the end of a sentence.
+
+Also, officers who look at lecturing simply as part of the routine
+tend to fall into either the singsong rhythm which one frequently
+hears in college professors and certain radio announcers, or go all
+out for the sonorous intonations which are beloved by many of the
+clergy. Many young officers get into these same cadences whenever they
+talk to men, and before they know it, they are trying the same thing
+in the family circle. They sound like alarm clocks running down, but
+instead of arousing the house, they are an invitation to slumber.
+Either on the lecture platform, or in man-to-man conversation, there
+is no valid reason why it is ever necessary to take the tone which
+suggests that the talk is one-sided. Words can be crisply uttered and
+still be personally directed, but not if the speaker is looking at the
+floor, the moon or the rafters. To discuss a question amicably is the
+best way to gain clear insight into it; when a man argues violently,
+his purpose usually is not to serve wisdom but to prevail despite his
+lack of it, thus stultifying both himself and his adversary.
+
+Clothes are important. They have to be. One can't go very far without
+them, north of the Equator. But a fresh press counts more than a new
+suit by a Fifth Avenue tailor left unpressed, and neatness beats
+lavishness any day in the week.
+
+Carefulness in the little things counts much. Men develop an aversion
+to the individual who cannot remember their names, their titles or
+their stations, but they will warm to the person who remembers, and
+they will overlook most of his other shortcomings. Likewise, they are
+won by any words of appreciation or of interest in what they are
+doing. Get a man talking about his business, his golf game or his
+family, and you are on the inside track toward his friendship. As for
+senior commanders, when the hours comes for them to bat the ball back
+and forth in friendly conversation, there is nothing they enjoy more
+than reminiscing about experiences on the battlefield. Other than
+inveterate surgical patients, no one can outdo them in talking about
+their operations.
+
+It isn't lengthy advice which is needed on this subject, since a man
+commissioned is considered to have graduated from at least the
+kindergarten of good manners. What counts is simply caring about it,
+not to be ingratiating to other people, but for the sake of one's own
+dignity and self-respect.
+
+None of the oracles on winning friends and influencing people have
+said it in those few words, and if they had, there would have been no
+books to sell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE
+
+LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP
+
+
+In that gallery of Great Americans whose names are conspicuously
+identified with the prospering of the national arms in peace and war,
+there are almost as many types as there are men.
+
+There were a certain few qualities that they had to possess in common
+or their names would never have become known beyond the county line.
+
+But these were inner qualities, often deep buried, rather than outward
+marks of greatness which men recognized immediately upon beholding
+them.
+
+Some almost missed the roll call, either because in early life their
+weaknesses were more apparent than their strengths, or because of an
+outward seeming of insignificance which at first fooled their
+contemporaries.
+
+In the minority are the few who seemed marked for greatness almost
+from the cradle, and were acclaimed for leadership while still of
+tender years.
+
+Winfield Scott, a Brigadier in the War of 1812 when Brigadiers were
+few, and Chief of Staff when the Civil War began, is a unique figure
+in the national history.
+
+George Washington, Adjutant of the State of Virginia at 21, is one
+other military infant prodigy who never later belied his early fame.
+
+The majority in the gallery are not like these. No two of them are
+strikingly alike in mien and manner. Their personalities are as
+different, for most part, as their names. Their characters also ran
+the range of the spectrum, or nearly, if we are talking of moral
+habit, rather than of conscientious performance of military duty. Some
+drank their whiskey neat and frequently; others loathed it and took a
+harsh line with any subordinate who used it.
+
+One of the greatest generals in American history, celebrated for his
+fighting hardly more than for his tippling, would walk from the room
+if any man tried to tell an off-color story in his presence.
+
+One of the most celebrated and successful of our Admirals endeared
+himself to millions of men in all ranks and services by his trick of
+gathering his chief subordinates together just prior to battle,
+issuing his orders sternly and surely, and then relaxing long enough
+to tell them his latest parlor story, knowing that finally it would
+trickle down through the whole command.
+
+Among the warriors in this gallery are men who would bet a month's pay
+on a horse race. There are duellists and brawlers, athletes and
+aesthetes, men who lived almost sainted lives and scholars who lived
+more for learning than for fame.
+
+Some tended to be so over-reclusive that they almost missed
+recognition; others were hail-fellow-well-met in any company.
+
+Their methods of work reflected these extreme variations in personal
+type, as did the means they used to draw other men to them, thereby
+setting a foundation for real success.
+
+Part of their number commanded mainly through the sheer force of
+ideas; others owed their fortune more to the magnetism of dynamic
+personality.
+
+In a few there was the spark of genius. All things seemed to come
+right with them at all times. Fate was kind, the openings occurred,
+and they were prepared to take advantage of them.
+
+But the greater number moved up the hill one slow step at a time, not
+always sure of their footing, buffeted by mischance, owning no exalted
+opinion of their own merits, reacting to discouragement much as other
+men would do, but finally accumulating power as they learned how to
+organize the work of other men.
+
+While a young lieutenant, Admiral Sims became so incensed, when the
+United States would not take his word on a voucher, that he offered to
+resign.
+
+General Grant signally failed to organize his life as an individual
+prior to the time when a turn of the wheel gave him his chance to
+organize the military power of the United States in war.
+
+General Sherman, who commanded the Army for almost 15 years, was
+considered by many of his close friends to be a fit subject for
+confinement as a mental case just prior to the Civil War.
+
+General Meade, one of the sweetest and most serene of men in his
+family relationships, lacked confidence in his own merits and was very
+abusive of his associates during battle.
+
+Admiral Farragut, whose tenderness as an individual are marked by the
+16 years in which he personally nursed an invalid wife, was so
+independent in his professional thought and action that both in and
+out of the Navy he was disqualified as a "climber." He got into
+wretched quarrels with his superiors mainly because he felt his
+assignments afforded him no distinction. The Civil War gave him his
+opportunity.
+
+Admiral John Paul Jones, though an unusually modest man, was as
+redoubtable in the boudoir as at sea, and it would be hard to say
+which type of engagement most caught his fancy.
+
+General Winfield Scott, as firm a commander as ever drew on a glove,
+plagued the service with his petty bickering over rank, seniority, and
+precedent.
+
+They were all mortal. Being human, they had their points of personal
+weakness, just as any newly appointed ensign or second lieutenant also
+has weak spots in his armor, and sometimes views them in such false
+proportion that he doubts his own potential for high responsibility.
+
+There is not one perfect life in the gallery of the great. All were
+moulded by the human influences which surrounded them. They reacted in
+their own feelings, and toward other men, according as their personal
+fortunes rose and fell. They sought help where it could be found. When
+disappointed, they chilled like anyone else. But along with their
+professional talents, they possessed, in common, a desire for
+substantial recognition, accompanied by the will to earn it fairly, or
+else the nation would never have heard their names.
+
+All in all it is a multifarious gallery. If we were to pass it in
+review, and then inspect it carefully, it would still be impossible to
+say: "This is the composite of character. This is the prototype of
+military success. Model upon it and you have the pinnacle within
+reach."
+
+The same thing would no doubt hold true of a majority of the better
+men who commanded ships, squadrons, regiments, and companies under
+these commanders, and at their own level were as superior in
+leadership as the relatively few who rose to national stature because
+of the achievements of the general body.
+
+The same rule will apply tomorrow. Those who come forward to fill
+these same places, and to command them with equal or greater authority
+and competence, will not be plaster saints, laden with all human
+virtue, spotless in character and fit to be anointed with a superman
+legend by some future Parson Weems. They will be men with a human
+quality, and a strong belief in the United States and the goodness of
+a free society. They will have some of the average man's faults, and
+maybe a few of his vices. But certainly they will possess the
+qualities of courage, creative intelligence and physical fitness in
+more than average measure.
+
+What we know of our great leaders in the current age should disparage
+the idea that only a superman may scale the heights. Trained observers
+have noted in their personalities and careers many of the plain
+characteristics which each man feels in himself and mistakenly
+believes is a bar to preferment.
+
+Drew Middleton, the British correspondent, wrote of Gen. Carl "Tooey"
+Spaatz: "This man, who may be a heroic figure to our grandchildren, is
+essentially an unheroic figure to his contemporaries. He is in fact
+such a friendly, human person that observers tend to minimize his
+stature as a war leader. He is not temperamental. He makes no rousing
+speeches, writes no inspirational orders. Spaatz, in issuing orders
+for a major operation involving 1,500 airplanes, is about as inspiring
+as a groceryman ordering another five cases of canned peas."
+
+In the files of the Navy Department there is a picture of Admiral Marc
+A. Mitscher, the famed commander of Task Force 58, coming on board a
+flagship to take command of a force of carriers. Officers and men are
+lined up at spick-and-span attention. The Admiral himself appears as a
+little man in a rumpled khaki uniform, tieless and wearing an
+informal garrison cap. Under his arm is a book, and in the photograph
+the title can be read as "Send Another Coffin." Mitscher liked
+detective stories; he didn't like ceremonial pomp.
+
+An interviewer who called on Gen. Ira C. Eaker when he was leading 8th
+Air Force against Germany found "a strikingly soft-spoken, sober,
+compact man who has the mild manner of a conservative minister and the
+judicial outlook of a member of the Supreme Court. But he is always
+about two steps ahead of everybody on the score, and there is a quiet,
+inexorable logic about everything he does." Of his own choice, Eaker
+would have separated from military service after World War I. He
+wanted to be a lawyer and he also toyed with the idea of running a
+country newspaper. In his off hours, he wrote books on aviation for
+junior readers. On the side, he studied civil law and found it
+"valuable mental training."
+
+On the eve of the Guadalcanal landing, Gen. A. A. Vandegrift's final
+order to his command ended with the stirring and now celebrated
+phrase: "God favors the bold and strong of heart." Yet in the
+afterglow of later years, the Nation read a character sketch of him
+which included this: "He is so polite and so soft spoken that he is
+continually disappointing the people whom he meets. They find him
+lacking in the fire-eating traits they like to expect of all marines,
+and they find it difficult to believe that such a mild-mannered man
+could really have led and won the bloody fight." When another officer
+spoke warmly of Vandegrift's coolness under fire, his "grace under
+pressure," to quote Hemingway's phrase, he replied: "I shouldn't be
+given any credit. I'm built that way."
+
+The point is beautifully taken. Too often the man with great inner
+strength holds in contempt those less well endowed by nature than
+himself.
+
+While there are no perfect men, there are those who become relatively
+perfect leaders of men because something in their makeup brings out in
+strength the highest virtues of all who follow them. That is the way
+of human nature. Minor shortcomings do not impair the working loyalty,
+or growth, of the follower who has found someone whose strengths he
+deems worth emulating. On the other hand, to recognize merit, you must
+yourself have it. _The act of recognizing the worthwhile traits in
+another person is both the test and the making of character._ The man
+who scorns all others, and thinks no one else worth following, parades
+his own inferiority before the world. He puts his own character into
+bankruptcy just as surely as does that other sad camp follower of whom
+Thomas Carlyle wrote: "To recognize false merit, and crown it as true,
+because a long tail runs after it, is the saddest operation under the
+sun."
+
+Sherman, Logan, Rawlins and the many others hitched their wagons to
+Grant's star because they saw in him a man who had a way with other
+men, and who commanded them not less by personal courage than by
+patient work in their interest. Had Grant spent time brooding over his
+civilian failures, he would have been stuck with a disorderly camp and
+would never have gotten out of Illinois.
+
+The nobility of the private life and influence of Gen. Robert E. Lee
+and the grandeur of his military character are known to every American
+school boy. His peerless gifts as a battle leader have won the tribute
+of celebrated soldiers and historians throughout the English-speaking
+world. Likewise, the deep religiosity of his great lieutenant,
+Stonewall Jackson, the latter's fiery zeal and the almost evangelical
+power with which he lifted the hearts of all men who followed him, are
+hallmarks of character that are vividly remembered in whatever context
+his name happens to be mentioned.
+
+If we turn for a somewhat closer look at Grant it is because he, more
+than any other American soldier, left us a full, clear narrative of
+his own growth, and of the inner thoughts and doubts pertaining to
+himself which attended his life experience. There was a great deal of
+the average man in Grant. He was beset by human failings. He could not
+look impressive. He had no sense of destiny. In his great hours, it
+was sweat, rather than inspiration, dogged perseverance, rather than
+the aura of power, which made the hour great.
+
+Average though he was in many things, there was nothing average about
+the strong way in which he took hold, applying massive common sense to
+the complex problems of the field. That is why he is worth close
+regard. His virtues as a military leader were of the simpler sort
+which plain men may understand and hope to emulate. He was direct in
+manner. He never intrigued. His speech was homely. He was
+approachable. His mind never deviated from the object. Though a
+stubborn man, he was always willing to listen to his subordinates. He
+never adhered to a plan obstinately, but nothing could induce him to
+forsake the idea behind the plan.
+
+History has left us a clear view of how he attained to greatness in
+leadership by holding steadfastly to a few main principles.
+
+At Belmont, his first small action, he showed nothing to indicate that
+he was competent as a tactician and strategist. But the closing scene
+reveals him as the last man to leave the field of action, risking his
+life to see that none of his men had been left behind.
+
+At Fort Donelson, where he had initiated an amphibious campaign of
+highly original daring, he was not on the battlefield when his army
+was suddenly attacked. He arrived to find his right wing crushed and
+his whole force on the verge of defeat. He blamed no one. Without more
+than a passing second's hesitation, he said quietly to his chief
+subordinates: "Gentlemen, the position on the right must be retaken."
+Then he mounted his horse, and galloped along the line shouting to his
+men: "Fill your cartridge cases quick; the enemy is trying to escape
+and he must not be permitted to do so." Control and order were
+immediately reestablished by his presence.
+
+At Shiloh, the same thing happened, only this time it was worse; the
+whole Union Army was on the verge of rout. Grant, hobbling on crutches
+from a recent leg injury, met the mob of panic-stricken stragglers as
+he left the boat at Pittsburgh Landing. Calling on them to turn back,
+he mounted and rode toward the battle, shouting encouragement and
+giving orders to all he met. Confidence flowed from him back into an
+already beaten Army and in this way a field near lost was soon
+regained.
+
+The last and best picture of Grant is on the evening after he had
+taken his first beating from General Lee in the campaign against
+Richmond. He was newly with the Army of the Potomac. His predecessors,
+after being whipped by Lee, had invariably retreated to safe distance.
+But this time as the defeated army took the road of retreat out of the
+Wilderness, its columns got only as far as the Chancellorsville House
+crossroad. There the soldiers saw a squat, bearded man, sitting
+horseback, and drawing on a cigar. As the head of each regiment came
+abreast him, he silently motioned it to take the right-hand fork--back
+toward Lee's flank and deeper than ever into the Wilderness. That
+night for the first time the Army sensed an electric change in the air
+over Virginia. It had a man.
+
+"I intend to fight it out on this line" is more revealing of the one
+supreme quality which put the seal on all other of U. S. Grant's great
+gifts for military leading than everything else that the historians
+have written of him. He was the epitome of that spirit which moderns
+call "seeing the show through." He was sensitive to a fault in his
+early years, and carried to his tomb a dislike for military uniform,
+caused by his being made the butt of ridicule the first time he ever
+donned a soldier suit. As a junior lieutenant in the Mexican War, he
+sensed no particular aptitude in himself. But he had participated in
+every engagement possible to a member of his regiment, and had
+executed every small duty to the hilt, with particular attention to
+conserving the lives of his men. This was the school and the course
+which later enabled him to march to Richmond, when men's lives had to
+be spent for the good of the Nation. In more recent times, one of the
+great statesmen and soldiers of the United States, Henry L. Stimson,
+has added his witness to the value of this force in all enterprise: "I
+know the withering effect of limited commitments and I know the
+regenerative effect of full action." Though he was speaking
+particularly of the larger affairs of war and nation policy, his words
+apply with full weight to the personal life. The truth seen only
+halfway is missed wholly; the thing done only halfway had best not be
+attempted at all. Men can be fooled but they can't be fooled on this
+score. They will know every time when the bolt falls short for lack of
+a worthwhile effort. And when that happens, confidence in the leader
+is corroded, even among those who themselves were unwilling to try.
+
+There have been great and distinguished leaders in our military
+services at all levels, who had no particular gifts for
+administration, and little for organizing the detail of decisive
+action either within battle or without. They excelled because of a
+superior ability to utilize the brains and command the loyalty of
+well-chosen subordinates. Their particular function was to judge the
+mark according to their resources and audacity, and then to hold the
+team steady until the mark was gained. So doing, they complemented the
+power of the faithful lieutenants who might have put them in the shade
+in any I. Q. test. Wrote Grant: "I never knew what to do with a paper
+except put it in a side pocket or pass it to a clerk who understood it
+better than I did." There was nothing unfair or irregular about this;
+it was as it should be. All military achievement develops out of unity
+of action. The laurel goes to the man whose powers can most surely be
+directed toward the end purposes of organization. _The winning of
+battles is the product of the winning of men._ That aptitude is not an
+endowment of formal education, though the man who has led a football
+team, a class, a fraternity or a debating society is the stronger for
+the experience which he has gained. It is not uncustomary in those who
+have excelled in scholarship to despise those who have excelled merely
+in sympathetic understanding of the human race. But in the military
+services, though there are niches for the pedant, character is at all
+times at least as vital as intellect, and the main rewards go to him
+who can make other men feel toughened as well as elevated.
+
+    _Quiet resolution._
+
+    _The hardihood to take risks._
+
+    _The will to take full responsibility for decision._
+
+    _The readiness to share its rewards with subordinates._
+
+    _An equal readiness to take the blame when things go adversely._
+
+    _The nerve to survive storm and disappointment and to face toward
+    each new day with the scoresheet wiped clean, neither dwelling on
+    one's successes nor accepting discouragement from one's failures._
+
+In these things lie a great part of the essence of leadership, for
+they are the constituents of that kind of moral courage which has
+enabled one man to draw many others to him in any age.
+
+It is good, also, to look the part, not only because of its effect on
+others, but because from out of the effort made to _look it_, one may
+in time come _to be it_. One of the kindliest and most penetrating
+philosophers of our age, Abbe Ernest Dimnet, has assured us that this
+is true. He says that by trying to look and act like a socially
+distinguished person, one may in fact attain to the inner disposition
+of a gentleman. That, almost needless to say, is the _real_ mark of
+the officer who takes great pains about the manner of his dress and
+address, for as Walt Whitman has said: "All changes of appearances
+without a change in that which underlies appearance, are without
+avail." All depends upon the spirit in which one makes the effort. By
+his own account, U. S. Grant, as a West Point cadet, was more stirred
+by the commanding appearance of General Winfield Scott than by any man
+he had ever seen, including the President. He wrote that at that
+moment there flashed across his mind the thought that some day he
+would stand in Scott's place. Grant was unkempt of dress. His physical
+endowments were such that he could never achieve the commanding air of
+Scott, but he left us his witness that Scott's military bearing helped
+kindle his own desire for command, even though he knew that he could
+not be like Scott.
+
+Much is said in favor of modesty as an asset in leadership. It is
+remarked that the man who wishes to hold the respect of others will
+mention himself not more frequently than a born aristocrat mentions
+his ancestor. However, the point can be labored too hard. Some of the
+ablest of the Nation's battlefield commanders have been anything but
+shrinking violets; we have had now and then a hero who could boast
+with such gusto that this very characteristic somehow endeared him to
+his men. But that would be a dangerous tack for all save the most
+exceptional individual. Instead of speaking of modesty as a charm that
+will win all hearts, thereby risking that through excessive modesty a
+man will become tiresome to others and rated as too timid for high
+responsibility, it would be better to dwell upon the importance of
+being natural, which means neither concealing nor making a vulgar
+display of one's ideals and motives, but acting directly according to
+their dictations.
+
+This leads to another point. In several of the most celebrated
+commentaries written by higher commanders on the nature of
+generalship, the statement is made rather carelessly that to be
+capable of great military leadership a man must be something of an
+actor. If that were unqualifiedly true, then it would be a desirable
+technique likewise in any junior officer that he too should learn how
+to wear a false face, and play a part which cloaks his real self. The
+hollowness of the idea is proved by the lives of such men as Robert E.
+Lee, W. T. Sherman, George C. Marshall, Omar N. Bradley, Carl A.
+Spaatz, William H. Simpson, Chester A. Nimitz, and W. S. Sims. As
+commanders, they were all as natural as children, though some had
+great natural reserve, and others were warmer and more outgiving. They
+expressed themselves straightforwardly rather than by artful striving
+for effect. There was no studied attempt to appear only in a certain
+light. To use the common word for it, their people did not regard them
+as "characters." This naturalness had much to do with their hold on
+other men.
+
+Such a result will always come. He who concentrates on the object at
+hand has little need to worry about the impression he is making on
+others. Even though they detect the chinks in the armor, they will
+know that the armor will hold.
+
+On the other hand, a sense of the dramatic values, coupled with the
+intelligence to play upon them skillfully, is an invaluable quality in
+any military leader. Though there was nothing of the "actor" in Grant,
+he understood the value of pointing things up. _To put a bold or
+inspiring emphasis where it belongs is not stagecraft, but an integral
+part of the military fine art of communications._ System which is only
+system is injurious to the mind and spirit of any normal person. One
+can play a superior part well, and maintain prestige and dignity,
+without being under the compulsion to think, speak and act in a
+monotone. In fact, when any military commander becomes over-inhibited
+along these lines because of the illusion that this is the way to
+build a reputation for strength, he but doubles the necessity that his
+subordinates will act at all times like human beings rather than
+robots.
+
+Coupled with self-control, recollection and thoughtfulness will carry
+a man far. Men will warm toward a leader when they come to believe
+that all the energy he stores up by living somewhat within himself is
+at their service. But when they feel that this is not the case, and
+that his reserve is simply the outward sign of a spiritual miserliness
+and concentration on purely personal goals, no amount of restraint
+will ever win their favor. This is as true of him who commands a whole
+service as of the leader of a picket squad.
+
+To speak of the importance of a sense of humor would be unavailing if
+it were not that what cramps so many men isn't that they are by nature
+humorless but that they are hesitant to exercise what humor they
+possess. Within the military profession, it is as unwise as to let the
+muscles go soft and to spare the mind the strain of original thinking.
+Great humor has always been in the military tradition. The need of it
+is nowhere more delicately expressed than in Kipling's lines:
+
+    My son was killed while laughing at some jest,
+               I would I knew
+    What it was, and it might serve me in a time
+               When jests are few.
+
+Marcus Aurelius, Rome's soldier philosopher, spoke of his love for the
+man who "could be humorous in an agreeable way." No reader of Grant's
+_Memoirs_ (one of the few truly great autobiographies ever written by
+a soldier) could fail to be impressed by his light touch. A delicate
+sense of the incongruous seems to have pervaded him; he is at his
+whimsical best when he sees himself in a ridiculous light. Lord
+Kitchener, one of the grimmest warriors ever to serve the British
+Empire, warmed to the man who made him the butt of a practical joke.
+There is the unforgettable picture of Admiral Beatty at Jutland. The
+_Indefatigable_ has disappeared beneath the waves. The _Queen Mary_
+had exploded. The _Lion_ was in flames. Then word came that the
+_Princess Royal_ was blown up. Said Beatty to his Flag Captain
+"Chatfield, there seems to be something wrong with our ... ships
+today. Turn two points nearer the enemy." Admiral Nimitz, surveying
+the terrible landscape of the Kwajalein battlefield for the first
+time, said gravely to his Staff: "It's the worst devastation I've ever
+seen except for that last Texas picnic in Honolulu." There is a
+characteristic anecdote of General Patton. He had just been worsted by
+higher headquarters in an argument over strategy. So he sat talking to
+his own Staff about it, his dog curled up beside him. Suddenly he said
+to the animal: "The trouble with you, too, Willy, is that you don't
+understand the big picture." General Eisenhower, probably more than
+any other American commander, had the art of winning with his humor.
+He would have qualified under Sydney Smith's definition: "The meaning
+of an extraordinary man is that he is eight men in one man; that he
+has as much wit as if he had no sense, and as much sense as if he had
+no wit; that his conduct is as judicious as if he were the dullest of
+human beings, and his imagination as brilliant as if he were
+irretrievably ruined."
+
+There is hardly a soldier, marine, or bluejacket who has been long in
+battle but can tell some tale of an experience under fire when the
+pressure became almost unbearable, and then was suddenly relieved
+because somebody made a wisecrack or pulled something that was good
+for a laugh. At Bastogne the American headquarters was being shelled
+out of its position in the Belgian Barracks. The Commanding General
+called in his Chief Signal Officer and asked when it would be
+convenient to move. Said Lt. Col. Sid Davis, "Right now, while I've
+got one line left and you can still give the order." When the garrison
+was surrounded, and higher headquarters requested a description of the
+situation, the young G-3 of the operation, Col. H. W. O. Kinnard,
+radioed: "Think of a doughnut: we're the hole."
+
+Who hasn't heard of the top kick who got his men forward by yelling:
+"Come on you ----! Do you want to live forever?" Both the Army and the
+Marine Corps claim him for their own, and it is possible that he was
+twins.
+
+If the American fighting man did not have an instinctive feeling for
+the moral value of that kind of thing, the story would be long since
+buried, for it is as ancient as the other tale which ends: "That was
+no lady; that was my wife."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN
+
+MAINSPRINGS OF LEADERSHIP
+
+
+To what has been said, just a few things should be added so that the
+problem of generating greater powers of leadership within the officer
+corps may be seen in its true light.
+
+The counselor says: "Be forthright! Be articulate! Be confident! Be
+positive! Possess a commanding appearance!" The young man replies:
+"All very good, so far as it goes. I will, if I can. But tell me, how
+do I get that way?" He sees rightly enough the main point, that these
+things are but derivatives of other inner qualities which must be
+possessed, if the leader is to travel the decisive mile between
+wavering capacity and resolute performance.
+
+So the need is to get down to a few governing principles. Finding
+them, we may be able to resolve finally any argument as to whether
+leadership is a God-given power, or may be bestowed through earnest
+military teaching.
+
+Two great American commanders have spoken their thoughts on this
+subject. The weight of their comment is enhanced by the conspicuous
+success of both men in the field of moral leading.
+
+Said Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, Chief of Naval Operations: "I concur
+that we _can_ take average good men and, by proper training, develop
+in them the essential initiative, confidence, and magnetism which are
+necessary in leadership. I believe that these qualities are present in
+the average man to a degree that he can be made a good leader if his
+native qualities are properly developed; whether or not he becomes a
+_great_ leader depends upon whether or not he possesses that _extra_
+initiative, magnetism, moral courage, and force which makes the
+difference between the average man and the above-average man."
+
+Said Gen. C. B. Cates, Commandant of the Marine Corps: "Leadership is
+intangible, hard to measure and difficult to describe. Its qualities
+would seem to stem from many factors. But certainly they must include
+a measure of inherent ability to control and direct, _self-confidence
+based on expert knowledge_, initiative, loyalty, pride, _and a sense
+of responsibility_. Inherent ability obviously cannot be instilled,
+but that which is latent or dormant can be developed. Other
+ingredients can be acquired. They are not easily taught or easily
+learned. _But leaders can be and are made._ The average good man in
+our service is and must be considered a potential leader."
+
+There are common denominators in these two quotations which clearly
+point in one main direction. When we accent the importance of extra
+initiative, expert knowledge and a sense of responsibility, we are
+saying in other words that out of unusual application to duty comes
+the power to lead others in the doing of it.
+
+The matter is as simple and as profound as that, and if we will
+consider for but a moment, we will see why it could hardly be
+otherwise.
+
+No normal young man is likely to recognize in himself the qualities
+which will persuade others to follow him. On the other hand, any man
+who can carry out orders in a cheerful spirit, complete this work step
+by step, use imagination in improving it, and then when the job is
+done, can face toward his next duty with anticipation, need have no
+reason to doubt his own capacity for leadership.
+
+The psychologists assure us that there is a sound scientific basis for
+what enlightened military trainers have long held to be true--that the
+first-class follower and the leader are one and the same. They say
+that this is literally true, and that their tests prove it so.
+
+But it does not follow that every man can be taught to lead. In the
+majority of men, success or failure is caused more by mental attitude
+than by mental capacity. Many are unwilling to face the ordeal of
+thinking for themselves and of accepting responsibility for others.
+But the man determined to excel at his own work has already climbed
+the first rung of the ladder; in that process he perforce learns to
+think for himself while setting an example to those who are around
+him. Out of application to work comes capacity for original and
+creative progress. The personality characteristics, emotional balance,
+etc., which give him excellence in those things which he does with his
+own brain and hand will enable him to command the respect, and in
+turn, the service of other men.
+
+To this extent, certainly leadership can be learned! It is a matter of
+mastering simple techniques which will give more effective expression
+to the character and natural talents of the individual.
+
+Said one of this Nation's great political leaders: "There is no more
+valuable subordinate than the man to whom you can give a piece of work
+and then forget it, in the confident expectation that the next time it
+is brought to your attention it will come in the form of a report that
+the thing has been done. When this self-reliant quality is joined to
+executive power, loyalty and common sense, the result is a man whom
+you can trust."
+
+Yes, indeed, and that is as it should be. For while no man can be sure
+of the possibilities of his influence over other men, every man knows
+by his own conscience when he is putting forth his best effort, and
+when he is slacking.
+
+It is therefore not an arbitrary standard for measuring leadership
+capacity in men which puts the ability to excel in assigned work above
+everything else. The willingness and ability to strive, and to do, are
+best judged by what we see of men in action. If they are indifferent
+to assigned responsibilities, they are bad risks for larger ones, no
+matter how charming their personalities or what the record says about
+their prior experience and educational advantages. Either that
+proposition is both reasonable and sound, or Arnold Bennett was
+singing off key when he said: "I think fine this necessity for the
+tense bracing of the will before anything worth doing can be done. It
+is the chief thing that distinguishes me from the cat by the fire."
+
+Love of work is the sheet-anchor of the man who truly aspires to
+command responsibilities; that means love of it, not for the reward,
+or for the skill exercised, but for the final and successful
+accomplishment of the work itself. For out of interest in the job
+comes thoroughness, and it is this quality above all which
+distinguishes the willing spirit. The willingness to learn, to study
+and to try harder are requisite to individual progress and the
+improvement of opportunity--the process that Thomas Carlyle described
+as the "unfolding of one's self." Thus it can be taken as an axiom
+that any man can lead who is determined to become master of that
+knowledge which an increased responsibility would require of him; and
+by the same token, that to achieve maximum efficiency at one's own
+working level, it is necessary to see it as if from the perspective of
+the next level up. To excel in the management of a squad, the leader
+must be knowledgeable of all that bears upon the command of a platoon.
+Otherwise the mechanism lacks something of unity.
+
+Mark Twain said at one point that we should be thankful for the
+indolent, since but for them the rest of us could not get ahead.
+That's on the target, and it emphasizes that how fast and far each of
+us travels is largely a matter of free choice.
+
+Personal advancement, within any worthwhile system, requires some
+sacrifice of leisure, and more careful attention to the better
+organization of one's working routine. But that does not entail heroic
+self-sacrifice or the forfeiting of any of life's truly enduring
+rewards. It means putting the completion of work ahead of golf and
+bridge. It means rejecting the convenient excuse for postponing
+solution of the problem until the next time. It means cultivating the
+mind during hours that would otherwise be spent in idleness. It means
+concentrating for longer periods on the work at hand without getting
+up from one's chair. But after all, these things do not require an
+extraordinary faculty. The ability of the normal man to concentrate
+his thought and effort are mainly the product of a personal conviction
+that concentration is necessary and desirable. Abbe Dimnet said:
+"Concentration is supposed to be exceptional only because people do
+not try and, in this, as in so many things, starve within an inch of
+plenty." And as to the mien and manner which will develop from firm
+commitments, another wise Frenchman, Honore Balzac, added this:
+"Conviction brings a silent, indefinable beauty into faces made of the
+commonest human clay." Here is a great part of the secret. It is in
+the exercise of the will that the men are separated from the boys, and
+that the officer who is merely anxious for advancement is put apart
+from the one who is truly ambitious to succeed in his life calling.
+Even a lazy-minded superior, in judging of his subordinates, will
+rarely mistake the one condition for the other.
+
+When within the services we hear the highest praise reserved for the
+man "with character," that is what the term means--application to duty
+and thoroughness in all undertakings, along with that maturity of
+spirit and judgment which comes by precept, by kindness, by study, by
+watching, and above all, by example. The numerous American commanders
+from all services who have been accorded special honor because they
+rose from the ranks have invariably made their careers by the extra
+work, self-denial and rigor which the truly good man does not hesitate
+to endure. The question facing every young officer is whether he, too,
+is willing to walk that road for the rewards, material and spiritual,
+which will surely attend it.
+
+There is of course that commonest of excuses for rejecting the
+difficult and taking life easy. "I haven't time!" But for the man who
+keeps his mind on the object, there is always time. Figure it out!
+About us in the services daily we see busy men who somehow manage to
+find time for whatever is worth doing, while at the adjoining desks
+are others with abundant leisure who can't find time for anything.
+When something important requires doing, it is usually the busy man
+who gets the call.
+
+Of the many personal decisions which life puts upon a service officer,
+the main one is whether he chooses to swim upstream. If he says yes to
+that, and means it, all things then begin to fit into place. Then will
+develop gradually but surely that well-placed inner confidence which
+is the foundation of military character. From the knowing of _what to
+do_ comes the knowing of _how to do_, which is likewise important.
+Much is conveyed in few words in Army Field Forces' "Brief on
+Practical Concepts of Leadership." It is stressed therein that the
+preeminent quality which all great commanders have owned in common is
+a _positiveness_ of manner and of viewpoint, the power to concentrate
+on means to a given end to the exclusion of exaggerated fears of the
+obstacles which lie athwart the course. Every word of that should be
+underscored, and above all, what it says about the need for
+affirmative thinking, and concentrating on how the thing can be done.
+The service is no place for those who hang back and view through a
+glass darkly. The man who falls into the vice of thinking negatively
+must perforce in time become fearful of all action; he lacks the power
+of decision, because it has been destroyed by his habit of thought,
+and even when circumstances compel him to say yes he remains
+uncommitted in spirit.
+
+But the shadow should not be mistaken for the substance. Positiveness
+of manner, and redoubtable inner conviction stem only from the mastery
+of superior knowledge, and this last is the fruit of application,
+preparation, thoroughness and the willingness to struggle to gain the
+desired end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN
+
+HUMAN NATURE
+
+
+In the history of American arms, the most revealing chapter as to the
+nature of the human animal does not come from any story of the
+battlefield but from the record of 23 white men and two Eskimos who,
+on August 26, 1881, set up in isolation a camp on the edge of Lady
+Franklin Bay to attempt a Farthest North record for the United States.
+
+The Expedition under command of First Lt. A. W. Greeley, USA, expected
+to be picked up by a relief ship after 1 year, or 2 years at most. Its
+supply could be stretched to cover the maximum period. But the winters
+were so unduly harsh that the rescue mission could not break through
+the ice to keep the rendezvous. During the first year, two members of
+the party had set a new Far North mark. The party as a whole--3
+officers, 19 enlisted men, 1 civilian surgeon and the 2 natives--had
+survived a winter closer to the Pole than civilized men had ever lived
+before. So doing, they had remained in reasonably good personal
+adjustment to each other, despite the Arctic monotony. The discipline
+of the camp had been strict. Rules of subordination, sanitation,
+work-sharing and religious observance had been maintained, without
+major friction occurring in the life of the group. Lectures were given
+regularly, and schools were organized. Though it is recorded that the
+men became melancholy, sleepless, and irritable because of the long
+Arctic night, temper was still in so good a state that an honor system
+within the camp meted out extra duty to any man using an oath.
+
+The comradely feeling remained alive within the party throughout the
+first winter, though morale had its first blow when Greeley issued an
+unwise order forbidding enlisted men to go more than 500 yards from
+the base without permission. The strain was beginning to tell, but
+there was no fatal rift in the working harmony of the group while
+supply and hope remained reasonably full.
+
+But June of the second year came and passed, and no relief ship
+arrived. In August, Greeley decided on a retreat, intending to fall
+back on bases which were supposed to hold food stores. Thereafter
+disaster was piled upon disaster, most of it having to do with the
+lack of food, and the varying animal and spiritual reactions of men to
+a situation of utmost desperation. When the Greeley Expedition was at
+last rescued at Cape Sabine on June 22, 1884, by the third
+expedition--the _Revenue Cutter Bear_ and the _Thetis_ under Commander
+Winfield S. Schley, USN--only seven men remained alive. Even in these,
+the spark of life was so feeble that their tent was down over them and
+they had resigned themselves to death. Two died soon after the rescue,
+leaving five. Most of the other 20 had perished of slow starvation,
+but not all. Some had been shot. Others had met death with utmost
+bravery trying to save their failing comrades.
+
+All that happened to Greeley's party during the months of its terrible
+ordeal is known because of a diary which records the main things--the
+fight of discipline against the primal instincts in men, the reversion
+of the so-called civilized man to his real type when he knows that
+death is at his elbow, the strength of unity which comes of
+comradeship, and also the weakness in some individuals which makes it
+impossible for them to measure up to honor's requirements.
+
+Men are of all kinds. Some remain base, though given every opportunity
+to develop compassion. Others who may appear plodding and dull, and
+have been denied opportunity, still have in them an immortal spark of
+love for humanity which gives them an unbreakable bond with their
+fellows in the hours of crisis.
+
+What the case history of the Greeley Expedition proves is that _in the
+determining number of men, the potential is sound_. Given a wise,
+understanding leadership, they will stand together, and they will
+either persuade the others to go along, or they will help break them
+if they resist. If that were not the truth of the matter, no military
+commander in our time would be able to make his forces keep going into
+battle.
+
+Until the end, discipline was kept in Greeley's force. But this was
+not primarily due to Lieutenant Greeley, the aloof, strict
+disciplinarian who commanded by giving orders, instead of by trying to
+command the spirits and loyalties of men. That any survived was due to
+the personal force and example of Sgt. (later Brig. Gen.) David L.
+Brainard, who believed in discipline as did Greeley, and supported his
+chief steadfastly, but also supplied the human warmth and helping hand
+which rallied other men, where Greeley's strictures only made them
+want to fight back. Brainard was not physically the strongest man in
+the Expedition, nor necessarily the most self-sacrificing and
+courageous. But he had what counted most--mental and moral balance.
+
+Among the most fractious and self-centered of the individuals was the
+camp surgeon, highly trained and educated, and chosen because he
+seemed to have a way among men. Greeley was several times at the point
+of having him shot; the surgeon's death by starvation saved Greeley
+that necessity.
+
+Among the most decent, trustworthy, and helpful was Jens, the simple
+Eskimo, who died trying to carry out a rescue mission. He had never
+been to school a day in his life.
+
+There were soldiers in the party whom no threat of punishment, or
+sense of pity, could deter from taking advantage of their comrades,
+rifling stores, cheating on duty and even stealing arms in the hope of
+doing away with other survivors. When repeated offense showed that
+they were unreformable, they were shot.
+
+But in the greater number, the sense of pride and of honor was
+stronger even than the instinct for self-preservation, though these
+were _average_ enlisted men, not especially chosen because their
+records proved they had unusual fortitude.
+
+Private Schneider, a youngster who loved dogs and played the violin,
+succumbed to starvation after penning one of the most revealing
+deathbed statements ever written: "Although I stand accused of doing
+dishonest things here lately, I herewith, as a dying man, can say that
+the only dishonest thing I ever did was to eat my own sealskin boots
+and the part of my pants."
+
+Private Fredericks, accused in the early and less-trying period of
+meanness and injustice to his comrades, became a rock of strength in
+the weeks when all of the others were in physical collapse or coma,
+and was made a sergeant because of the nobility of his conduct. Yet
+this man's ambition was to be a saloonkeeper in Minneapolis.
+
+There is still an official report on file in the Department of the
+Army which describes Sergeant Rice as the "bravest and noblest" of the
+Expedition. He is identified with most of its greatest heroisms. The
+man was apparently absolutely indomitable and incorruptible. He died
+from freezing on a last forlorn mission into the Arctic storm to
+retrieve a cache of seal meat for his friends. Fredericks, who had
+accompanied him, was so grief-stricken at the tragedy that he
+contemplated dying at his side, then reacted in a way which signifies
+much in a few words, "Out of the sense of duty I owed my dead comrade,
+I stooped and kissed the remains and left them there for the wild
+winds of the Arctic to sweep over."
+
+Such briefly were the extremes and the middle ground in this body of
+human material. At one end were the amoral characters whose excesses
+became steadily worse as the situation blackened. At the other were
+Brainard and Rice--good all the way through, absolute in integrity and
+adjusted perfectly to other men. In between these wholly contrasting
+elements was the group majority, trying to do duty, with varying
+degrees of success. That would include Greeley, strong in
+self-discipline but likewise brittle. It would include Lieutenant
+Lockwood, a lion among men for most of the distance, but totally
+downcast and beaten in the last dreadful stretch, Israel, the youngest
+of the party who won the love of other men by his frankness and
+generosity, Sergeant Gardiner who was always ready to share his scraps
+of food with whoever he thought needed them more, Private Whisler who
+died begging his comrades to forgive him for having stolen a few
+slices of bacon, and Private Bender who alternated between feats of
+heroism and acts of miscreancy.
+
+Other than their common experience, there was probably nothing unusual
+about this group of men. They were an average slice of American
+manpower as found in the services of that day, and in the
+fundamentals, men have changed but little since. Those who had the
+chance to study American men under the terrible rigor of Japanese
+imprisonment during World War II give an analysis not unlike the
+chronicles of the Greeley party. In certain of the prisoners,
+character, and sanity with it, held fast against every circumstance.
+In others, some of whom had been well educated and came from gentle
+homes, the brute instinct was as uppermost as in an East African
+cannibal.
+
+From such crucibles as these, even more than from the remittent
+stresses of combat in war, comes the clearest light on the inner
+nature of man, insofar as it needs to be understood by the officer who
+may some day lead a force into battle.
+
+Snap judgment on the data might lead to the conclusion that every
+individual is exactly according to his own mould, that influence from
+without can not catalyze character, and that hence training has little
+to do with winning loyalty and instilling dutifulness. That would be
+as radically false as to believe that training, when properly
+conducted, can make all men alike and can infuse all ranks with the
+desire for a high standard. The vanity of that hope can be read out of
+what happened to the force at Cape Sabine. But the positive lesson
+glows even more strongly. The good Sergeant, Brainard, wrote of his
+Lieutenant, Lockwood, that he "loved him more than a brother." It was
+the service which taught him the worth of that attachment; Brainard's
+superb courage developed initially out of his unbounded admiration for
+Lockwood's dauntlessness, and in time the copyist outdistanced the
+model. Emotionally, Greeley and Brainard were quite unlike. One was a
+New England Puritan, the other a hard-boiled sergeant. But they became
+as one in the interests of the force; service training had made that
+possible.
+
+Psychologists tell us that every sense impression leaves a trace or
+imprint of itself on the mind, or in other words, what we are, and
+what we may become, is influenced in some measure by everything
+touching the circumference of our daily lives. The imprints become
+memories and ideas, and in their turn build up the consciousness, the
+reason and finally the will, which translates into physical action
+the psychological purpose. In the process, moral character may be
+shaped and strengthened; but it will not be transformed if it is dross
+in the first place. That is something which every combat leader has
+learned in his tour under fire; the man of whom nobody speaks good,
+who is regarded as a social misfit, unliked and unliking, of his
+comrades, will usually desert them under pressure. There are others
+who have the right look but will be just as quick to quit, and look to
+themselves, in a crisis; underneath, they are made of the same shoddy
+stuff as the derelict, but have learned a little more of the modern
+art of getting by. Leadership, be it ever so inspired, can not make a
+silk purse from a sow's ear. But as shines forth in the record of
+Greeley and his men, it can reckon with the fact that the majority is
+more good than mean, and that from this may be developed the strength
+of the whole. In the clutch, the men at Cape Sabine who believed in
+the word "duty," and who understood spiritually that its first meaning
+was mutual responsibility, remained joined in an insoluble union. That
+was the inevitable outcome, leadership doing its part. The minority
+had no basis for organic solidarity, as each of its number was
+motivated only by self-interest. Goodwill and weakness may be combined
+in one man; bad will and strength in another. High moral leading can
+lift the first man to excel himself; it will not reform the other. But
+there is no other sensible rule than that all men will be approached
+with trust, and treated as trustworthy until proved otherwise beyond
+reasonable doubt.
+
+To transfer this thought to even the largest element in war, it will
+be seen that _it is not primarily a cause which makes men loyal to
+each other, but the loyalty of men to each other which makes a cause_.
+The unity which develops from man's recognition of his dependence upon
+his fellows is the mainspring of every movement by which society, or
+any autonomy within it, moves forward.
+
+It is a common practice to say "Men are thus-and-so." Nothing is more
+attractive than to make some glittering generalization about the human
+race, and from it draw a moral for the instruction of those who work
+with human material. But from all that we have learned from the
+experience of men under inordinate pressure, either in war or wherever
+else military forces have been sorely tested, it would be false to say
+either that the desire for economic security or the instinct for
+self-preservation is the driving force in every man's action. To those
+who possess the strength of the strong, honor is the main shaft; and
+they can carry a sufficient number of the company along with them to
+stamp their mark upon whatever is done by the group. No matter what
+their personal strength, however, they too are dependent on the
+others. There is no possibility of growth for any man except through
+the force, and by the works of those about him, though the manner of
+his growth is partly a matter of free choice. To most men, the setting
+of the good example is a challenge to pride and a stimulus to action.
+To nearly every member of the race, confidence and inspiration come
+mainly from the influence which living associates have upon them. That
+training is most perfect which takes greatest advantage of this truth,
+employing it in balance toward the development of a spirit of
+comradeship and the doing of work with a manifestly military purpose.
+Peace training is war training and nothing less. There is no other
+basis for the efficient operation of military forces even when the
+skies are clear. _But no commander or instructor can convince men of
+the decisive importance of the object if he himself regards it as only
+an intellectual exercise._
+
+The Army's "Brief on Practical Concepts of Leaderships," published 1
+January 1950, well points out the desirability of leaders realizing it
+is vain to expect that training can bring men forward uniformly. The
+better men advance rapidly; the men of average attainments remain
+average; the below-average lose additional ground to the competition.
+In consequence, the chance for balance in the organizational structure
+depends upon the leader progressing in such close knowledge of his men
+that those who are strong in various aspects of the team's general
+requirements compensate for the weaknesses of others, irrespective of
+MOS numbers. It is not less essential that the followers know each
+other and prepare themselves to complement each other. Obviously,
+this cannot be done when personnel changes are so frequent that those
+concerned have no chance to see deeper than the surface.
+
+Even when to do any labor meant sapping the small store of energy
+deriving from a few ounces of food each day, Greeley's men kept alive
+the spark of morale and mutual support by maintaining a work schedule,
+until the day came when there was no longer a man who could stand. To
+fight off despondency, they held to a nightly schedule of lectures and
+discussions in their rude shelters, until speech became an agony
+because of throats poisoned by eating of caterpillars, lichens and
+saxifrage blossoms. In their worst extremity, Private Fredericks,
+unlettered but a man of great common sense and moral power, became the
+doctor, cook and forager for the party.
+
+Men do not achieve a great solidarity, or preserve it, simply by
+_being_ together. Their mutual bonds are forged only by _doing_
+together that which they have been made convinced is constructive.
+Their view of its importance is usually contingent upon what others
+tell them, and upon a continuing emphasis thereof. _Unity is all at
+one time a consequence of, and a cause and condition for great
+accomplishment._ Toward that end, it is neither vital nor desirable
+that all members of the group coincide in their motives, ideas and
+methods of expression. What is important is that each man should know,
+and to a reasonable extent incorporate into his own life the thoughts,
+desires and interests of the others. Such sentiments, fixed by
+repetition, remain as a habit during the life of the group, and
+provide the base for disciplined action. But when men are not thus
+drawn together and the cord of sympathy remains unstrung, there is no
+basis for control, nor any element of contact by which the group may
+identify itself with some larger entity and profit by transfusion of
+its moral strength.
+
+_The absence of a common purpose is the chief source of unhappiness in
+any collection of individuals._ Lacking it, and the common standard of
+justice which is one of its chief agents, men become more and more
+separate units, each fighting for his own rights. Yet paradoxically,
+if an organic unity is to develop within any body of free men, drawn
+from a free society to serve its military institutions, and if the
+fairest use is to be made of their possibilities, the processes of the
+institution must embody respect for the dignity of the individual, for
+his rights, and not less, for his desire for worthwhile recognition.
+The profile of every man depends upon the space which others leave
+him. "Of himself," said Napoleon, "a man is nothing." But every man
+also contributes with his every act to the level of what his group may
+attain. One of the foremost leaders in the United States Navy in World
+War II said this about the integrity of personality: "Every person is
+unique. Human talents were never before assembled in exactly the same
+way that they have been put together in yourself. Nothing like you
+ever happened before. No one can predict with accuracy how you will
+grow in your particular combination of skills if allowed complete
+freedom of movement." If there is one word out of place in that
+statement, it is "complete;" no one has complete freedom but a
+buccaneer, and it is for the exercise of it that organized society
+swings him from a gibbet. It is only when personal freedom of action
+operates within an area limited by the rights and welfare of others
+that subordination, in its best sense, takes place. To direct a body
+of men toward the acceptance of this principle, so that thereby they
+may attain social coherence as a group and greater strength of
+personal character, is the most solid contribution that an officer can
+make to the arms of his country.
+
+He can succeed in this without being godlike in wisdom or pluperfect
+in temper. But it is necessary at least that he be interesting, and
+that he know how to get out of his own tracks, lest he be over-run by
+his own organization. Whatever his rank, _it is impossible for any man
+to lead if he is himself running behind_. This bespeaks the need of
+constant study, the constant use of one's personal powers and the
+exercise of the imagination. As men advance, that which was good soon
+ceases to be good simply because something better is possible. Once
+men begin to acquire a sense of organization, they also come to take
+the measure of those who are over them. They will then move
+instinctively toward the one man who possesses the greatest measure
+of social energy. The accolade of leadership is not inherent in the
+individual but is conferred on him by the group. It does not always
+follow that a man can develop an influence with others which is
+proportionate to his talents and capacity for work. Leadership in work
+is a main requirement, but if the group does not warm toward the
+appointed leader, if its members can not feel any enthusiasm about
+him, they will be hypercritical of whatever he does.
+
+History confirms, and a study of the workings of the human mind
+supports one proposition which many of the great captains of war have
+accepted as a truism. "There are no bad troops: there are only bad
+leaders." Taking on percentage what we already know of our average
+American raw material, as it had proved itself in every war, and as it
+has been studied in such a laboratory as the camp at Cape Sabine, no
+exception can be taken to that statement. On the other hand, we know
+equally well that leadership can be taught and it can be acquired.
+Much of our best material lies fallow, awaiting a hand on the
+shoulder, and the touch of other men's confidence, before it can step
+forward. This is not because men with a sound potential for leading
+must necessarily have an outward air of modesty among their major
+virtues, but because a man--particularly a young man--cannot gain a
+sense of his power among his fellows except as they give him their
+confidence, and vivify his natural desire to be something better than
+the average. There is no indication that at any stage of his career
+Gen. George S. Patton was an outwardly modest man. But in reviewing
+the milestones in his own making, he underscored the occasion when
+General Pershing, then commanding the Punitive Expedition into Mexico,
+supported Lieutenant Patton's judgment against that of a major. These
+are his words: "My act took high moral courage and built up my
+self-confidence." It would seem altogether clear, however, that
+Pershing had more than a little to do with it. Col. W. T. Sherman had
+to be kindled by the warm touch of Mr. Lincoln and steeled by the
+example and strong faith of Gen. U. S. Grant before he could believe
+in his own capacity for generalship. We all live by information and
+not by sight. We exist by faith in others, which is the source toward
+knowing greater faith in ourselves.
+
+About the elements of human nature, it is good that an officer should
+know enough that he will be able to win friends and influence people.
+But it is folly to believe that he should pursue his studies in this
+subject until he habitually looks at men as would a scientist putting
+some specimen under a powerful microscope.
+
+Self-consciousness is by no means a serious fault in anyone confronted
+by a new set of responsibilities, and working among new companions.
+There is scarcely an officer who has not felt it, particularly in the
+beginning, before he is assured in his own presence. But if the
+greater part of the officer corps were ever to become absorbed in the
+business of taking men apart to see what makes them tick, thereby
+superinducing self-consciousness all down the line, an irremediable
+blight would come upon the services. There is no need to look that
+deeply. What matters mainly is that an officer will know how men are
+won to accept authority, how they can be made to unify their own
+strength, how they can be helped to find satisfaction and success in
+their employment, how the stronger men can be chosen for preferment
+from among them, and finally, how they can be conditioned to face the
+realities of combat.
+
+The chronicles of effective military leadership date back to Gideon
+and his Band. Therefore any notion that it is impossible for an
+officer to make the best use of his men unless he is armed with all
+available research data and can talk the language of the philosopher
+and modern social scientist is little more than a twentieth century
+conceit. To seek and use all pertinent information is commendable, but
+truth comes of seeing all things in their natural proportion. To know
+more than is necessary blunts one's own weapons. The application of
+common sense to the problem is more vital than the possession of an
+inexhaustible store of data which has no practical bearing upon the
+matter at hand. As was said by a philosopher three centuries ago: "It
+is remarkable in some that they could be so much better if they could
+but be better in some thing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE
+
+GROUP NATURE
+
+
+In the same way that knowledge of individual nature becomes the key to
+building strength within the group, an understanding of crowd nature
+is essential to the preservation of the unique power within the group,
+particularly under conditions of extreme pressure.
+
+Whereas the central object of a training discipline is to raise a
+safeguard against any military body reverting to crowd form under
+trial by fire, history shows that paralysis both of leadership and of
+the ranks, obliviousness to orders, forgetfulness of means of
+communication, disintegration and even panic are the not uncommon
+reactions of military forces when first entering into battle.
+
+From Bunker Hill and Brandywine down to Pearl Harbor and the fight at
+Kasserine Pass, the American battle record shows that our own troops
+are by no means immune to these ill effects, and that our peace time
+training needs, therefore, always to be reappraised with a critical
+eye to the main issue.
+
+Any of these unsteadying reactions can be prevented, or at least
+minimized, by training which anticipates the inevitable disorders of
+battle--including those who are of material sort as well as the
+disorders of the mind--and acclimates men to the realities of the
+field in war. All may be averted if leadership is braced to the shock
+and prepared to exercise strong control. Indeed, it is a truth worthy
+of the closest regard that the greater number of the disarrangements
+which take place during combat are due to leadership feeling a
+tightening of the throat, and a sticking of the palate, and failing to
+do that which the intellect says should be done.
+
+To take any action, when even to think of action is itself difficult,
+is the essential step toward recovery and the surmounting of all
+difficulty. It is not because of a babel of mixed voices and commands
+that military bodies not infrequently relapse into helplessness and
+stagnation in the face of the enemy. From that cause there may occur
+an occasional minor dislocation. Their total effect is trivial
+compared to the failures which come of leadership, at varying levels,
+failing promptly to exercise authority when nothing else can resolve
+the situation. Among the commonest of experiences in war is to witness
+troops doing nothing, or worse, doing the wrong thing, without one
+commanding voice being raised to give them direction. In such
+circumstance, any man who has the nerve and presence to step forward
+and give them an intelligent order in a manner indicating that he
+expects to be obeyed, will be accepted as a leader and will be given
+their support.
+
+For this reason, under the conditions of modern battle, the coherence
+of any military body comes not only of men being articulate all down
+the line but of building up the dynamic power in each individual. It
+is a thoroughly sound exercise in any unit to give every man a chance
+to take charge, and give orders in drill, or other limited exercises,
+once he had learned what the orders mean. By the same token, it is
+good practice for the junior leader to displace a file in a training
+exercise, and become commanded for a time, to sharpen his own
+perspective.
+
+Progress comes of making the most of our strengths rather than looking
+for ways to repair weaknesses. This is true in things both large and
+small. The platoon leader who permits himself to be bedeviled by the
+file who won't or can't keep step cannot do justice to the ambitions
+of the 10 strongest men beneath him, upon whom the life of the
+formation would depend, come an emergency. To nourish and encourage
+the top rather than to concentrate effort and exhaust nerves in trying
+to correct the few least likely prospects is the healthy way of growth
+within military organization.
+
+Not all men are fitted by nature for the precisions of life in a
+barracks. They may accept its discipline while not being able to
+adjust to its rhythm. The normal temptation to despair of them needs
+to be resisted if only for the reason experience has proved they
+sometimes make the best men in combat. There are many types which fit
+into this category--the foreigner but recently arrived in America,
+the miner who has spent most of his years underground, the boy from
+the sticks who has known only the plough and furrow, the woodsman, the
+reservation Indian, and the men of all races who have had hard
+taskmasters or other misfortune in their civilian sphere, and expect
+to be hurt again. It is not unusual for this kind of material to show
+badly in training because of an ingrained fear of other men. At the
+same time, they can face mortal danger. _To harass the man who is
+trying, but can't quite do it, therefore cuts double against the
+strength of organization. It may ruin the man; it may also give his
+comrades the feeling that he isn't getting a decent break._
+
+The military crowd requires, above all, maturity of judgment in its
+leaders. It cannot be patronized safely. Nor can it be treated in the
+classroom manner, as if wisdom were being dispensed to schoolboys.
+When it has been remiss, it expects to catch unshirted hell for its
+failings, and though it may smart under a just bawling out, it will
+feel let down if the commander quibbles. But any officer puts himself
+on a skid, and impairs the strength of his unit, if he takes to task
+all hands because of the wilful failings of a minority. Strength comes
+to men when they feel that they are grown up and as a body are in
+control and under control, since it amounts to the same thing; it is
+only when men unite toward a common purpose that control becomes
+possible. In this respect, the servant is in fact the master of the
+situation, fully realizes it, and is not unprepared to accept
+proportionate responsibility.
+
+It is a sign of a good level of discipline in a command when orders
+are given and faithfully carried out. But it is a sign of a vastly
+superior condition when men are prepared to demand those orders which
+they know the situation requires, if it is to be helped. No competent
+subordinate sits around waiting for someone else to give impulse to
+movement if his senses tell him that things are going to pot. He
+either suggests a course of action to his superior, or asks authority
+to execute it on his own, or in the more desperate circumstances of
+the battlefield, gives orders on his own initiative. To counsel any
+lesser theory of individual responsibility than this would leave
+every chain of command at the complete mercy of its weakest link, and
+throughout the general establishment, would choke the fount of
+inspiration which comes of the upward thrust of energy and of ideas.
+
+This latter characteristic in the masses of men composing any
+organization is the final statement of moral responsibility for
+success. Within military forces, an element of command is owned by
+every man who is doing his duty with intelligence and imagination.
+That puts him on the side of the angels, and the pressure which he
+exerts is felt not only by his subordinates but by those topside who
+are doing less. Many a lazy skipper has snapped out of it and at last
+begun to level with his organization because he felt the hot breath of
+a few earnest subordinates on his neck. Many a battle unit has held to
+ground which it had been ready to forsake because of the example of an
+aid man who stayed at his work and refused to forsake the wounded.
+Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was thinking on these things when he said
+during World War II: "There is among the mass of individuals who carry
+rifles in war a great amount of ingenuity and efficiency. If men can
+talk naturally to their officers, the product of their resourcefulness
+becomes available to all." But the art of open communication requires
+both receiving and sending, and the besetting problem is to get
+officers to talk naturally to men.
+
+In the seventeenth century Marshal Maurice de Saxe rediscovered
+cadenced marching which, along with the hard-surfaced roads of France,
+had remained buried since the time of the Romans. He reinstituted
+precision marching and drill within military bodies, and by that
+action changed European armies from straggling mobs into disciplined
+troops. The effects of that reform have been felt right down to the
+present. Baron von Steuben, the great reorganizer of the forces in
+George Washington's Army, simply built upon the principles which de
+Saxe had set forth one century earlier. These two great architects of
+military organization founded their separate systems upon one
+controlling idea--that _if men can be trained to think about moving
+together, they can then be led to move toward thinking together_. De
+Saxe wanted keen men, not automatons; in that, he was singular among
+the captains of his day. He started the numbering of regiments so that
+they would have a continuing history and thereby benefit from _esprit
+de corps_. He was the first to see the great importance of battle
+colors and to standardize their use. Of his own military opinions he
+wrote: "Experts should not be offended by the assurance with which I
+deliver my opinions. They should correct them; that is the fruit I
+expect from my work."
+
+Now to take a look at von Steuben. He was the drillmaster of the
+American Revolution, but he was also its greatest student of the human
+mind and heart. He wrote the drill regulations of the Army, and as he
+wrote, committed them to memory. Of his labors he said: "I dictated my
+dispositions in the night; in the day I had them performed." But he
+learned the nature of the human material for which he thought these
+exercises were suited by visiting the huts of the half-clad soldiers
+of Valley Forge, personally inspecting their neglected weapons and
+hearing from their own lips of their sufferings. His main technic in
+installing his system was to depend upon the appeal of a powerful
+example; to allay all doubt of exactly what was wanted, he formed a
+model company and drilled it himself. He was a natural man; troops
+warmed to him because of an unabashed use of broken English and his
+violently explosive use, under stress, of "gottam!" which was his only
+quasi-English oath. In countenance he was strikingly like Gen. George
+S. Patton and there were other points of resemblance. A private
+soldier at Valley Forge was impressed with "the trappings of his
+pistols, the enormous holsters of his pistols, his large size, his
+strikingly martial aspect." But while he liked to dine with great men
+at his table, he chose to complete his list with officers of inferior
+rank. Once at Valley Forge he permitted his aides to give a dinner for
+junior officers on condition that none should be admitted that had on
+a whole pair of breeches. This was making the most of adversity. While
+wearing two stars and serving as Inspector General of the Army, he
+would still devote his whole day to the drilling of a squad of 10 or
+12 men to get his system going. To a former Prussian associate he
+wrote this of Americans: "You say to your soldier, 'Do this!' and he
+doeth it; but I am obliged to say, 'This is the reason that you ought
+to do that,' and then he does it."
+
+This was the key to the phenomenal success of his system. Within 6
+weeks after he began work at Valley Forge, the Continental Army was on
+a new footing of self-confidence. His personal diligence in inquiring
+into the conduct of all officers toward their men, and his zeal in
+checking the accoutrement and carriage of every soldier established
+within the Army its first standard of inspection. Officers began to
+divide their scant rations with their men so that they would look
+better. But though he drilled the men of Valley Forge in marching and
+maneuver, Steuben paid no attention to the manual of arms, and let
+that wait until after he had gone into battle with these same forces.
+He explained why in these words: "Every colonel had introduced a
+system of his own and those who had taken the greatest pains were
+naturally the most attached to their work. Had I destroyed their
+productions, they would have detested me. I therefore preferred to pay
+no special attention to this subject until I had won their
+confidence." To take hold at the essential point and postpone action
+on the relatively unimportant, to respect a worthy pride and natural
+dignity in other men, and finally, to demonstrate that there is a
+better way in order to win men's loyalty and to use loyalty as the
+portal to more constructive collective thought--all of these morals
+shine in this one object lesson. The most revealing light upon the
+character of Steuben comes of the episode in which he had one
+Lieutenant Gibbons arrested for an offense, which he later learned
+another had committed. He then went before the Regiment. It was
+raining hard, but he bared his head and asked Gibbons to come forward.
+"Sir," he said, "the fault which was committed might, in the presence
+of an enemy, have been fatal. Your Colonel tells me you are blameless.
+I ask your pardon. Return to your command."
+
+Mistakes will occur. Tempers will go off half-cocked even among men
+of good habit. Action will be taken on impulse rather than full
+information, despite every warning as to its danger. But no officer
+who has ever done serious injustice to a subordinate can do less than
+Steuben did, if he wants to keep respect. Admiral Halsey wrote about
+how he had once relieved one of his Captains in battle, found months
+later that he had misjudged him, and then tried by every means within
+his power to make redress.
+
+The main connecting link between the perfecting of group action in
+training and the end product of unity and economy of operations in
+battle has never been better than imperfectly expressed even by such
+masters as de Saxe and von Steuben, who felt it by profound instinct.
+The time-honored explanation is that when men accustom themselves to
+obeying orders, the time ultimately arrives when they will obey by
+habit, and that the habit will carry over into any set of
+circumstances requiring response to orders. This has the quality of
+relative truth; it is true so far as it goes, but it undersells the
+major values.
+
+The heterogeneous crowd is swayed by the voices of instinct. Properly
+trained, any military unit, being a homogeneous body, should be swayed
+by the voice of training. Out of uniformity of environment comes
+uniformity of character and spirit. From moving and acting together
+men grow to depend upon, and to support, each other, and to
+subordinate their individual wills to the will of the leader. And if
+that were all that training profited them, they would rarely win a
+battle or a skirmish under modern conditions!
+
+Today the supreme value of any training at arms which fixes habit is
+that, under conditions of absolute pressure, it enables men to take
+the primary steps essential to basic security without too great taxing
+of their mental faculties and moral powers; this leaves their senses
+relatively free to cope with the unexpected. The unforeseen
+contingency invariably happens in battle, and its incidence supplies
+the supreme test of the efficacy of any training method. Surprise has
+no regard for the importance of rank; in combat any unit's fortune may
+pivot on the judgment and initiative of the file who has last joined
+it. Therefore the moral object in training is stated without any
+qualification in words once used by a wise Frenchman, Dr. Maurice
+Campeaux: "_It should be the subordination of the individual's will to
+the leader's, and not its surrender or destruction._" All training at
+all levels has a dual object--to develop us all as leaders of men and
+followers of leaders. Its technics are most perfect when they serve
+evenly these parallel purposes. In consequence, when any officer
+thinks only on: "What is policy?" rather than: "What should policy be
+for the good of the service?" he has trained his sights too low.
+
+Even in modern warfare, however, there are exceptional circumstances
+in which success is altogether dependent upon the will and judgment of
+the leader, and undeviating response to his orders. The commander of a
+buttoned-up tank is the master of its fortunes, and what happens for
+better or worse is according to the strength of his personal control.
+Within a submerged submarine during action, the situation is still
+more remarkable. Only one man, the commander of the ship, can see what
+is occurring, and he only with one eye; the resolving of every
+situation depends on his judgment as to what should be done. Yet those
+who have the surest knowledge of this service have said that the main
+problem in submarine warfare is to find a sufficient body of officers
+who will rise superior to the intricacies of their complicated
+machines, and will make their own opportunities and take advantage of
+them. That is hardly unique. The same quality is the hallmark of
+greatness in any individual serving with a combat arm. The military
+crowd will double its effort for a leader when success rides on his
+coattails; but he needs first to capture their loyalty by keeping his
+contracts with them, sweetening the ties of organization, and
+convincing them that he is a man to be followed. His luck (which
+despite all platitudes to the contrary is an element in success)
+begins when his men start to believe that he was born under a lucky
+star. But they are not apt to be so persuaded unless he can make his
+outfit shine in comparison with all others. The best argument for
+establishing a low VD score and a high disciplinary and deportment
+record within any unit is that it convinces higher authority that the
+unit is well run and is trying, and is therefore entitled to any extra
+consideration that may be requested. All who have been closely
+identified with the inner working of any higher headquarters in the
+American establishment know that it works this way. On the other hand,
+the fundamental idea is almost as old as the hills. Turning back to
+Cicero, we will find these words: "Neither the physician nor the
+general can ever, however praiseworthy he may be in the theory of his
+art, perform anything highly worthwhile without experience in the
+rules laid down for the observation of all small duties." The Old
+Roman added that between men nothing is so binding as a similarity of
+good dispositions.
+
+Within the military crowd, and granting to each the same quality of
+human material, the problem of achieving organic unity in the face of
+the enemy is one thing on a ship, and quite another among
+land-fighting forces. Loyalty to the ship itself provides an extra and
+incisive bond among naval forces. Given steadiness in the command, men
+will fight the ship to the limit, if only for the reason that if they
+fail to do so, there is no place to go but down. The physical setting
+of duty is defined by material objects close at hand. The individual
+has only to fit himself into an already predetermined frame. He knows
+when he is derelict, and he knows further that his dereliction can
+hardly escape the eye of his comrades. The words: "Now Hear This!"
+have the particular significance that they bespeak the collected
+nature of naval forces, and the essential unifying force of complete
+communications.
+
+If the situation were as concrete, and the integrating influences as
+pervading among field forces as in the Navy, land warfare would be
+relieved of a great part of its frictions. Except among troops
+defending a major fortress with all-around protection, there is no
+such possibility. Field movement is always diffusing. As fire builds
+up against the line, its members have less and less a sense of each
+other, and a feeling that as individuals they are getting support.
+Each man is at the mercy of the contact with some other file, and when
+the contact breaks, he sees only blackness in the enveloping
+situation. Men then have to turn physically back toward each other to
+regain the feeling of strength which comes of organization. That, in
+brief, is the mathematical and psychological reason why salients into
+an enemy line invariably take the form of a wedge; it comes of the
+movements of unnerved and aimless men huddling toward each other like
+sheep awaiting the voice of the shepherd. The natural instincts
+intervene ever in the absence of strong leadership. Said the French
+General de Maud'huy: "However perfectly trained a company may be it
+always tends to become once again the crowd when suddenly shocked."
+
+But the priceless advantage which may be instilled in the military
+crowd by a proper training is that it also possesses the means of
+recovery. That possibility--the resolution of order out of
+chaos--reposes within every file who has gained within the service a
+confidence that he has some measure of influence among his fellows.
+The welfare of the unit machinery depends upon having the greatest
+possible number of human shock absorbers--men who in the worst hour
+are capable of stepping forward and saying: "This calls for something
+extra and that means me." The restoration of control upon the
+battlefield, and the process of checking fright and paralysis and
+turning men back to essential tactical duties, does not come simply of
+constituted authority again finding its voice and articulating its
+strength to the extremities of the unit boundary. Control is a
+man-to-man force under fire. No matter how lowly his rank, any man who
+controls himself contributes to the control of others. A private can
+steady a general as surely as a cat can look at a king. There is no
+better ramrod for the back of a senior, who is beginning to buckle,
+than the sight of a junior who has kept his nerve. Land battles, as to
+the fighting part, are won by the intrepidity of men in grade from
+private to captains mainly. Fear is contagious but courage is not less
+so. The courage of any one man reflects in some degree the courage of
+all those who are within his vision. To the man who is in terror and
+bordering on panic, no influence can be more steadying than that of
+seeing some other man near him who is retaining self-control and doing
+his duty.
+
+The paralysis which comes of fear can be lifted only through the
+resumption of action which will again give individuals the feeling of
+organization. This does not mean ordering a bayonet charge, or the
+firing of a volley at such-and-such o'clock. It may mean only patting
+one man on the back, "talking it up" to a couple of others, sending
+someone out to find a flank, or turning one's self to dig-in, while
+passing the word to others to do likewise. This is action in the
+realest sense of the term. _Out of reinvigorating men toward the
+taking of many small actions develops the possibility of large and
+decisive action._ The unit must first find itself before doing an
+effective job of finding the enemy. Out of those acts which are
+incidental to the establishing of order, a leader reaffirms his own
+power of decision.
+
+Such things are elementary, and of the very nature of the fire fight.
+While there is much more to be said about the play of moral forces in
+the trial and success of the group under combat conditions, most of it
+is to be learned from other sources, and it is the duty of every
+officer to study all that he can of this subject, and apply it to what
+he does in his daily rounds.
+
+_There is no rule pertaining to the moral unifying of military forces
+under the pressures of the battlefield which is not equally good in
+the training which conditions troops for this eventuality._ For the
+group to feel a great spiritual solidarity, and for its members to be
+bound together by mutual confidence and the satisfactions of a
+rewarding comradeship, is the foundation of great enterprise. But it
+is not more than that. Unaccompanied by a strengthening of the
+military virtues and a rise in the martial spirit, a friendly unity
+will not of itself point men directly toward the main object in
+training, nor enable them to dispose themselves efficiently toward
+each other on entering battle.
+
+It does not make the military man less an agent of peace and more a
+militarist that he relishes his membership within a fighting
+establishment and thinks those thoughts which would best put his arms
+to efficient use. The military establishment neither declares nor
+makes war; these are acts by the nation. But it is the duty of the
+military establishment primarily to succor the nation from any great
+jeopardy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN
+
+ENVIRONMENT
+
+
+The saying of the Old Sergeant that, "It takes a war to knock the hell
+out of the Regular Army," applies as broadly to war's effects upon the
+general peacetime establishment.
+
+In the rapid expansion of the armed service which comes of a national
+emergency, nothing seems to remain the same. Old units fill up, and
+change their character. By the time they have sent out three or four
+cadres of commissioned and enlisted leaders to form the base for
+entirely new organizations, little remains of the moral foundation of
+the parent unit except an honored name.
+
+Promotion is rapid and moves are frequent among the higher commanders.
+No sooner does a man feel fairly settled under a new commander, and
+confident that he will get along, than he looks up to see someone else
+filling the space.
+
+Installations grow like mushrooms. Schools multiply at a phenomenal
+rate. The best qualified men are taken away so that they will become
+better qualified, either by taking an officers' course or through
+specialist training. Their places are taken by men who may have an
+equal native ability, but haven't yet mastered the tricks of the
+trade. This piles high the load of work on those who command.
+
+The intake and the pipelines in all services fill with men of a quite
+different fiber and outlook than those which commonly pass through the
+peacetime training establishment.
+
+Particularly in the drafts which flow to the army there is a curious
+mixture of the good with the bad. The illiterates, the low IQs and the
+men who are physically a few notches below par are passed for service,
+though under normal conditions the recruiting standards shut them out.
+At the other end of the scale are the highly educated men from the
+colleges, and the robust individuals from the factory and farm. In
+natural quality they are as well suited to the service as any who seek
+it out in peacetime, but in disposition they are likely to be a
+little less tractable. On the whole, however, there is no radical
+difference between them, if we look at both groups simply as training
+problems for the study of the officer.
+
+In the midst of war, when all else is in flux, at least one thing
+stands fast. The methods, the self-discipline, and the personality
+which will best enable the officer to command efficiently during peace
+are identical with the requirements which fit him to shape new
+material most perfectly under the conditions of war.
+
+This is only another way of saying that for his own success, in
+addition to the solid qualities which win him the respect of other
+men, when war comes, he needs a vast adaptability and a confidence
+which will carry over from one situation to another, or he will have
+no peace of mind.
+
+It is only to the man who is burdened with unnecessary and exaggerated
+fears, and who mistakes for a fancied security the privilege of
+sitting quietly in one place, that the uprooting which comes with war
+is demoralizing. The natural officer sees it as an hour of
+opportunity, and though he may not like anything else about war, he at
+least relishes the strong feeling of personal contention which always
+develops when there are many openings inviting many men. As one World
+War II commander expressed it: "During war the ball is always kicking
+around loose in the middle of the field and any man who has the will
+may pick it up and run with it."
+
+Promotion, however, and the invitation to try one's hand at some
+greater venture, do not come automatically to an officer because of
+the onset of war. The man who had marked time on his job becomes
+relatively worse off, not only because the competition is keener, but
+because in lieu of anything which marks him for preferment, there is
+no good reason why he should get it. Years of service are not to a
+man's credit short of some positive proof that the years have been
+well used. The following are among the reasons why certain officers
+are marked for high places and find the door wide open, come an
+emergency:
+
+    A consistently superior showing in the efficiency reports.
+
+    A record showing that they have done well in service schools.
+
+    The ability to attract the eye of some high-placed superior by
+    exceptional performance on maneuvers, in committee work or any
+    other testing problem.
+
+    In addition to general dutifulness, the development to a
+    conspicuous degree of the special talents such as writing,
+    instructing, lecturing and staff administration.
+
+    Fluency in other languages.
+
+    Wide and resourceful study in the fields of military history,
+    military geography, national military policy and logistics.
+
+    The advancement of an original idea which has led to a general
+    improvement in any one service.
+
+Any and all of these are extra strings to one's bow. They are the
+means to greater satisfaction during peacetime employment and the
+source of great personal advantage during the shooting season. But
+they should not be mistaken for the main thing. _To excell in command,
+and to be recognized as deserving of it, is the rightful ambition of
+every service officer and his main hold on the probabilities of
+getting wider recognition._
+
+This holds true of the man who is so patently a specialist that it
+would be wrong to waste him in a command responsibility. If he
+understands the art of command, and his personality and moral
+fortitude fit him for the leading of men, he will be in better
+adjustment with his circumstances anywhere in the services, and will
+be given greater respect by his superiors. This rule is so absolute in
+its workings as to warrant saying that _every man who wears the
+insignia of an officer in the armed forces of the United States should
+aspire to the same bearing and the same inner confidence as to his
+power to meet other men and move them in the direction he desires that
+is to be marked in a superior company commander_.
+
+The natural leader is the real specialist of the armed services. He is
+as prodigious, and as much a man apart, as the wizard who has mastered
+supersonic speeds. Here we speak not alone of the ability of an
+officer fully to control and develop his element under training
+conditions, but to take the same element into battle and conserve the
+total of its powers with complete efficiency. The man who resolves to
+develop within himself the prerequisite qualities which serve such an
+object is moved by the worthiest of all ambitions, for he has
+submitted himself to the most complex task within human reach.
+
+The self-assurance that one has promise in the field of command is in
+part a derivative of growth and in part a matter of instinct. But to
+the normal young officer, it comes as something of a delightful
+surprise to learn that when he speaks other men will listen, when he
+reasons they will become convinced, and when he gives an order his
+authority is accepted. Far from being a bad quality, this
+ingenuousness is wholesome because it reflects warm appreciation of
+what has been given him. It does not lessen confidence if a commander
+feels this way about those who are within his charge throughout his
+service. The best results flow when the working loyalty of other men
+is accepted like manna from heaven, with gratitude rather than with
+gratification. _Simply to feel that it is one's rightful portion is
+the best proof that it is not, and leads to cockiness, windiness, and
+self-adulation, with attendant loss of the sympathy of other men._ The
+consequence to the individual whose dream of success is only that he
+will take on more and more authority is that he will suffer from a
+more and more one-sided development. The great philosopher, Albert
+Schweitzer, holds up to other self-reliant men the example of Defoe's
+hero, Robinson Crusoe, because he is continually reflecting on the
+subject of human conduct and he feels himself so responsible for this
+duty that when he gets in a fight he thinks about how he can win it
+with the smallest loss of human life. _The conservation of men's
+powers, not the spending thereof, is the object of main concern to the
+truly qualified military commander._
+
+At the same time, there should be no mistake about the manner in which
+command is exercised. To command is not simply to compel or to
+convince but a subtle mixture of both. Moral suasion and material
+compulsion are linked in its every act. _It involves not only saying
+that this is the best thing to do but inferring that the thing had
+best be done._ Force and reason are inseparably linked in its nature,
+and the force of reason is not more important than the reason of
+force, if the matter is to be brought to a successful issue. _The
+very touchstone of loyalty is that just demands will be put upon it._
+It cannot endure and strengthen except through finding material means
+of expression. When men are given absolute freedom, with no compulsion
+upon them but to eat and sleep, as with a group of South Sea savages,
+there can be no strong, uniting bond between them. As for absolute
+security, outside of the walls of a penitentiary it is virtually
+nonexistent, though one would scarcely look inside the walls expecting
+to find loyalty. In brief, being an active force in the lives of
+humankind, _loyalty is developed through the unifying of action_. _The
+more decisive the action becomes, the greater becomes the vitality of
+the bond._ Service men look back with an esteem, amounting almost to
+the love that a son feels for his father, toward the captains who led
+them well on the battlefield. But the best skipper they ever had on a
+training detail gets hardly more than a kind word.
+
+It has already been said that the man with a preeminent ability to
+organize and direct the action of the military group has an
+outstanding and greatly prized talent. The assumption that the holder
+of a commission in an armed service of the United States is possessed
+of this quality to a degree goes with the commission; lacking it, the
+warrant would have been withheld. But all men vary in their capacities
+to respond confidently to any particular situation. Some, no matter
+how hard they try, lack the keen edge.
+
+To the officer who discovers that he is especially suited, by
+temperament and liking, to the leading of combat forces, it comes,
+therefore, almost as a personal charge that he will let nothing
+dissuade him from the conviction that his post of duty is with the
+line. Though he may seek other temporary duty to advance his own
+knowledge and interests, he should remain mentally wedded to that
+which he does best, and which most other men find difficult.
+
+If it is a good rule for him, it applies just as well to all others
+within his charge. This means close attention to the careers of all
+junior leaders from the enlisted ranks, toward the end that the
+fighting strength of the establishment will be conserved. The
+personnel people will sometimes scuttle a fine natural leader of a
+tactical platoon, simply because they have discovered that in civilian
+life he ran a garage and there is a vacancy for a motor pool operator,
+or switch a gunner who is zealous for his new work back to a place in
+the rear, because the record book says that he is an erstwhile, though
+reluctant, keeper of books. From their point of view, this makes
+sense. But they are not always aware of how difficult and essential it
+is to find men who can lead at fighting. It is a point which all
+officers need ponder, for in our modern enthusiasm over the marvels
+that can be worked by a classification system, we tend to overlook
+that fighting power is the main thing, and that the best hands are not
+to be found behind every bush.
+
+When war comes, there are vast changes in the tempo and pressure of
+life within the armed establishment. Faced with new and unmeasured
+responsibility, almost every man would be depressed by the feeling
+that he is out far beyond his depth, if he were not buoyed by the
+knowledge that every other man is in like case, and that all things
+are relative. Once these points are recognized, the experience becomes
+exalting. A relatively junior officer finds himself able confidently
+to administer a policy applying to an entire service; a bureau, which
+might have been laboring to save money in the purchase of carpet tacks
+and pins, becomes suddenly confronted with the task of spending
+billions, and of getting action whatever the cost.
+
+But despite the radical change in the scale of operations, the lines
+laid down for the conduct of business remain the same. The regulations
+under which the armed services proceed are written for peace and war,
+and cover all contingencies in either situation. The course of conduct
+which is set forth for an officer under training conditions is the
+standard he is expected to follow when war comes. Administration is
+carried out according to the same rules, though it is probably true
+that there is less "paper doll cutting"--meaning that the tide of
+paper work, though larger in volume, is more to the point. To the
+young officer, it must oftentime seem that, under peacetime training
+conditions, he is being called on constantly to read reports which
+should never have been written in the first place and is required to
+write memoranda which no one should be forced to read in the second
+place. For that matter, the same thought occurs not infrequently to
+many of his seniors. But there is this main point in rebuttal--it is
+all a part of the practice and conditioning for a game which is in
+deadly earnest when war comes. If the armed services in peace were to
+limit correspondence up and down the line to those things which were
+either routine or altogether vital, few men would develop a facility
+at staff procedures.
+
+In one sense, the same generalization applies to the workings of the
+security system. There is the common criticism that the services
+always tend to over-classify papers, and make work for themselves by
+their careful safeguarding of "secrets" in which no one is interested.
+The idea is not without warrant; part of the trouble stems from the
+fact that the line between what can safely be made of public knowledge
+and what can not is impossible of clear definition. Hence the only
+safe rule-of-thumb is, "When in doubt, classify." There is, however,
+the other point that it is only through officers learning how to
+safeguard security, handle papers according to the regulations, and
+keep a tightly buttoned lip on all things which are essentially the
+business of the service during peacetime that they acquire the
+disciplined habit of which matures not only their personal success but
+the national safety when war comes.
+
+Oftentimes the rules seem superfluous. A man scans a paper and sees
+that the contents are innocuous, and ignoring the stamp, he leaves the
+document on his desk, because he is too lazy to unlock the file. _But
+the rules mean exactly what they say, and because their purpose is of
+final importance to the nation, they will be enforced._ There is no
+surer way for an officer to blight an otherwise promising career than
+to become careless about security matters. The superior who looks
+lightly on such an offense is but seeking trouble for himself.
+
+Even so, it is to be observed that regulations are a general guide to
+conduct, and though they mean what they say they are not utterly
+inflexible. One must not be like the half-wit described by Col.
+George F. Baltzell to his trainees during World War I. Joe had
+attached himself to the Confederate command of the Colonel's father,
+whose last chore before turning in was to post the boy. One night in a
+Virginia Tidewater operation, Joe was told to stay by a stump until
+morning. At dawn the unit was moving out in a fog when the elder
+Baltzell bethought himself of Joe. Down by the riverside his cries
+finally brought a faint answer through the mist, "Here I is." "What
+are you doing there, boy?" barked the officer, "I told you not to
+move." "I hain't moved, sir," replied the invisible Joe, up to his
+neck in water, "the river done riz." An occasional unforeseen
+circumstance arises in which it is nonsensical, or even impossible, to
+adhere to the letter of regulations, as of orders. It is then
+essential that an officer use plain common sense, acting according to
+the spirit of the regulation, so that it is clearly manifest he did
+the best possible thing within the determining set of conditions. For
+example, in the European Theater, the Historian had charge of 32 tons
+of documents, all classified "Confidential," "Secret" or "Top Secret."
+There were not enough safes or secured files in the whole of France to
+hold this material, which meant that established procedures could not
+be followed. A permanent guard and watch was put on the archive.
+Wooden cases were made from scrap lumber. Ample fire-fighting
+equipment was brought in. Personnel was drilled in evacuating the
+material in its order of importance, should fire occur. The setup was
+inspected twice daily by the commander or his executive. Though these
+arrangements still fell short of the letter of regulations, they
+perforce had to satisfy any inspector because there was no sounder
+alternative.
+
+When circumstances require any officer to take a course which, while
+appearing in his view to be in the best interests of the service, runs
+counter to the lines of action laid down by constituted authority, he
+has the protection that he may always ask for a court to pass judgment
+on what he had done. We are all prone to associate the court martial
+process only with the fact of punishment, but it is also a shield
+covering official integrity. The privilege of appealing to the
+judgment and sense of fair play in a group of one's fellow officers
+is a very comforting thing in any emergency situation, requiring a
+desperate decision, and engaging conflicting interests. It gives one a
+feeling of backing even when circumstances are such that one is making
+a lonely decision. Almost needless to say, cases of this sort are far
+more likely to occur in war than during peace.
+
+Inspection takes on a somewhat different hue during war. It becomes
+more frequent but, on the whole, less zealous with respect to
+spit-and-polish and less captious about the many little things which
+promote good order and appearance throughout the general
+establishment. This condition is accentuated as organizations move
+closer to the zone of fire. Higher authority becomes more engrossed in
+the larger affairs of operation. At all levels more and more time is
+taken in dealing with the next level above, which means that less and
+less can be given to looking at the structure down below.
+
+What then is the key to over-all soundness in the services in any hour
+of great national peril? This, that in all services, at all times and
+at all levels, each officer is vigilant to see that his own unit,
+section or office is inspection-proof by every test which higher
+authority might apply.
+
+It should not require the visit of an inspector to any installation to
+apprise those who are in charge as to what is being badly done.
+
+The standards are neither complex nor arbitrary. They can be easily
+learned. Thereafter, all that is needed are the eyes to see and the
+will to insist firmly that correction be made.
+
+In officership, there is simply no substitute for personal
+reconnaissance, nor any other technique that in the long run will have
+half its value. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, the first leader of our
+independent Air Force, was so renowned for this disciplined habit of
+getting everywhere and seeing everything that, even when he was a
+relatively young major, a story about his ubiquitousness gained
+service-wide fame. An ailing recruit was being examined by a doctor at
+March Field. "Do you see spots before your eyes?" the doctor asked.
+"Heavens," groaned the recruit. "Do I have to see him in here, too?"
+
+Once formed, the habit of getting down to the roots of organization,
+of seeing with one's own eyes what is taking place, of measuring it
+against one's own scale of values, of ordering such changes as are
+needed, and of following-through to make certain that the changes are
+made, becomes the mainspring of all efficient command action.
+
+In battle, there is no other way to be sure. In training, there is no
+better way to move toward self-assurance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN
+
+THE MISSION
+
+
+There is a main reason why the word "mission" has an especial
+appropriateness to the military services and implies something beyond
+the call of duty. The arms of the United States do not advance simply
+through the process of correct orders being given and then executed
+with promptness, vigor, and intelligence.
+
+That is the greater part of the task, but it is by no means all.
+Military systems reflect the limitations and imperfections of their
+human material. Whatever his station, and experience, no man is wise
+enough and all-seeing enough that he can encompass every factor in a
+given problem, take correct judgment on every area of weakness,
+foresee all of that which has not yet happened, and then write the
+perfect analysis and solution for the guidance of his subordinates.
+
+The perfecting of operations, and the elimination of grit from the
+machinery, therefore become the concern of _all_, directing their
+thought and purpose to the doing of whatever needs to be done to
+further the harmony and efficiency of the establishment, taking
+personal action where it is within their province, or calling the
+matter to the attention of higher authority when it is not. In this
+direct sense, every ensign and second lieutenant has a personal
+responsibility for the general well-being of the security structure of
+the United States. This is fact, and not theory. In World War II, many
+of the practical ideas which were made of universal application in the
+services were initiated by men of very junior rank. But the extent to
+which any man's influence may be felt beyond his immediate circle
+depends first of all upon the thoroughness with which he executes his
+assigned duties, since nothing else will give his superiors confidence
+in his judgments. It is only when he is exacting in small things, and
+is careful to "close the circuit" on every minor assignment, that he
+qualifies himself to think and act constructively in larger matters,
+through book study and imaginative observation of the situation which
+surrounds him. At this stage, an officer is well on the road to the
+accomplishment of his general mission.
+
+When an order is given, what are the responsibilities of the man who
+receives it? In sequence, these:
+
+    To be certain that he understands what is required.
+
+    To examine and organize his resources as promptly as possible.
+
+    Fully to inform his subordinates on these points.
+
+    To execute the order without waste of time or means.
+
+    To call for support if events prove that his means are inadequate.
+
+    To fill up the spaces in the orders if there are developments
+    which had not been anticipated.
+
+    When the detail is complete, to prepare to go on to something
+    else.
+
+Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick Morgan, who planned the invasion of Normandy,
+put the matter this way: "When setting out on any enterprise, it is as
+well to ask oneself three questions. To whom is one responsible? For
+precisely what is one responsible? What are the means at one's
+disposal for discharging this responsibility?"
+
+Nothing so warms the heart of a superior as that, on giving an order,
+he sees his subordinate salute, say "Yes sir," then about face and
+proceed to carry it out to the hilt, without faltering or looking
+back. This is the kind of man that a commander will choose to have
+with him every time, and that he will recommend first for advancement.
+
+On the other hand, clarification of the object is not only a right but
+a duty, and it cuts both ways. Orders are not always clear, and no
+superior is on firm ground when he is impatient of questions which are
+to the point, or resentful of the man who asks them. But it is natural
+that he will be doubtful of the man whose words show either that he
+hasn't heard or is concerned mainly with irrelevencies. The
+cultivation of the habit of careful, concentrated listening, and of
+collected thought in reading into any problem, is a principal portal
+to successful officership.
+
+To say that promptness and positiveness in the execution of a mission
+are at all times major virtues does not imply that the good man, like
+an old fire horse, moves out instantly at the clang of a bell.
+Soundness of action involves a sense of timing. Thoroughness is the
+way of duty, rather than a speed which goes off half-cocked. There is
+frequently a time for waiting; there is always time for acute
+reflection. The brain which works "like a steel trap" exists only in
+fiction. Even such men as General Eisenhower, or Admiral Nimitz, or
+for that matter, Gen. U. S. Grant, have at times deferred decision
+temporarily while waiting for a change in tide or circumstance to help
+them make up their minds. This is normal in the rational individual;
+it is not a sign of weakness. Rather than to cultivate a belief in
+one's own infallibility, the mature outlook for the military man is
+best expressed in the injunction of the Apostle Paul: "_Let all things
+be done decently and in order._" Grant, wrote of the early stage of
+his advance on Richmond: "At this time I was not entirely decided as
+to how I should move my Army." From the pen of General Eisenhower come
+these words: "The commander's success will be measured more by his
+ability to lead than by his adherence to fixed notions." Thus, in the
+conduct of operations not less than in the execution of orders, it is
+necessary that the mind remain plastic and impressionable.
+
+Within military organization, to refuse an order is unthinkable,
+though to muster a case showing why some other order would serve in
+its place is not undutiful in an individual subordinate, any more than
+in a staff. By the same rule, insistence that an order be carried out
+undeviatingly, simply because it has been given, does not of itself
+win respect for the authority uttering it. Its modification, however,
+should never be in consequence of untempered pressure from below. To
+change or rescind is justified only when reestimate of all of the
+available facts indicates that some other order will serve the general
+purpose more efficiently.
+
+Taking counsel of subordinates in any enterprise or situation is
+therefore a matter of giving them full advantage of one's own
+information and reasoning, weighing with the intellect whatever
+thought or argument they may contribute to the sum of considerations,
+and then making, without compromise, a clean decision as to the line
+of greatest advantage. To know how to command obedience is a very
+different thing from making men obey. Obedience is not the product of
+fear, but of understanding, and understanding is based on knowledge.
+
+On D-day in Normandy, Lt. Turner B. Turnbull undertook to do with his
+platoon of 42 men a task which had been intended for a battalion; he
+was to block the main road to enemy forces pressing south from the
+Cherbourg area against the American right flank. In early morning he
+engaged a counterattacking enemy battalion, supported by mortars and a
+self-propelled gun at the village of Neuville au Plain. The platoon
+held its ground throughout the day. By dusk the enemy had closed wide
+around both its flanks and was about to cut the escape route. Turnbull
+had 23 men left. He said to the others, "There's one thing left to do;
+we can charge them." Pfc. Joseph Sebastian, who had just returned from
+reconnoitering to the rear, said, "I think there's a chance we can
+still get out; that's what we ought to do." Turnbull asked of his men,
+"What's your judgment?" They supported Sebastian as having the sounder
+idea. In a twinkling Turnbull made his decision. He told the others to
+get set for the run; he was losing men even while he talked; he
+ordered that the 12 wounded were to be left behind. Corp. James Kelly,
+first aid man, said he would stay with the wounded. Pfc Sebastian, who
+had argued Turnbull into a withdrawal, volunteered to stand his ground
+and cover the others with a BAR. Corp. Raymond Smitson said he would
+stay by Sebastian and support him with hand grenades. Sgt. Robert
+Niland started for one of the machine guns, to help Smitson and
+Sebastian in covering the withdrawal, but was shot dead by a German
+closing in with a machine pistol before he could reach it. The 16
+remaining survivors took off like so many shots fired from a pistol,
+at full speed but at intervals, to minimize the target. All got back
+to their Battalion, though Turnbull was killed in action a few days
+later. Their 1-day fight had preserved the flank of an Army. For
+economy of effort, and power of decision, there is not a brighter
+example in the whole book of war.
+
+To encourage subordinates to present their views, and to weigh them in
+the light of reason, is at the same time the surest way to win their
+confidence and to refine one's own information and judgments. However,
+to leave final decision to them in matters which are clearly in the
+area of one's own responsibility, is fatal to the character of self
+and to the integrity of the force.
+
+Any officer is one among many. Behind the smallest unit is the total
+power of the combined services. In the main, effectiveness develops
+out of unity of effort. To commit one's force to desperate, unhelped
+enterprises, when there is support at hand which may be had for the
+asking, may be one road to glory, but it is certainly not the path to
+success in War. The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava was made
+immortal by Tennyson's poem, but it was as foolhardy as asking a troop
+of Boy Scouts to capture Gibraltar. In battle, a main obligation of
+those who lead is to make constant resurvey of the full horizon of
+their resources and means of possible support. This entails in time of
+peace the acquisition of a great body of knowledge seemingly unrelated
+to the administration of one's immediate affairs. It entails, also,
+facing forthrightly toward every task, or assignment, giving it a full
+try, sweating out every obstacle, but not being ashamed to ask for
+help or counsel if it proves to be beyond one's powers. _To give it
+everything, though not quite making the grade personally, is merely an
+exercise in character building. But to have the mission fail because
+of false pride is inexcusable._
+
+The prayer that Sir Francis Drake wrote down for his men as he led
+them forth to a great adventure might well be repeated by any leader
+in the hour when he begins to despair because in spite of his striving
+he has not gained all he sought: "O Lord God, when Thou givest to thy
+servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us also to know that it
+is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same until it is
+thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory."
+
+The courage to start will carry a man far. Under the conditions of
+either war or peace, it is astonishing how many times all things come
+in balance for the man who is less fearful of rebuff than of being
+counted a cypher. One of Britain's great armored leaders, Lt. Gen. Sir
+Giffard Martel, digested the lesson of his whole life experience into
+this sentence: "If you take a chance, it usually succeeds,
+presupposing good judgment." Finally, it comes to that, for the
+willingness to accept calculated risks is of the essence of effective
+personal performance within the military profession. There must be
+careful collection of data. There must be weighty consideration of all
+known and knowable factors in the given situation. But beyond these
+things, what?
+
+To convey the idea that an officer must by ingrained habit dispose
+himself to take action only after he has arrived at an exact formula,
+pointing exclusively in one direction, would mean only that under the
+conditions of war he could never get off his trousers-seat. For such
+fullness of information and confidence of situation are not given to
+combat commanders once in a lifetime.
+
+It is customary to treat "estimate of situation" as if it were pure
+mathematical process, pointing almost infallibly to a definite result.
+But this is contrary to nature. The mind of man does not work that
+way, nor is it consistent with operational realities. Senior
+commanders are as prone as even the newest junior lieutenant to labor
+in perplexity between two opposing courses of action during times of
+crisis, and then make their decisions almost with the abruptness of an
+explosion. _It is post-decision steadiness more than pre-decision
+certitude which carries the day._ A large part of decision is
+intuitive; it is the byproduct of the subconscious. In war, much of
+what is most pertinent lies behind a drawn curtain. The officer is
+therefore badly advised who would believe that a hunch is without
+value, or that there is something unmilitary about the simple decision
+to take some positive action, even though he is working in the dark.
+
+The youthful Col. Julian Ewell of the 501st Parachute Infantry
+Regiment, reaching Bastogne, Belgium, on the night of December 18,
+1944, with only his lead battalion at hand, insisted that he be given
+orders, even though higher headquarters could tell him almost nothing
+about the friendly or enemy situations. He got his orders, and with
+the one battalion moved out through the dark to counter-attack. So
+doing, he stopped cold the German XXXXVII Panzer Corps, and compelled
+Hitler to alter his Ardennes plan.
+
+To grasp the spirit of orders is not less important than to accept
+them cheerfully and keep faith with the contract. But the letter of an
+instruction does not relieve him who receives it from the obligation
+to exercise common sense. In the Carolina maneuvers of 1941, a soldier
+stood at a road intersection for 3 days and nights directing civilian
+traffic, simply because the man who put him there had forgotten all
+about it. Though he was praised at the time, he was hardly a shining
+example to hold up to troops. Diligence and dullness are mutually
+exclusive traits. The model who is well worth pondering by all
+services is Chief Boatswain L. M. Jahnsen who on the morning of Pearl
+Harbor was in command of the yard garbage scow YG-17. She was
+collecting refuse from the fleet when the first Japanese planes came
+over. As the West Virginia began to burn, Jahnsen headed his scow into
+the heat and smoke and ordered his men to man their single fire hose.
+The old assignment forgotten, with overheated ammunition exploding all
+around him, he stood there directing his men in all that could be done
+to lessen the ruin of the fleet.
+
+Within the services, a special glory attends those whose heroism or
+service is "above and beyond the call of duty." But they owe their
+fundamental character to the millions of men who have followed the
+path of duty above and beyond the call of orders.
+
+Whatever the nature of an officer's assignment, there are
+compensations. The conventional attitude is to speak disparagingly of
+staff duty, sniff at service with a higher administrative headquarters
+as if it were somehow lacking in true masculine appeal, and express a
+preference for duty "at sea," "with troops" or "in the field."
+Although most of this is flapdoodle, it probably does no more harm
+than Admiral William F. Halsey's grimace over the fact that he once
+"commanded an LSD--Large Steel Desk." He is a poor stick of a military
+man who has no natural desire to try his hand at the direct management
+of men, if for no better reason than to test his own mettle. Even the
+avowed specialist is better equipped for his own groove if he has
+proved himself at the other game.
+
+Staff work, however, has its own peculiar rewards. Chief among them
+are the broadening of perspective, a more intimate contact with the
+views, working methods and personality characteristics of higher
+commanders and the chance to become acquainted with administrative
+responsibility from the viewpoint of policy. Although it sounds
+mysterious and even forbidding, until one has done it, the procedures
+are not more complex nor less instructive than in any other type of
+assignment.
+
+There are no inside secrets about what goes here that is different, or
+will not work equally well elsewhere. The staff is simply the servant
+of the general force; it exists but to further the welfare of the
+fighting establishment. Those within it are remiss if they fail to
+keep this rule uppermost. Consequently, no special attitude is called
+for, other than an acute receptiveness. The same military bearing, the
+same naturalness of manner which enable an officer to win the
+confidence and working loyalty of his men will serve just as well when
+he is dealing with higher authority.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN
+
+DISCIPLINE
+
+
+Though many of the aspects of discipline can be discussed more
+appropriately in other sections of this book, an officer must
+understand its particular nature within American military forces if he
+is to win from his men obedience coupled with activity at will.
+
+It frequently happens that the root meaning of a word more nearly
+explains the whole context of ideas with which it is legitimately
+associated than the public's mistaken use of the same word. Coming
+from the Latin, "to discipline" means "to teach." Insofar as the
+military establishment of the United States is concerned, nothing need
+be added to that definition. Its discipline is that standard of
+personal deportment, work requirement, courtesy, appearance and
+ethical conduct which, inculcated in men, will enable them singly or
+collectively to perform their mission with an optimum efficiency.
+
+Military discipline, in this respect, is no different than the
+discipline of the university, a baseball league or a labor union. It
+makes specific requirements of the individual; so do they. It has a
+system of punishments; so do they. These things are but incidental to
+the end result. Their main object is to preserve the interests and
+further the opportunity of the cooperative majority. But the essential
+difference between discipline in the military establishment and in any
+other free institution is this, that if the man objects, he still does
+not have the privilege of quitting tomorrow, and if he resists or
+becomes indifferent and is not corrected, his bad example will be felt
+to the far end of the line.
+
+Though the failure to stop looting by our forces during World War II,
+and the redeployment riots which followed it, are both unpleasant
+memories, they underscored a lesson already affirmed by every American
+experience at arms. The most contagious of all moral diseases is
+insubordination, and it has no more respect for rank than the plague.
+When higher authority winks at its existence among the rank and file,
+it will contaminate upward as well as down. Once a man condones
+remissness, his own belief in discipline begins to wither. The officer
+who tolerates slackness in the dress of his men soon ceases to tend
+his own appearance, and if he is not called to account, his sloppy
+habits will shortly begin to infect his superior. There is only one
+correct way to wear the uniform. When any deviations in dress are
+condoned within the services, the way is open to the destruction of
+all uniformity and unity. This continuing problem of stimulating all
+ranks to toe-up to that straight line of bearing and deportment which
+will build inner confidence and win public respect is the main reason
+why, as George Washington put it: "To bring men to a proper degree of
+subordination is not the work of a day, a month, or a year." It calls
+not simply for a high-minded attitude toward the profession of arms
+but for infinitely patient attention to a great variety of detail. An
+officer has a disciplined hold upon his own job only when, like the
+air pilot preparing to take off, he makes personal check of every
+point where the machinery might fail. The stronger his example of
+diligence, the more earnestly will it be followed by the ablest of his
+subordinates, and they in turn will carry other men along. No leader
+ever fails his men--nor will they fail him--who leads them in respect
+for the disciplined life. Between these two things--discipline in
+itself and a personal faith in the military value of discipline--lies
+all the difference between military maturity and mediocrity. A salute
+from an unwilling man is as meaningless as the moving of a leaf on a
+tree; it is a sign only that the subject has been caught by a gust of
+wind. But a salute from the man who takes pride in the gesture because
+he feels privileged to wear the uniform of the United States, having
+found the service good, is the epitome of military virtue. Of those
+units which were most effective, and were capable of the greatest
+measure of self-help during World War II combat, it was invariably
+remarked that they observed the salute and the other rules of courtesy
+better than the others, even when engaged.
+
+The level of discipline is in large part what the officers in any unit
+choose to make it. The general aim of regulations is to set an
+over-all standard of conduct and work requirement for all concerned.
+Training schedules, operational directives and other work programs
+serve the same end. _But there is still a broad area in which the
+influence of every officer is brought to bear. To state what is
+required is only the beginning; to require what has been stated is the
+positive end._ The rule of courtesy may be laid down by the book; it
+remains for the officer to rule by work rather than working by rules,
+and by setting the good example for his men, stimulate their
+acceptance of orderly military habits. A training schedule may
+stipulate that certain tasks be carried out but only the officer in
+charge can assure that the work will be accomplished with fidelity.
+
+The level of discipline should at all times be according to what is
+needed to get the best results from the majority of dutiful
+individuals. There is no practical reason for any sterner requirement
+than that. There is no moral justification for countenancing anything
+less. _Discipline destroys the spirit and working loyalty of the
+general force when it is pitched to the minority of malcontented,
+undutiful men within the organization, whether to punish or to appease
+them._ When this common sense precept is ignored, the results
+invariably are unhappy.
+
+However, it is not here inferred that what has to be done to build
+strong discipline in forces will at all times be welcomed by the
+first-class men within a unit, or that their reaction will always be
+approval. Rather, it is to say that they will accept what is ordered,
+even though they may gripe about it, and that ultimately their own
+reason will convince them of the value of what is being done.
+
+Until men are severely tried, there is no conclusive test of their
+discipline, nor proof that their training at arms is satisfying a
+legitimate military end. The old game of follow-the-leader has no
+point if the leader himself, like the little girl in a Thomas Hardy
+novel, is balked by insuperable obstacles one-quarter inch high. _All
+military forces remain relatively undisciplined until physically
+toughened and mentally conditioned to unusual exertion._ Consider the
+road march! No body of men could possibly enjoy the dust, the heat,
+the blistered foot and the aching back. But hard road marching is
+necessary if a sound foundation is to be built under the discipline of
+fighting forces, particularly those whose labors are in the field. And
+the gain comes quickly. The rise in spirits within any organization
+which is always to be observed after they rebound from a hard march
+does not come essentially from the feeling of relief that the strain
+is past, but rather from satisfaction that a goal has been crossed.
+_Every normal man needs to have some sense of a contest, some feeling
+of resistance overcome, before he can make the best use of his
+faculties. Whatever experience serves to give him confidence that he
+can compete with other men helps to increase his solidarity with other
+men._
+
+It must be accepted that discipline does not break down under the
+strain of placing a testing demand upon the individual. It is sloth
+and not activity that destroys discipline. Troops can endure hard
+going when it serves an understandable end. This is what they will
+boast about mainly when the fatigue is ended. A large part of training
+is necessarily directed toward conditioning them for unusual hardship
+and privation. They can take this in stride. But no power on earth can
+reconcile them to what common sense tells them is unnecessary hardship
+which might have been avoided by greater intelligence in their
+superiors. When they are overloaded, they know it. When they are
+required to form for a parade two hours ahead of time because their
+commander got over-anxious, or didn't know how to write an order,
+again they know it! _And they are perfectly right if they go sour
+because this kind of thing happens a little too often within the
+command._
+
+Within our system, that discipline is nearest perfect which assures to
+the individual the greatest freedom of thought and action while at all
+times promoting his feeling of responsibility toward the group. _These
+twin ends are convergent and interdependent for the exact converse of
+the reason that it is impossible for any man to feel happy and
+successful if he is in the middle of a failing institution._ War, and
+all training operations in preparation for it, have become more than
+ever a problem of creating diversity of action out of unity of
+thought. Its modern technological aspects not only require a much
+keener intelligence in the average file but a higher degree of
+initiative and courageous confidence in his own judgments. If the man
+is cramped by monotonous routine, or made to feel that he cannot move
+unless an order is barked, he cannot develop these qualities, and he
+will never come forward as a junior leader. _On the other hand, the
+increased utilization of the machine in military operations, far from
+lessening the need of mutual support and unified action, has increased
+it._ One of the hazards of high velocity warfare is that reverse and
+disaster can occur much more swiftly than under former systems. Thus
+the need for greater spiritual integration within forces, and
+increased emphasis upon the values of more perfect communication in
+all forms, at the same time that each individual is trained to
+initiate action for the common good. Only so can the new discipline
+promote a higher efficiency based on a more steadfast loyalty of man
+to man. In the words of Du Picq, who saw so deeply into the hearts of
+fighting men: "If one does not wish bonds broken, one should make them
+elastic and thereby strengthen them."
+
+The separate nature of military service is the key to the character of
+the discipline of its several forces. In the United States, we have
+fallen into the sloppy habit of saying that a soldier, bluejacket,
+airman, coast guardsman or marine is only an American civilian in
+uniform. The corollary of this quaint notion is that all military
+organization is best run according to the principles of business
+management. The truth of either of these ideas is to be disputed on
+two grounds: both are contrary to truth and contrary to human nature.
+An officer is not only an administrator but a magistrate, and it is
+this dual role which makes his function so radically different than
+anything encountered in civil life--to say nothing of the singleness
+of purpose by which the service moves forward. Moreover, the armed
+service officer deals with the most plastic human material within the
+society--men who, in the majority, the moment they step into uniform,
+are ready to seek his guidance toward a new way of life.
+
+However, these fancies are but tangential aspects of a much larger
+illusion--that the Armed Services of the United States, since they
+serve a democracy, can better perfect themselves according to the
+measure that they become more and more democratic. Authority is
+questioned in democratic countries today, not only in government, but
+in industry, the school, the church and the home. But to the extent
+that military men lose their faith in its virtue and become amenable
+to ill-considered reforms simply to appease the public, they
+relinquish the power to protect and nurture that growth of free men,
+free thought and free institutions which began among a handful of
+soldiers in Cromwell's Army and was carried by them after the
+Restoration to the North American mainland. The relation of the
+military establishment to American democracy is as a shield covering
+the body. But no wit of man can make it a wholly "democratic"
+institution as to its own processes without vitiating its strength,
+since it progresses through the exercise of unquestioned authority at
+various levels.
+
+One of these levels is the plane on which an ensign or second
+lieutenant conducts his daily dealings with his men. George Washington
+left behind these words, which are as good today as when he uttered
+them from his command post: "Whilst men treat an officer as an equal,
+regard him no more than a broomstick, being mixed together as one
+common herd, no order nor discipline can prevail." Out of his
+experience in the handling of deck divisions during World War II,
+Edmund A. Gibson, Boatswain's Mate, First Class, also said something
+which, put alongside Washington's words, brings the whole subject of
+officer-man relationships into clear focus: "Speaking for Navy men, I
+am certain that they are entirely without any feeling of inferiority,
+social or otherwise, to their officers. If superiority or inferiority
+of any kind enters into their contemplation at all, it is in the shape
+of a conviction, doubtless a wrong one, that every serviceman, as a
+professional warrior, is above the narrow interests which obsess the
+civilian."
+
+Those who have served both as officer and under-officer well
+understand the appropriateness of these two ideas, each to the other,
+that the superior position of the officer must be preserved for the
+good of the service, but that this engages recognition of the
+individual equality of the enlisted man. They know, if they have
+observed well and truly during their service in the ranks, that the
+highest type enlisted man wants his officer to act the part, maintain
+dignity and support the ideals which are consonant with the authority
+vested in him by the Nation. But this same man at the same time
+expects his officers to concede him his right to a separate position
+and to respect his privacy. It is a pitiable eminence that is not well
+founded upon sure feeling for the value of its own prestige and the
+importance of this factor at all levels.
+
+In the military service of the United States, there is always room for
+firm and forthright friendship between officer and man. There is room
+for a close, uniting comradeship. There is room for frank intellectual
+discussion and the exchange of warm humor; no man goes far if he is
+all salt and no savor. There is room for that kind of intimacy which
+enables each to see the other as a human being, know something of the
+other's emotions and help clear the atmosphere for honest counsel on
+personal and organizational problems.
+
+But there is no room for familiarity, since as in any other sphere, it
+breeds contempt. When it occurs, respect flies out the window, the
+officer loses part of his command authority and discipline breaks
+down. Familiarity cannot obtain between the superior and the
+subordinate without the vice of favoritism entering into the conduct
+of organizational matters, even though the former is guilty only of an
+over-zealous goodwill and the latter is otherwise sensible to the
+interests of the unit. The chief damage comes from the effect upon all
+others. It is when all the bars are let down that men communicate
+those inner failings which a greater reserve would keep under cover.
+Familiarity toward a superior is a positive danger; toward a
+subordinate, it is unbecoming and does not increase his trust. In
+excess, it can have no other effect than a breach of confidence on
+both sides.
+
+Changes in the environmental situation do not alter the natural
+proprieties of this relationship between any two men, the one having
+higher authority and the other having the obligation of obedience.
+Under the conditions of modern war, the two not infrequently may be
+required to work together as a unit, almost apart from the influence
+of organizational discipline. Hardship and necessity may compel them
+to extend the limit of personal accommodation to each other. They may
+go into battle together. They may sleep in the same bed or foxhole.
+They may drink from a common bottle and draw upon each other for the
+means to keep going. But in adapting one's course according to the
+rigors of any unconventional situation, authority is maintained only
+through the exercise of a higher sense of responsibility. However, the
+rule is applied according to the circumstance, the rule itself remains
+inflexible.
+
+Officers and men working together as a compact team, in any type of
+military operation where success, and coordinated action in the face
+of danger, depend mainly upon the moral resources within one small
+group, develop a closer camaraderie and become less formal than is
+normal elsewhere throughout the services. The close confinement in
+which tank forces, airplane crews and submarine crews must operate
+would stifle morale and torture nerves otherwise. Whatever the
+patience of men under such conditions, sooner or later they get on
+each other's nerves. Therefore that system of relationships is best
+which is least artificial and most relaxing to the spirit of the
+natural man. But to construe this as a deviation from the standards of
+discipline is to mistake the shadow for the substance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN
+
+MORALE
+
+
+To grow in knowledge of how to win a loyal and willing response from
+military forces, there must first be understanding of the springs of
+human action, what they are, and how they may be directed toward
+constructive ends. This done, the course which makes for the
+perfecting of forces during peacetime training need only be extended
+to harden them for the risk and stress of war.
+
+The mainspring is morale. The meaning of the word is already known in
+a general way to every man who has qualified for officership, so it is
+hardly necessary to redefine it. A World War II bluejacket said it
+this way: "Morale is when your hands and feet keep working when your
+head says it can't be done." That says it just as well as anything
+written by du Picq or Baron von Steuben. Nothing new need be added.
+
+The handiest beginning is to consider morale in conjunction with
+discipline, since in military service they are opposite sides of the
+same coin. When one is present, the other will be also. But the
+instilling of these things in military forces depends upon leadership
+understanding the nature of the relationship.
+
+As to discipline, until recent years, military forces tended to stress
+the pattern rather than the ideal. The elder Moltke, one of the great
+masters of the military art, taught his troops that it was of supreme
+importance that they form accurately in training, since the perfection
+of their formations would determine their efficiency in battle. Yet in
+the Franco-Prussian War, these formations proved utterly unsuited to
+the heavily wooded terrain of the theater, and new ones had to be
+devised on the spur of the moment.
+
+This is the familiar story. It was repeated by United States forces in
+World War II during the Normandy hedgerow fighting and the invasions
+of the Central Pacific atolls. Troops had to learn the hard way how to
+hit, and how to survive, in moving through jungle or across the
+mountains and desert. When that happened, the only disciplinary
+residue which mattered was obedience to orders. The movements they had
+learned by rote were of less value than the spiritual bond between one
+man and another. The most valuable lesson was that of mutual support.
+And unless this lesson was supported by confidence in the judgment of
+those in authority, it is to be doubted that they were helped at all.
+
+Finally, that confidence is the _sine qua non_ of all useful military
+power. The moral strength of an organic unity comes from the faith in
+ranks that they are being wisely directed and from faith up top that
+orders will be obeyed. When forces are tempered by this spirit, there
+is no limit to their enterprise. They become invincible. Lacking it,
+however, any military body, even though it has been compelled to toe
+the mark in training, will deteriorate into a rabble under conditions
+of extraordinary stress in the field, as McDowell's Army did at Bull
+Run in the American Civil War, and as Hitler's Armies did in 1945
+after the Rhine had been crossed at Remagen.
+
+In its essentials, discipline is not measured according to how a man
+keeps step in a drill yard, or whether he salutes at just the right
+angle. The test is how well and willingly he responds to his superiors
+in all _vital_ matters, and finally, whether he stands or runs when
+his life is at stake. History makes this clear. There are countless
+examples of successful military forces which had almost no discipline
+when measured by the usual yardsticks, yet had a high battle morale
+productive of the kind of discipline which beats the enemy in battle.
+The French at Valmy, the Boers in the South African War, and even the
+men of Capt. John Parker, responding to his order on the Lexington
+Common, "Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war,
+let it begin here," instance that men who lack training and have not
+been regimented still may express themselves as a cohesive force on
+the field of fire, provided that they are well led.
+
+If we will accept the basic premise that discipline, even within the
+military establishment of the United States, is not a ritual or a
+form, but is simply that course of conduct which is most likely to
+lead to the efficient performance of an assigned responsibility, it
+will be seen that morale does not come of discipline, but discipline
+of morale.
+
+True enough, our recruits are given a discipline almost from the
+moment that they take the oath. Their first lesson is the necessity
+for obedience. They are required immediately to conform to a new
+pattern of conduct. They respond to disciplinary treatment even before
+they learn to think as a group and before the attitude of the group
+has any influence upon them. Discipline bears down before morale can
+lift up. Momentarily, they become timid before they have felt any
+pain. These first reactions help condition the man to his new
+environment. They are in part demoralizing, but on the upswing he
+begins to realize that half the fun in life comes of seeing what one
+can do in a new situation. The foundation of his morale is laid when
+he begins to think of himself as a member of the fighting
+establishment, rather than as a civilian. Thereafter all that is done
+to nourish his military spirit and to arouse his thirst for
+professional knowledge helps to build his moral power.
+
+But follow the man a little longer. The time quickly comes when he
+knows his way around in the service. His earlier fears and hesitations
+are largely gone. He acquires strength and wisdom from the group. He
+becomes able to judge his own situation against an attainable standard
+within the service. He is critically conscious of the merits of his
+superiors from what he has himself experienced and what others tell
+him. He knows what is boondoggling and what is not.
+
+From that point on, discipline has little part in alerting the man or
+in furthering the building of his moral power. That which moves him
+mainly is the knowledge that he is a personal success, and that he
+belongs to an efficient unit which is in capable hands. Certain of the
+outer signs of discipline, such as the cadence of the march or snap in
+the execution of the manual, he may subconsciously reenforce his
+impression of these things. But if he feels either that he is an
+outsider or that the club isn't worth joining, no amount of spit and
+polish will alter his opinion.
+
+He is able to recognize a right and reasonable discipline as such,
+even though it causes him personal inconvenience, because he has
+acquired a sense of military values. But if it is either unduly harsh
+or unnecessarily lax, he likewise knows it and wears it as a
+hairshirt, to the undoing of his morale. Though the man, like the
+group, can be hurt by being pushed beyond sensible limits, his spirit
+will suffer even more sorely if no real test is put upon his abilities
+and moral powers. The greater his intelligence, the stronger will be
+his resentment. That is a law of nature. The enlightened mind has
+always the greatest measure of self-discipline but it also has a
+higher sense of what constitutes justice, fairplay and a reasonable
+requirement in the performance of duty. If denied these things, he
+will come to hold his chief, his job, and himself in contempt. The
+greater part of man's satisfactions comes of activity and only a very
+small remnant comes of passive enjoyment. Forgetting this rather
+obvious fact in human nature, social reformers aim at securing more
+leisure, rather than at making work itself more satisfactory. But it
+need not be forgotten in the military service.
+
+Even to those who best understand the reasons for the regimenting of
+military forces, a discipline wrongfully applied is seen only as
+indiscipline. Invariably it will be countered in its own terms. No
+average rank-and-file will become insubordinate as quickly, or react
+as violently, as a group of senior noncommissioned officers, brought
+together in a body, and then mishandled by officers who are ignorant
+of the customs of the service and the limits of their own authority.
+Not only are they conscious of their rights, but they have greater
+respect for the state of decency and order which is the mark of a
+proper military establishment than for the insignia of rank. It is
+this firm feeling of the fitness of things, and his unbounded
+allegiance to an authority when it is based on character which makes
+the NCO and the petty officer the backbone of discipline within the
+United States fighting establishment. Sergeant Evans of "Command
+Decision" was an archtype of the best ball carriers among them. In a
+sense, they remain independent workmen, rather than a tool of
+authority, until the hour comes when they fall in completely with
+someone their own nature tells them is good. In the past, we have not
+always made the wisest use of this latent strength. The normal desire
+of the veteran who has won his stripes by hard service is to support
+his officers and reduce the friction down below. Whatever is done to
+lessen his dignity and prestige damages morale and creates new
+stresses in the relations between the officer corps and the ranks.
+When he is rebuffed, either because those above him are indifferent to
+his pride or are unaware that he is their chief advocate among the
+men, the military machinery loses its cushion and becomes subject to
+increasing shock. Said a newly arrived lieutenant to an old sergeant
+of the 12th Cavalry: "You've been here a long time, haven't you?" "Yes
+sir," replied the sergeant. "The troop commanders, they come and they
+go, but it don't hurt the troop."
+
+To comment on these things, however, is to emphasize once again the
+supreme importance of the judgment of the officer in dealing with all
+of his military associates in such way that he will support that
+native pride, without which a man cannot remain whole, and at the same
+time direct it toward the betterment of the organization. To lecture
+troops about the importance of morale and discipline serves no earthly
+purpose, if the words are at odds with the general conditions which
+have been imposed on the command. They impose their values only as
+reflection of the leader's entire thought concerning his men. At the
+same time, there is this to be remembered, that even when things are
+going wrong at every other level, men will remain loyal and dutiful if
+they see in the one junior officer who is nearest them the embodiment
+of the ideals which they believe should apply throughout the service.
+That is the main object lesson in that remarkable novel written around
+a World War II Navy auxiliary, "Mister Roberts." But it holds just as
+true in our ground and air forces as for those afloat.
+
+Morale comes of the mind and of the spirit. The question is how it is
+to be developed. Admiral Ben Moreell has stated a formula in
+understanding terms by his explanation of what made the Seabees
+notable for competence and devotion to duty during World War II. This
+is what he said: "We used artisans to do the work for which they had
+been trained in civil life. They were well led by officers who 'spoke
+their language.' We made them feel that they were playing an important
+part in the great adventure. And thus they achieved a high standard of
+morale." The elements underscored by Admiral Moreell deserve special
+note.
+
+    Satisfaction in a work program.
+
+    Mutual confidence between leaders and ranks.
+
+    Conviction that all together were striving for something more
+    important than themselves.
+
+True, that was wartime, and the challenge was apparent to all
+concerned. But the principles hold good under any and all conditions,
+and can be applied to any organization by the officer who approaches
+his task with enthusiasm and imagination. The mission of keeping the
+world at peace, through a moral strengthening of the security
+structure of the United States, is a more difficult objective than
+that which confronted fighting forces after Pearl Harbor. In his book,
+"World War: Its Cause and Cure," Lionel Curtis stated our problem in
+its broadest and most challenging terms: "Civilization began with a
+war between freedom and despotism: we are now fighting its latest
+campaign, and our task is to make it the last."
+
+Under training conditions or in combat, the mental ills and the
+resulting moral and physical deterioration which sometimes beset
+military forces cannot be cured simply by the intensification of
+disciplinary methods. It is true that the signs of a recovery will
+sometimes attend the installation of a more rigid, or less rigid,
+discipline. This onset is in fact usually due to the collateral
+influence of an increased confidence in the command, whereby men are
+made to feel that their own fortunes are on the mend. Then discipline
+and morale are together revitalized almost as if by the throwing of an
+electric switch.
+
+In Army history, there is no better example of the working of this
+principle than the work of Brig. Gen. Paul B. Malone of St.
+Aignan-sur-Cher, France, in 1919. He took over a command where
+slackness and indiscipline were general. The men were suffering
+terrible privation and too many of their officers were indifferent to
+their needs. Many of the men had been battle casualties. Some had been
+discharged from hospitals before their wounds were healed. The mess
+was abominable. The camp was short of firewood and other supply. In
+freezing weather, men were sleeping on the ground with only a pair of
+blankets apiece. The death toll from influenza, pneumonia, and the
+aggravation of battle wounds rose daily. Despair and resentment over
+these conditions began to express itself in semiviolent form. Every
+fresh breach of discipline was countered with harassing punishments
+until an air of wretched stagnation hung over the whole camp. General
+Pershing visited the base. The men refused to form for him. When he
+tried to address them at a mass meeting, they wouldn't hear him out.
+Instead of taking any action against the men, he sent for General
+Malone.
+
+The new commander arrived without any instructions except to determine
+what was wrong and correct it. With soldierly instinct, he recognized
+that the indiscipline of the camp was an effect and not a cause. But
+even as he gave orders for relieving the physical distress of the men,
+he demanded that they return to orderly habits.
+
+He walked around the areas. Already, on his order, duck-boards were
+being laid through the mud, and the whole physical setup was in
+process of reorganization. The men, grown listless from weeks of
+mistreatment, paid no heed. "Get on your feet! I'm your general. I
+respect you but I want your respect," were his words. They restored
+the situation. The first impact of this one man on that camp was never
+forgotten by anyone who saw it. It is a point to remember: _A firm
+hold at the beginning pays tenfold the dividend of a timid approach,
+followed by a show of firmness later on._ Within 48 hours the physical
+condition of the camp was showing improvement and 60,000 men were
+again doing their duty and bearing themselves in a military manner.
+The lessons from this one incident stand out like beams from a
+searchlight battery.
+
+_One man is able to accomplish a miracle by an act of will accompanied
+by good works._
+
+_The morale of the force flows from the self-discipline of the
+commander, and in turn, the discipline of the force is reestablished
+by the upsurge of its moral power._
+
+_The inculcation of military habits and thoughts is the only means by
+which these forces may be made to work together toward more perfect
+ends, so that control can be exercised promptly._
+
+When the redeployment period which followed World War II threatened a
+complete collapse to the morale of the general military establishment,
+the remedy attempted by some unit leaders was to relax discipline and
+the work requirement all around. Other officers met this crisis by
+improving the conditions of work, setting an example which proved to
+the men that they believed in its importance and paying sedulous
+attention to the personal problems of those within the unit. They
+found that they could still get superior performance in the midst of
+chaos. Organic strength materializes in the same way on the field of
+war. _However adverse the general situation, men will stick to the one
+man who knows what he wants to do and welcomes them to a full share in
+the enterprise._
+
+The rule applies in matters great and small. No man who leads a squad
+or a squadron, a group of men or a group of armies, can develop within
+his force a well-placed confidence in its own powers, if he is
+uncertain of himself or doubtful of his object. The moral level of his
+men is mainly according to the manner in which he expresses his
+personal force working with, and for, them. If he is timid or aloof,
+uncommunicative and unenthusiastic, prone to stand on his dignity and
+devoid of interest in the human stuff of those who are within his
+charge, they will not respond to him, and he will have raised a main
+barrier to his own success. If, given a course or taking one of his
+own choice, he worries so greatly about the obstacles in his way that
+he cannot make penetrating search for the clear channel, he will
+waste the powers of his men even though he may have won their
+sympathy.
+
+It would be futile to make these comments on the nature of moral
+leading if it were not fully within the power of the average young
+officer to cut his cloth according to the suggested pattern. The
+commonplace that human nature cannot be changed is untrue. The
+characters of each of us, and of all of our acquaintances, are greatly
+affected by circumstances. No man's impulses are fixed from the
+beginning by his native disposition; they remain plastic until the
+hour of his death, and whatever touches his circumference, influences
+them for better or worse. _The power of decision develops only out of
+practice. There is nothing mystic about it. It comes of a clear-eyed
+willingness to accept life's risks, recognizing that only the
+enfeebled are comforted by thoughts of an existence devoid of
+struggle._
+
+Nothing more radical is being suggested here than that the officer who
+would make certain that the morale of his men will prove equal to
+every change cannot do better than concentrate his best efforts upon
+his primary military obligation--his duty to them. They dupe only
+themselves who believe that there is a brand of military efficiency
+which consists in moving smartly, expediting papers and achieving
+perfection in formations, while at the same time slighting or ignoring
+the human nature of those whom they command. The art of leadership,
+the art of command, whether the forces be large or small, is the art
+of dealing with humanity. Only the officer who dedicates his thought
+and energy to his men can convert into coherent military force their
+desire to be of service to the country. Such were the fundamental
+values which Napoleon had in mind when he said that those who would
+learn the art of war should study the Great Captains. He was not
+speaking of tactics and strategy. He was pointing to the success of
+Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal in moulding raw human nature, and to
+their understanding of the thinking of their men and of how to direct
+it toward military advantage. These are the grand objects.
+
+Diligence in the care of men, administration of all organizational
+affairs according to a standard of resolute justice, military bearing
+in one's self, and finally, an understanding of the simple facts that
+men in a fighting establishment wish to think of themselves in that
+light and that all military information is nourishing to their spirits
+and their lives, are the four fundamentals by which the commander
+builds an all-sufficing morale in those within his charge.
+
+There are other motor forces and mechanisms, most of which come under
+the heading of management principles, and are therefore discussed in
+other portions of this volume. The exception is the greatest force of
+all--patriotism. It may be deemed beyond argument that belief in the
+social order and political doctrine of their country is the foundation
+of a loyal, willing spirit in military forces. Yet this alone cannot
+assure efficiency in training or a battle _elan_ which is the result
+of proper training methods. There is nothing more soulless than a
+religion without good works unless it be a patriotism which does not
+concern itself with the welfare and dignity of the individual. This is
+a simple idea though wise men in all ages have recognized it as one of
+the most profound truths. From Aristotle on down the philosophers have
+said that the main force in shaping the characters of men is not
+teaching and preaching, though these too are important, but the social
+framework in which a man lives. In an age when there is widespread
+presumption that practical problems can be solved by phrases, the
+military body needs more than ever to hold steadfastly to first
+principles. It does no good for an officer to talk patriotism to his
+men unless he stands four-square with them, and they see in him a
+symbol of what is right with the country. Under those circumstances,
+he can always talk to them about the cause, and what he says will be a
+tonic to morale.
+
+In the Normandy invasion, a young commander of paratroops, Lt. Col.
+Edward C. Krause, was given the task of capturing a main enemy
+communications center. Three hours before the take-off he assembled
+his Battalion, held a small American flag in front of them and said
+these words; "This is the first flag raised over the city of Naples.
+You put it there. I want it to be the first flag raised over a
+liberated town in France. The mission is that we will put it up in
+Ste. Mere Eglise before dawn. You have only one order--to come and
+fight with me wherever you land. When you get to Ste. Mere Eglise, I
+will be there."
+
+The assignment was kept. Next morning, Krause and his men raised the
+flag together, even before they had completed capture of the town. As
+Americans go, they were extremely rugged individualists. But they were
+proud of every line of that story.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
+
+ESPRIT
+
+
+To proceed toward a better understanding of _esprit_ and its part in
+the building of military forces, it is necessary to look beyond the
+organization and consider the man.
+
+The life of any socially upright individual is organized around only a
+few basic loyalties and the degree of satisfaction which he derives
+from existence can usually be measured in terms of his service to
+them. He is loyal first to himself, for failing that, he fails in
+loyalty to all else. If he cannot acquit himself ably for his own
+sake, he cannot do honor to anything less personal. Along with loyalty
+to self come loyalty to our beliefs, loyalty to family, loyalty to
+country, loyalty to friends, and loyalty to humanity in general.
+
+Stated as a factual and not as an ideal matter, the interesting and
+important thing that happens to a man when he enters military service
+is that, the moment he takes the oath, loyalty to the arms he bears
+ranks first on the list, above all other loyalties. To get ahead, to
+serve himself well, he must persevere in ways that are most useful to
+the organization. If the circumstances of his family are reduced
+because of this new loyalty, his means of compensating them is to
+strive for such honor as may come to him through service to the United
+States. In his life, service to country is no longer a beautiful
+abstraction; it is the sternly concrete and unremitting obligation of
+service to the regiment, the group or the ship's company. He parts
+with old friends and finds new ones.
+
+In this radical reorientation of the individual life and the arbitrary
+imposition of a commanding loyalty is to be found the key to the
+esprit of any military organization. Too long esprit has been regarded
+as something bequeathed to the unit by the dead hand of tradition.
+There is nothing moribund about it. It is a dynamic and vital
+substance conducted to the living by the living. We can banish from
+our minds the idea that esprit is what the regiment, the ship or the
+company gives the man because of some spark which its past deeds and
+the legends thereof have lighted in him. Esprit, at all times, is what
+the unit gives the man, in terms of spiritual force translated into
+constructive good. Considering what the unit has taken from him
+initially, its obligation is great indeed.
+
+To see this clearly, we need to look once again at what happens to the
+individual when he puts on the uniform. The basis of his life changes
+in broad and fundamental ways. His legal status is changed; the extent
+and intensity of his obligations are magnified. He puts aside the
+banner of individualism for that of obedience. Yet in the words of
+Chester Barnard: "Scarcely a man, I think, who has felt the
+annihilation of his personality in some organized system, has not also
+felt that the same system belonged to him because of his own free will
+he chose to make it so."
+
+To that must be added the further thought that while the military
+service is antecedent to the individual who enters it, that individual
+is also in a sense antecedent to the service. He becomes a factor in
+the equation which expresses the achievement or the failure of the
+service in its particular mission. The thoughtful commander will give
+careful regard to that relationship. One man cannot make or break an
+Army or a Navy, but he can help break it, since each service at all
+times derives its nature from the quality and wills of its men.
+General Harbord, in _The American Army in France_, expressed it this
+way: "Discipline and morale influence the inarticulate vote that is
+constantly taken by masses of men when the order comes to move
+forward--a variant of the crowd psychology that inclines it to follow
+a leader. But the Army does not move forward until the motion has
+carried. 'Unanimous consent' only follows cooperation between the
+individual men in ranks."
+
+But we can go one step beyond General Harbord's suggestion that the
+multiplied individual acceptance of a command alone gives that command
+authority. It is not less true that the multiplied rejection of a
+command nullifies it. In other words, authority is the creature rather
+than the creator of discipline and obedience. In the more recent
+experiences of our arms, under the stresses of battle, there are many
+instances of troops being given orders, and refusing to obey. In every
+case, the root cause was lack of confidence in the wisdom and ability
+of those who led. When a determining number of men in ranks have lost
+the will to obey, their erstwhile leader has _ipso facto_ lost the
+capacity to command. _In the final analysis, authority is contingent
+upon respect far more truly than respect is founded upon authority._
+In the words of Col. G. F. R. Henderson: "It is the leader who reckons
+with the human nature of his troops, and of the enemy, rather than
+with their mere physical attributes, numbers, armament and the like,
+who can hope to follow in Napoleon's footsteps."
+
+_Esprit_ then is the product of a thriving mutual confidence between
+the leader and the led, founded on the faith that together they
+possess a superior quality and capability. The failure of the spirit
+of any military organization is less frequently due to what men have
+forgotten than to what they can't forget. No "imperishable record" of
+past greatness can make men serve with any greater vigor if they are
+being served badly. Nor can it sustain the fighting will of the
+organization so much as one mil beyond the radius within which living
+associations enable men to think great thoughts and act with nobility
+toward their fellows. Unless the organization's past conveys to its
+officers a sense of having been especially chosen, and unless they
+respond to this trust by developing a complete sense of duty toward
+their men, the old battle records might as well be poured down the
+drain, since they will not rally a single man in the hour of danger.
+Said Col. LeRoy P. Hunt in a mimeographed notice to his troops just
+prior to the Guadalcanal landing: "We are meeting a tough and wily
+opponent but he is not sufficiently tough and wily to overcome us
+because We Are Marines." (The capitals are Hunt's.)
+
+Personality plays a part in the ability to command, both under
+training conditions and under fire. But though a man be a veritable
+John Paul Jones or Mad Anthony Wayne in the time of action, his
+hardihood will never wholly undo any prior neglect of his men. While
+men may be rallied for a short space by someone setting an example of
+great courage, they can be kept in line under conditions of increasing
+stress and mounting hardship only when loyalty is based upon a respect
+which the commander has won by consistently thoughtful regard for the
+welfare and rights of his men, and a correct measuring of his
+responsibility to them.
+
+There are a few governing principles, and before considering their
+application in detail we should think first about the file. He is a
+Man; he expects to be treated as an adult, not as a schoolboy. He has
+rights; they must be made known to him and thereafter respected. He
+has ambition; it must be stirred. He has a belief in fair play; it
+must be honored. He has the need of comradeship; it must be supplied.
+He has imagination; it must be stimulated. He has a sense of personal
+dignity; it must not be broken down. He has pride; it can be satisfied
+and made the bedrock of his character once he gains assurance that he
+is playing a useful and respected part in a superior and successful
+organization. To give men working as a group the feeling of great
+accomplishment together is the acme of inspired leadership.
+
+In the degree that the disciplinary method and the training procedure
+of the military service, and the common sense of his superiors,
+combine to nourish these satisfactions in the individual, _esprit de
+corps_ comes into being and furthers his advance in the practice of
+arms and his potential usefulness as a fighting man. He becomes loyal
+because loyalty has been given to him. He learns to serve an ideal
+because an ideal has served him. For it is to be remembered that it is
+always the Army, the Navy or the nation that disengages the man from
+his old moorings, but it is the regiment or the ship's company which
+gives him a fresh anchor and enables him to feel secure again. The
+service cancels out the man's old life; the unit gives him a fresh
+start in a new environment, which may prove salutary or utterly
+damnable, as the man and the unit together make it. Where there is
+enlightened leading, neither can fail the other. _The majority of men,
+so long as they are treated fairly and feel that good use is being
+made of their powers, will rejoice in a new sense of unity with new
+companions even more than they will mind the increased separation from
+their old associations._ The ability to adjust is itself a landmark of
+success in the life of a normal individual.
+
+This is the primary gift of the organization to the man and the
+primary advantage of its relationship to him. Once it has given the
+file a sense of belonging, it restores his balance. It is this feeling
+of possession which is the beginning of true esprit. Without it, the
+man becomes a derelict. Indeed, we may go so far as to say that the
+man who lacks it, and does not aspire to it, will almost invariably be
+unsuited for combat or any military responsibility of consequence, not
+because he is disrespectful of tradition, but because he is a social
+outcast with no sense of duty to his fellows.
+
+Referring once again to the list of satisfactions due the man, it will
+be noted that they differ little, if at all, from the demands of his
+spirit before he has put on the uniform. But there should be marked
+also the vital difference that whereas a complex of social and
+economic forces and of totally disconnected influences contribute to
+his outlook so long as he is a civilian, the measure of his
+satisfactions is almost wholly in the hands of the organization once
+he has raised his right hand and taken the oath of military service to
+country. The condition of his health, the amount of his pay, the
+organization of his leisure time, his diet, his sleeping habits, his
+sex problems, even the manner in which he shaves and wears his hair,
+are matters of organizational concern. Within the new company, he may
+either attain greatly, or miserably fail. It should speak to him with
+the voice of Stentor, the bronze voice of 10,000 men--meaning the
+thousand or so who are still with the ship, the group or the regiment,
+and the thousands who are in the shadows but who once served it well,
+thereby inspiring those who follow to give an extra portion of service
+to their fellows. Unless tradition has that effect upon the living, it
+will not produce esprit, but military "mossbackism."
+
+What does this imply in terms of practical application? Simply that
+the custodianship of esprit must ever be in the hands of the officer
+corps. When the heart of the organization is sound, officership is
+able to see its own reflection in the eyes of the enlisted man. For
+this simple reason: insofar as his ability to mould the character of
+troops is concerned, the qualifying test of the leader is the judgment
+placed upon his military abilities by those who serve under him. If
+they do not deem him fit to command, he cannot train them to obey. But
+if they see in one man directly over them a steady example, the
+strongest of their number will model after him, instead of sagging
+because of weakness elsewhere in the command structure.
+
+This point is irreducible. Though an officer have absolute confidence
+in himself, and though he have an instinct amounting to genius for the
+material things of war, these otherwise considerable gifts will avail
+him little or nothing if his _manner_ is such that his troops remain
+unconvinced of his capacity and doubtful of his power to maintain
+command in periods of extreme trial. He will fail because he has not
+sufficiently regarded the LAW OF PERSONALITY--LOOKS, ACTIONS, WORDS.
+
+Among military men, there has been much mistaken praise for the virtue
+of "mechanical obedience." There is no such thing. Men think in their
+smallest actions; if this were not so, it would not be possible to
+lead them. What has been blindly termed "mechanical response" requires
+perhaps a higher concentration of will than any other type of action,
+and hence of thought itself, since the two are inseparable. The forces
+in which this characteristic was outstanding have been those which
+were led with the highest degree of intelligence and of understanding
+of human nature. For unity of spirit and of action, which is the
+essence of _esprit de corps_, is of all military miracles the most
+difficult to achieve.
+
+Yet its abiding principle is simple. It comes of integrity and
+clarification of purpose. The able officer is not a Saul waiting for
+the light to strike him on the Damascus road, but a Paul having a
+clear understanding that unless the trumpet give forth a certain sound
+at all times, none shall prepare himself for the battle.
+
+Given such officers, the organization comes to possess a sense of
+unity and of fraternity in its routine existence which expresses
+itself as the force of cohesion in the hour when all ranks are
+confronted by a common danger. It is not because of mutual enthusiasm
+for an honored name but because of mutual confidence in one another
+that the ranks of old regiments or the bluejackets serving a ship with
+a great tradition are able to convert their esprit into battle
+discipline. Under stress they move and act together because they have
+imbibed the great lesson, and experience has made its application
+almost instinctive, that only in unity is there safety. They believe
+that they can trust their comrades and commanders as they would trust
+their next of kin. They have learned the necessity of mutual support
+and a common danger serves but to bind the ranks closer.
+
+But the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong.
+The newest unit--one born only yesterday--is as susceptible to a
+vaulting esprit as any which traces its founding to the beginnings of
+the Republic. Led by those who themselves are capable of great
+endeavour, who are quick to encourage and slow to disparage, and are
+ever ready to make due acknowledgment of worthy effort and to let men
+know wherein they are forging ahead, any military organization serving
+our flag will come to count this among its strengths.
+
+There are no tricks to the building of esprit. Its techniques are
+those which come naturally in the course of stimulating the interest
+of ranks in all of the great fundamentals of the military profession,
+rather than selling short their intelligence, and taking it for
+granted that they want nothing beyond the routine of work, liberty,
+mess call, and payday.
+
+But there is one pitfall. Toward the growth of esprit, the attitude,
+"My organization first, and the rest nowhere," never pays off. It
+begins with the idea, "_The service first, and my unit the best in the
+service._" In all human enterprise, the whole is greater than the sum
+of the parts. The citizen who thinks most deeply about his country
+will be the first to share the burdens of his community and
+neighborhood. The man who feels the greatest affection for the
+service in which he bears arms will work most loyally to make his own
+unit know a rightful pride in its own worth. Among all of the military
+services from out of the present and past, none has been more faithful
+to this principle than the United States Marine Corps. Among its
+members, being a Marine is the thing that counts mainly; after that
+comes service to the Regiment or Battalion. Even the other services
+marvel at the result. Though they take due pride in their own virtues
+and accomplishments, they still regard the esprit of the Marine with
+admiration, and more than a little envy. What is the secret? Perhaps
+it is this, that the Corps emphasizes the rugged outlet for men's
+energies, and never permits its members to forget that the example of
+courage is their most precious heritage.
+
+Six years after his defeat at Wake Island, the things that remained
+uppermost in the mind of Col. James P. S. Devereux, as he put together
+the story of the most tragic hours of his life, were the heroisms of
+the individuals who had been trained in a tradition to which he had
+fully committed his own purpose. One incident of that day, typical of
+many, is best related in Devereux's own words.
+
+"Master Sergeant J. Paszkiewicz, a Marine for 20 years, was caught in
+the first blast at the airfield. Bombs shattered his right leg. He
+started crawling off, dragging his smashed leg limply behind him. The
+second wave of bombers came in. Paszkiewicz reached a little pile of
+wreckage and found what he wanted, a piece of wood. With a little
+fixing it could serve as a crutch. The bombs were dropping again.
+Paszkiewicz started hobbling off. He seemed to be going the wrong way.
+Somebody tried to help him, but he wasn't having any. Lieutenant David
+D. Kliewer saw him stumbling along on his makeshift crutch, giving
+first aid to the wounded or trying to make a dying man a little
+easier."
+
+Could a man give that much, and could his superior, Devereux, have
+remembered it so vividly from amid his own personal trials, unless
+both had been inspired by the traditions of the Corps?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
+
+KNOWING YOUR JOB
+
+
+In one of his little-known passages, Robert Louis Stevenson did the
+perfect portrait of the man who finally failed at everything, because
+he just never learned how to take hold of his work.
+
+It goes like this: "His career was one of unbroken shame. He did not
+drink. He was exactly honest. He was never rude to his employers. Yet
+he was everywhere discharged. Bringing no interest to his duties, he
+brought no attention. His day was a tissue of things neglected and
+things done amiss. And from place to place and from town to town he
+carried the character of one thoroughly incompetent."
+
+No one would say that the picture is overdrawn or that the poor devil
+got other than his just deserts. In the summing up, the final judgment
+that is put on a man by other men depends on his value as a working
+hand. If he has other serious personality faults, they will be
+overlooked as somewhat beside the point, provided that he levels with
+his job. But if he embodies all of the surface virtues, and is
+shiftless, any superior with sense will mark him for the discard, and
+his coworkers will breathe a sigh of relief when he has gone on his
+way.
+
+Within the armed services, the tone of grudging admiration is never
+missing from such altogether familiar comments as:
+
+"He's a queer duck but he has what it takes."
+
+"We can't get along with him but we can't get along without him."
+
+By such words, we unconsciously yield the palm to the man who,
+whatever his other shortcomings, excels us in application to duty. One
+of the worst rascals ever raised in Britain said that while he
+wouldn't give a farthing for virtue, he would pay 10,000 pounds for
+character, because, possessing it, he would be able to sell it for
+much more.
+
+Is it possible then that men of thoroughly good intentions will
+neglect the one value which a knave says is worth prizing? Not only is
+it possible; it happens every day! We see officers of the armed
+establishment who, thinking themselves employed all day, would still,
+if they had to make an honest reckoning of the score after tattoo
+sounded, be compelled to say that they had done exactly nothing.
+Lacking some compelling duty, they may have read several hours
+mechanically, neither studying what was said, making notes, nor
+reflecting on the value and accuracy of it. Such papers as they
+signed, they had glanced over perfunctorily. If any subordinate
+approached them with some small matter, they reacted by trying to get
+rid of him as quickly as possible. When they entered the company of
+their fellow officers, they partook of it as little as they could, not
+bothering to enter vigorous conversation, failing to make any note of
+the character and manner of their associates, and learning not at all
+from the words that were said.
+
+It is all good enough, and yet strangely it is neither good nor is it
+enough. That idea of what life in the officer corps is meant to be
+simply cannot stand up under the pressures of modern operations. True
+enough, assignments do not all have the same level of work
+requirement, and one is sometimes handed a wide open opportunity to
+goldbrick. But taking advantage of it is like the dope habit; the more
+that it is sniffed, the greater becomes the craving of the nervous
+system. It is harder to throw off sloth than to keep it from climbing
+onto one's back in the first place. And finally, the truth of the
+matter is this, that there is never any assignment given an armed
+service officer which entitles him to waste any of the working hours
+of his day. Though he be marking time in a casual depot or replacement
+center, there still awaits his attention the entire range of military
+studies, through which he can advance his own abilities. And if he is
+not of a mind for tactics, map-reading, military law, and training
+doctrine, it still follows that the study of applied psychology,
+English composition, economic geography and foreign languages will
+further his career. Just as a rough approximation, any officer's work
+week should comprise about 50 percent execution and the other half
+study, if he is to make the best use of his force. The woods are
+loaded with go-getters who claim they are men of action and therefore
+have no need of books; that they are "the flat-bottoms who can ride
+over the dew." Though they are a little breezier, they are of the same
+bone and marrow as the drone who is always counseling halfspeed.
+"Don't sweat; just get by; extra work means short life; you're better
+off if they don't notice you." This chant can be heard by anyone who
+cares to listen; it's the old American invitation to mediocrity. But
+while mediocre, as commonly used, means "indifferent, ordinary," it
+also has in old English the odd meaning "a young monk who was excused
+from performing part of a monk's duties." And that, too, fits. It is
+always worthwhile to ask a few very senior officers what they think of
+these jokers who refuse to study. They will say that the higher up you
+go, the more study you have to make up, because of what you missed
+somewhere along the line. They will say also that when they got to
+flag or star rank, things didn't ease off a bit.
+
+But not all wisdom is to be found in books, and at no time is this
+more true than when one is breaking in. What is expected of the novice
+in any field is that he will ask questions, _smart ones if possible_,
+but if not, then questions of all kinds until he learns that there is
+no such item as reveille oil and that skirmish line doesn't come on
+spools. For on one point there should be no mistake: the newly
+appointed officer is a novice. Though many things go with the
+commission, the assumption that he is all wise to all ways of the
+service, and will automatically fit into his element as neatly as a
+loaded ship settles down to its Plimsoll's mark, just isn't among
+them. Within the services, seniors are rarely, if ever, either
+patronizing or intolerant of the greenness of a new officer; they just
+stand ready to help him. And if he doesn't permit them to have that
+chance, because he would rather pretend that he knows it all, they
+will gradually become bored with him because of the manifest proof
+that he knows so very little.
+
+_Wisdom begins at the point of understanding that there is nothing
+shameful about ignorance; it is shameful only when a man would rather
+remain in that state than cultivate other men's knowledge._ There is
+never any reason why he should hesitate, for it is better to be
+embarrassed from seeking counsel than to be found short for not having
+sought it.
+
+In one of the toughest trades in the world of affairs--that of the
+foreign correspondent--initial dependence upon one's professional
+colleagues is the only certain stepping stone to success. A man
+arrives in strange country feeling very much alone. His credentials
+lack the weight they had at home. The prestige of his newspaper counts
+for almost nothing. Even the name of his home city stirs little
+respect. The people, their ways, their approaches and their taboos are
+foreign to him. This sweeping environmental change is crushing to the
+spirit; it would impose an almost insuperable moral handicap if the
+newcomer could not go to other Americans who have already worked the
+ground, ask them how the thing is done, seek their advice about
+dealing with the main personalities, learn from them about the
+facilities for processing copy, and soak up everything they have to
+say about private and professional procedures. Then as the ropes grow
+gradually familiar in the grasp, confidence and nervous energy come
+flooding back.
+
+Surely there is a close parallel between this experience and that of
+the journeyman moving from the familiar soil of civilianism to the
+_terra incognita_ of military life. But there is also the marked
+difference that everyone he meets can tell him something that he needs
+to know. More particularly, if he has the ambition to excel as a
+commander of men, rather than as a technician, then the study of human
+nature and of individual characteristics within the military crowd
+become a major part of his training. That is the prime reason why the
+life of any tactical leader becomes so very interesting, provided he
+possesses some imagination. Everything is grist for his mill.
+Moreover, despite the wholesale transformation in the scientific and
+industrial aspects of war, there has been no revolution in the one
+thing that counts most. Ardant du Picq's words, "The heart of man does
+not change," are as good now as when he said them in an earlier period
+of war. Whatever one learns for certain about the nature of man as a
+fighting animal can be filed for ready reference; the hour will come
+when it will be useful.
+
+We have emphasized the value of becoming curious, and of asking
+questions about what one doesn't know, and have said that even when
+the questions are a little on the dumb side, it does no harm. But the
+ice gets very thin at one point. The same question asked over and
+again, like the same error made more than once, will grate the nerves
+of any superior. It is the mark of inattention, and the beginning of
+that "tissue of things neglected and things done amiss" which put
+Stevenson's oddball character in the ditch. When an officer lets words
+go in one ear and out the other like water off a duck's back, to quote
+the Dutch janitor, he is chasing rainbows by rubbing fur in the wrong
+direction.
+
+Ideally, an officer should be able to do the work of any man serving
+under him. There are even some command situations in which the ideal
+becomes altogether attainable, and a wholly practicable objective. For
+it may be said without qualification, that if he not only has this
+capability, but demonstrates it, so that his men begin to understand
+that he is thoroughly versed in the work problems which concern them,
+_he can command them in any situation_. This is the real bedrock of
+command capacity, and nothing else so well serves to give an officer
+an absolutely firm position with all who serve under him. As said
+elsewhere in this book, within the armed establishment, administration
+is not of itself a separate art, or a dependable prop to authority.
+When administrators talk airily of things that they clearly do not
+understand, they are simply using the whip on the team without having
+control of the reins.
+
+However, the greater part of military operation in present days is
+noteworthy for the extreme diversity and complexity of its parts, and
+instead of becoming more simplified, the trend is toward greater
+elaboration. It is obviously absurd to expect that any officer could
+know more about radio repair than his repairman, more about mapping
+than his cartographical section, more about moving parts than a
+gunsmith, more about radar than a specialist in electronics and more
+about cypher than a cryptographer. If the services were to set any
+such unreasonable standard for the commissioned body, all would
+shortly move over into the lunatic fringe. Science has worked a few
+wonders for the military establishment but it hasn't told us how to
+produce that kind of man.
+
+Plainly, there must be a somewhat different approach to the question
+of what kind of knowledge an officer is expected to possess, or the
+requirement would be unreasonable and unworkable.
+
+_The distinction lies in the difference between the power to do a
+thing well and that of being able to judge when it is well done._ A
+man can say that a book is bad, though not knowing how to write one
+himself, provided he is a student of literature. Though he has never
+laid an egg, he can pass fair judgment on an omelette, if he knows a
+little about cookery, and has sampled many good eggs, and detected a
+few that were overripe.
+
+"He who lives in a house," said Aristotle, "is a better judge of it
+being good or bad than the builder of it. He can say not only these
+things, but wherein its defects consist. Yet he might be quite unable
+to cure the chimney, or to draw out a plan for his rooms which would
+suit him better. Sometimes he can even see where the fault is which
+caused the mischief, and yet he may not know practically how to remedy
+it."
+
+Adjustment to a job, and finally, mastery of it, by a service officer,
+comes of persistent pursuit of this principle. The main technique is
+study and constant reexamination of criteria. To take the correct
+measure of standards of performance, as to the value of the work
+itself, and as to the abilities of personnel, one must become immersed
+in knowledge of the nature, _and purpose_, of all operations. There is
+no shortcut to this grasp of affairs. The sack is filled bean by bean.
+Patient application to one thing at one time is the first rule of
+success; getting on one's horse and riding off in all directions is
+the prelude to failure. All specialists like to talk about their work;
+the interest of any other man is flattering; all men grow in knowledge
+chiefly by picking other men's brains. Book study of the subject,
+specialized courses in the service schools, the instructive comments
+of one's superiors, the informed criticism of hands further down the
+line and the weighing of human experience, at every source and by
+every recourse, are the means of an informed judgment. It was the
+scientist, Thomas Huxley who reminded us that science is only
+"organized common sense."
+
+Other things being equal, the prospect for any man's progress is
+largely determined by his attitude. It is the receptive mind, rather
+than the oracle, which inspires confidence. General Eisenhower said at
+one point that, after 40 years, he still thought of himself as a
+student on all military questions, and that he consciously mistrusted
+any man who believed he had the full and final answer to problems
+which by their nature were ever-changing.
+
+But priggishness about knowledge is not more hurtful than is the
+arbitrary use of it to limit action. _To rule by work rather than to
+work by rules_ must be the abiding principle in military operations,
+for finally, when war comes, nothing else will suffice. In peacetime,
+absolute accountability is required, because dollar economy in
+operations is a main object. This entails adherence to rigid forms,
+time-consuming, but still necessary. In many of war's exigencies,
+these forms frequently have to be swept aside, to bring victory as
+quickly as possible and to save human life. In the book, "General
+Kenney Reports," that great air commander spoke at one point of a
+difficulty in one of his combat groups. "It was a lot of hard-working
+earnest kids, officers and enlisted men, who were doing the best they
+could under poor living and eating conditions. But their hands were
+tied by the colonel in command whose passion for paper work
+effectually stopped the issuing of supplies and the functioning of the
+place as an air depot should. He told me that he thought 'it was about
+time these combat units learned how to do their paper work properly.'
+I decided that it would be a waste of time to fool with him so I told
+him to pack up to go home on the next plane."
+
+Though this is a tragic example of wrong-headedness, it is by no means
+unique. The profession moves ahead, and national security advances
+with it, because of men who have the confidence and courage to toss
+the rule book out the window when it doesn't fit the situation, and
+who dare to trust their own decisions and improvise swiftly.
+
+But in all walks of life, this willingness to take hold of the reins
+firmly is by no means common among men in relatively subordinate
+positions who can play it safe by falling back on "SOP."
+
+But there is also a far wider vista than that which is to be viewed
+only within the services themselves, and its horizons are almost
+infinite. The American way in warfare utilizes everything within the
+national system which may be applied to a military purpose toward the
+increase of training and fighting efficiency. Much of our potential
+strength lies in our industrial structure, our progress in science,
+our inventiveness and our educational resources. Toward the end that
+all of these assets will be given maximum use, and every good idea
+which can be converted to a military purpose will be in readiness to
+serve the nation when war comes, there must be a continuing meeting of
+minds between military leadership and the leaders and experts in these
+various fields during peace.
+
+That union cannot be perfected, however, unless there is a sufficient
+number of men on both sides of the table who can think halfway into
+the field of the man opposite. Just as the civilian expert in
+electronics, airplane manufacture or motion picture production needs
+to know more about the military establishment's problem and
+requirements if he is to do his part, the service officer with whom he
+is dealing needs to be informed on industry's resources, possibilities
+and limitations if he is to enable the civilian side to do its part
+well. The same for science. The same for education, and all other
+backers of the fighting force.
+
+An enlightened Englishman, D. W. Brogan, in a book written during
+World War II, "The American Character," gave us this thought: "The
+American officer must think in terms of material resources, existing
+but not organized in peacetime and taking much time and thought and
+experiment by trial and error to make available in wartime. He finds
+that his best peacetime plans are inadequate for one basic reason:
+that any plan which in peacetime really tried to draw adequately on
+American resources would cause its author to be written off as a
+madman; and in wartime, it would prove to have been inadequate,
+pessimistic, not allowing enough for the practically limitless
+resources of the American people--limitless once the American people
+get ready to let them be used. And only war can get them ready for
+that. The American officer can draw then, but not before, on an
+experience in economic improvization and in technical adaptation which
+no other country can equal."
+
+This is true to the last syllable, and it means in essence that unless
+the American officer can think of the whole nation as his workshop,
+and along with his other duties, will apply himself as a student,
+seeking to understand more and more about the richness and the
+adaptability of our tremendous resources, neither he nor the country
+will be relatively ready when war comes.
+
+There is a last point to be made on the matter of attitude. The most
+resolute opposition to changes in any system usually comes from those
+who control them. That is universally true, and not peculiar to
+military systems; but the services are foremost in recognizing that,
+as a consequence, the encouragement of original thought at the lower
+levels is essential to over-all progress.
+
+All depends upon the manner. We can ponder the words of William
+Hazlitt, "A man who shrinks from a collision with his equals or
+superiors will soon sink below himself; we improve by trying our
+strength with others, not by showing it off." They are good so far as
+they go, but something new should be added. There is a vast difference
+between contending firmly for ideas that seem progressive when one is
+reasonably sure of one's data, and the habit of throwing one's weight
+around through a mistaken belief that this of itself manifests an
+independence of spirit which inspires respect.
+
+Truculence can never win the day. Restraint, tolerance, a sense of
+humor and of proportion and the force of logic are the marks of the
+man qualified for intellectual leading. Within the services, even
+though he has no great rank, there is practically nothing he cannot
+carry through, if his proposals have the color of reason and
+propriety, and if he will keep his head, keep his temper, and keep his
+word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN
+
+KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR MEN
+
+
+An admiring contemporary spoke of Paul G. Hoffman, the director of the
+European Recovery Program, as "the kind of man who if tossed through
+the air would always pick out the right trapeze."
+
+Within any military organization, there is always a number of such
+men, enlisted and commissioned. They know how and where to take hold,
+even in the face of a totally unexpected and unnerving situation, and
+they have what amounts to an instinct for doing the right thing in a
+decisive moment.
+
+If it were not so, no captain of the line would ever be able to manage
+a company in battle, and no submarine commander would be able to cope
+with an otherwise overwhelming danger. These men are the foundation of
+unit integrity. The successful life of organization depends upon
+husbanding, and helping them to cultivate, their own powers, which
+means that their initiative and vigor must never be chilled by
+supercilious advice and thoughtless correction.
+
+They will go ahead and act responsibly on their own when given the
+confidence, and if they want it, the friendship, of their commander.
+But they cannot be treated like little children. The lash will ruin
+them and the curb will merely subdue that which needs to be brought
+forward. As in handling a horse with a good temper and a good mouth,
+nothing more is needed than that gentle touch of the rein which
+signals that things are under control.
+
+From where the executive sits, the main secret of building strength
+within organization comes of identifying such men, and of associating
+one's authority with theirs, so it is unmistakable in whose name they
+are speaking and acting. One of the acid tests of qualification in
+officership is the ability properly to delegate authority, to put it
+in the best hands, and thereafter to uphold them. If an officer cannot
+do that, and if he is mistrustful of all power save his own, he
+cannot command in peace, and when he goes into battle, his unit
+strength will fragment like an exploding bomb, and the parts will not
+be rewelded until some stronger character takes hold.
+
+_Command is not a prerogative, but rather a responsibility to be
+shared with all who are capable of filling up the spaces in orders and
+of carrying out that which is not openly expressed though it may be
+understood._ Admittedly, it is not easy for a young officer, who by
+reason of his youth is not infrequently lacking in self-assurance and
+in the confidence that he can command respect, to understand that as a
+commander he can grow in strength in the measure that he succeeds in
+developing the latent strength of his subordinates. But if he
+stubbornly resists this premise as he goes along in the service, his
+personal resources will never become equal to the strain which will be
+imposed upon him, come a war emergency. The power to command resides
+largely in the ability to see when a proper initiative is being
+exercised and in giving it moral encouragement. When an officer feels
+that way about his job and his men, he will not be ready to question
+any action by a junior which might be narrowly construed as an
+encroachment upon his own authority. Of this last evil come the
+restraints which reduce men to automatons, giving only that which is
+asked, or less, according to the pressing of a button.
+
+There are other men who have as sound a potential as these
+already-made leaders, but lack the initial confidence because they
+were not constructively handled in earlier years. They require
+somewhat more personal attention, for the simple reason that more
+frequent contact with their superiors, words of approval and advice as
+needed, will do more than all else to put bottom under them. They must
+be encouraged to think for themselves as well as to obey orders, to
+organize as well as to respond, if they are to become part of the
+solution, rather than remaining part of the problem, of command. If
+left wholly to their own devices, or to the ministrations of less
+thoughtful subordinates, they will remain in that majority which moves
+only when told. It takes no more work, though it does require
+imagination, to awaken the energies of such men by appealing to their
+intelligence and their self-interest, than to nauseate them with dull
+theory, and to cramp them by depriving them of responsibility.
+
+Careful missionary work among these "sleepers" is as productive as
+spading the ground, and sprinkling a garden patch. When an officer
+takes hold in a new unit, his main chance of making it better than it
+was comes of looking for the overlooked men. He uses his hand to give
+them a firm lift upward, but it will not be available for that purpose
+if he spends any of his time tugging at men who are already on their
+feet and moving in the right general direction.
+
+In the words of a distinguished armored commander in our forces: "To
+the military leader, men are tools. He is successful to the extent
+that he can get the men to work for him. Ordinarily, and on their own
+initiative, people run on only 35 percent capacity. The success of a
+leader comes of tapping the other 65 percent." This is a pretty
+seasoned judgment on men in the mass, taking them as they come, the
+mobile men, the slow starters, the indifferent and the shiftless.
+Almost every man wants to do what is expected of him. When he does not
+do so, it is usually because his instructions have been so doubtful as
+to befog him or give him a reasonable excuse for noncompliance. This
+view of things is the only tenable attitude an officer or enlisted
+leader can take toward his subordinates. He will recognize the
+exceptions, and if he does not then take appropriate action, it is
+only because he is himself shiftless and is compassionate toward
+others of his own fraternity.
+
+It is the military habit to "plow deep in broken drums and shoot crap
+for old crowns," as the poet, Carl Sandburg, put it. As much as any
+other profession, and even possibly a little more, we take pride in
+the pat solution, and in proof that long-applied processes amply meet
+the test of newly unfolding experience. But despite all the jests
+about the Gettysburg Map, we wouldn't know where we're going if we
+couldn't be reasonably sure of where we've been.
+
+Therefore, it is as well to say now that from all of the careful
+searching made by the armed services as to the fighting
+characteristics of Americans during World War II, not a great deal was
+learned in addition to what was already well known, or surmised. The
+criteria that had been used in the prior system of selection proved to
+be substantially correct; at least, if it had faults, they were innate
+in the complex problem of weighing human material, and were beyond
+correction by any rule of thumb or judgment. Men were chosen to lead
+because of personality, intelligence at their work, response to
+orders, ability to lead in fatigues or in the social affairs of
+organization, and disciplinary record. In combat these same men
+carried 95 percent of the load of responsibility and provided the
+dynamic for the attack. But in every unit, there was almost invariably
+a small sprinkling of individuals, who having shown no prior ability
+when measured by the customary yardsticks of courtesy, discipline and
+work, became strong and vital in any situation calling for heroic
+action. They could fight, they could lead, they knew what should be
+done, they could persuade other men to rally around, and by these
+things, they could command instantly the previously withheld respect
+of their superiors.
+
+Neither the scientific nor the military mind has yet been able to
+provide the answer as to how men of this type--so indispensable to the
+fighting establishment in the thing that matters most, though lacking
+in strong surface characteristics--can be detected beforehand, and
+conserved, instead of being wasted possibly in a labor or housekeeping
+organization.
+
+All concerned recognize the extreme importance of the problem, and
+would like to do something about it. What is as yet not even vaguely
+seen is the large possibility that the problem might be
+self-liquidating if all junior officers became more concerned with
+learning all they could about the private character and personal
+nature of their subordinates. This does not mean invading their
+privacy; but it implies giving every man a fair chance to open up and
+to talk freely, without fear of contempt. It means studying the
+background of a man even more carefully than one would read a map,
+looking for the key to command of the terrain. These are usually
+repressed men; many of the foreign-born are to be found among them;
+they cover up because of pride, but they are not afraid of physical
+danger. Once any man, and particularly a superior, gets through the
+outer shell, he may have the effect of a catalyst on what is happening
+inside. If such men did not have basic loyalty, they would never
+fight. When at last they give their loyalty to an individual, they are
+usually his to command and will go through hell for him.
+
+There was an Oklahoma miner named Alvin Wimberley in 90th Division
+during World War I. On the drill field, he could do nothing correctly.
+He couldn't step off on the left foot; he would frequently drop his
+piece while trying to do right shoulder. Solely because his case was
+unfathomable, his platoon leader asked that he be taken to France with
+the unit instead of separated with the culls. At the front, Wimberley
+immediately took the lead in every detail of a dangerous sort, such as
+exploding a mine field, or hunting for traps and snares. His nerve was
+inexhaustible; his judgment sure. There was, after all, a simple key
+to the mystery. Wimberley had led a solitary life as a dynamiter, deep
+under ground. He was frightened of men, but danger was his element.
+When he saw other men recoil at the thing which bothered him not at
+all, he realized that he was the big man, though he only stood 5 feet
+3 inches in issue socks.
+
+To know men, it is not necessary to wet-nurse them, and no officer can
+make a sorrier mistake than to take the overly nice, worrying attitude
+toward them. This, after all, is simply the rule of the well-bred man,
+rather than an item peculiar to the code of the military officer. But
+it is a little less becoming in a service officer than in anyone else,
+because, when a man puts on fighting clothes in the name of his
+country, it is an insult to treat him as if he were a juvenile.
+
+In any situation where men need to know one another better, someone
+has to break the ice. Where does the main responsibility lie within a
+military unit? True enough, the junior has to salute first, and in
+some services is supposed to say, "Good morning!" first, though
+beating a man to the draw with a greeting is one way to win him.
+
+However, the main point is this: unless an officer has himself been an
+enlisted man, it is almost impossible for him to know how formidable,
+and even forbidding, rank at first seems to the eyes of the man down
+under, even though he would be loath to say so.
+
+Many recruits have such a mistaken hearsay impression of the United
+States military system, that it is for them a cause for astonishment
+that any officer enjoys free discussion with them. They feel at first
+that there is a barrier there which only the officer is entitled to
+cross; it takes them a little while to learn better.
+
+But in the continuing relationship, it is the habit of the average
+well-disciplined enlisted man to remain reticent, and talk only on
+official matters, unless the officer takes the lead in such way as to
+invite general conversation. For that matter, the burden is the same
+anywhere in the service in relations between a senior officer and his
+subordinates, and the former must take the lead if he expects to
+really know his men.
+
+Many newly joined officers believe, altogether mistakenly, that there
+is some strange taboo against talking to men except in line of duty,
+and that if caught at it, it will be considered _infra dig_. There is
+always the hope that they will remain around long enough to learn
+better.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY
+
+WRITING AND SPEAKING
+
+
+Other things being equal, a superior rating will invariably be given
+to the officer who has persevered in his studies of the art of
+self-expression, while his colleague, who attaches little importance
+to what may be achieved through working with the language, will be
+marked for mediocrity.
+
+A moment's reflection will show why this has to be the case and why
+mastery of the written and spoken word is indispensable to successful
+officership.
+
+As the British statesman, Disraeli, put it, "Men govern with words."
+Within the military establishment, command is exercised through what
+is said which commands attention and understanding and through what is
+written which directs, explains, interprets or informs.
+
+Battles are won through the ability of men to express concrete ideas
+in clear and unmistakable language. All administration is carried
+forward along the chain of command by the power of men to make their
+thoughts articulate and available to others.
+
+There is no way under the sun that this basic condition can be
+altered. Once the point is granted, any officer should be ready to
+accept its corollary--that superior qualification in the use of the
+language, both as to the written and the spoken word, is more
+essential to military leadership than knowledge of the whole technique
+of weapons handling.
+
+It then becomes strictly a matter of personal decision whether he will
+seek to advance himself along the line of main chance or will take
+refuge in the excuse offered by the great majority: "I'm just a simple
+fighting file with no gift for writing or speaking."
+
+How often these or similar words are heard in the armed services! And
+the pity of it is that they are usually uttered in a tone indicating
+that the speaker believes some special virtue attaches to his kind of
+ignorance. There is the unmistakable innuendo that the man who pays
+serious attention to the fundamentals of the business of communication
+is somehow less possessed of sturdy military character than himself.
+There could hardly be a more absurd or disadvantageous professional
+conceit than this. It is the mark only of an officer who has no
+ambition to properly qualify himself, and is seeking to justify his
+own laziness.
+
+Not all American military leaders have been experts at polishing a
+phrase or giving clear expression and continuity to the thoughts which
+made them useful in command. But of those who have excelled in the
+conduct of great operations, at least four out of five made some mark
+in the field of letters. A long list would include such names as U. S.
+Grant, W. T. Sherman, Robert E. Lee, John J. Pershing, James G.
+Harbord, Henry T. Allen, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Jr.,
+H. H. Arnold, Douglas MacArthur, William F. Halsey, W. B. Smith,
+Joseph W. Stilwell, Holland M. Smith, and Robert L. Eichelberger among
+many others.
+
+Of them all, it can be said without exception that they acquired their
+skill at self-expression by sustained practice which was part of a
+self-imposed training in the interests of furthering their military
+efficiency. No one of them was a born writer. There is no such thing.
+Nor did any one of them owe his abilities as a writer to any other
+person. Writers are self-made. But it is a reasonable speculation that
+history might never have heard of the greater number of these men had
+they not worked sedulously to become proficient with the pen as well
+as with the sword. Granting that they had other sound military
+qualities in the beginning, an acquired ability to express themselves
+lucidly and with force became a touchstone to preferment. The same
+thing holds true of their celebrated military contemporaries almost
+without exception. Even those who had no public reputation for
+authorship, and would have been ill at ease if called upon to speak to
+an average audience, knew how to use the language in presenting their
+thoughts to their staffs and their troops, whether the occasion called
+for a succinct operational order, a doctrinal exposition or an
+inspirational message on the eve of battle.
+
+Wherever one looks, the same precept may be noted. It was not
+coincidence merely, but related cause and effect, that Ferdinand Foch
+was one of the ablest military writers of the twentieth century before
+he won immortality on the field of war, that the elder von Moltke was
+as skilled with ink as with powder, and that we still marvel at the
+picture of the great von Steuben dictating drill manuals far into the
+night so that there would be greater perfection in his formations on
+the following day. The command of language was one of the main sources
+of their power over the multitude.
+
+As it was with these commanders, so it is with leadership at every
+level: _Men who can command words to serve their thoughts and feelings
+are well on their way to commanding men to serve their purposes._
+
+All senior commanders respect the junior who has a facility for
+thinking an idea through and then expressing it comprehensively in
+clear, unvarnished phrases. Moreover, even when they are stilted in
+their own manner of expression, they will warm to the man whose style
+achieves strength through its ease and naturalness. They will quickly
+make note of any young officer who is making progress in this
+direction and will want to have him around. He is a rare bird in the
+services, and for that reason his opportunities are far above the
+average. Staff work could not be carried forward at any of its levels
+if it were not for this particular talent, and command would lose a
+great part of its magnetism.
+
+Toward the building of a career, the best break that can come to any
+young man is to have three or four places bidding simultaneously for
+his services. There are possibly better arguments than that as to why
+perfection in writing should be a main pursuit of the service officer,
+such as the sense of personal attainment which comes of it.
+
+Any man who has the brain to qualify for commission can make of
+himself a competent writer. Because of natural limitations, he may
+never come to excel in this art. But if he has had average schooling,
+knows how to open a dictionary, can find his way to a library, is
+willing to commit himself to long study and practice, particularly in
+nonduty hours, and will finally free himself of the superstition that
+writing is a game only for specialists, he can acquire all the skill
+that is necessary to further his advance within the military
+profession.
+
+That is the great difference between writing ability and specialized
+knowledge in such fields as electronics and atomic research.
+
+But where should work begin? How about a little practical advice?
+
+The only way to learn to write is to write. That is it--there is no
+other secret than hard, unremitting practice. Most writers at the
+start are mentally muscle-bound, and poorly coordinated. They have
+thoughts in their heads. They think they can develop them clearly. But
+when they try to apply a largely dormant vocabulary to the expression
+of these thoughts, the result is stiff and selfconscious.
+
+The only cure for this is constant mental exercise, with one's pen, or
+over one's typewriter. After a man has written perhaps a half million
+relatively useless words there comes, sometimes almost in a flash, and
+at other times gradually, a mastery not only of words, but of phrases,
+sentences and the composition of ideas. It is a kind of rhythmic
+process, like learning to swim, or to row a boat, or navigate an
+airplane. When a writer has at last conquered his element, his
+personality and his character can be transmitted to paper. What is
+said will reflect the force, adaptability, reason and musing of the
+writer. In fact, the discipline through which one learns to write adds
+substance to thought, whereby one's ideas are given body and
+connection. Such common faults as wordiness, overstatement, faulty
+sentence structure and weak use of words are gradually corrected. With
+their passing, confidence grows. This does not mean, however, that the
+task then becomes easy. Though its rewards will increase, good writing
+continues to be a strain even to the man who does it well. Many
+celebrated men of letters never get beyond the "sweating" stage, but
+have to fight their way through a jungle of words, and rewrite almost
+endlessly, before finding satisfaction in their product.
+
+This description makes it all seem more than a little formidable. But
+what was promised in the first place was that any service officer, who
+will accept the necessary discipline, can make himself reasonably
+proficient as a writer, and thereby further his professional progress.
+What he writes about during the conditioning period makes very little
+difference. It might be an operational order one night, a treatise on
+discipline the next, a lecture to his men on the elements of combat
+the third. Fortunately, the list of topics within the services and
+directly applicable to their operations, is practically inexhaustible.
+That is a main reason why the military establishment is a better
+school for writing than perhaps any other place in our society.
+
+Winston Churchill, whose gift of forceful expression is the envy of
+all other writing men, won his literary spurs in his early twenties as
+a soldier with the Malakand Field Force. He saw the essential
+idea--that to learn English, he had literally to learn, just as though
+he had been acquiring Latin or French. As a writer, his main strength
+is his employment of Anglo-Saxon, the words of our common speech.
+
+But simply to take regular exercise in composition is not quite
+enough. Of it would come the shadow but not the substance. To progress
+as a writer, one must become a student of the best things which have
+been written by men who understand their craft. A military officer can
+do that without going beyond the field of military studies, if that
+should be his disposition, such is the richness and variation of
+available works in this realm of literature. The purpose at hand is
+not only to seek great ideas for their own sake but to make careful
+note of the manner in which they are expressed. So doing, one
+unconsciously invigorates his own powers and adopts techniques which
+the masters have used to great advantage.
+
+To paraphrase what a distinguished journalist once said on this
+subject in a speech to young writers: "For an officer it is in the
+first place a shame to be ignorant--ignorant, as not a few are, of
+history and geography: and in the second place, it is a pity that any
+officer should lack a vigor in writing which can be produced through
+imitation of vigorous writers."
+
+As to what is best worth seeking, a man can not go wrong by "falling
+in love" with the works of a relatively limited number of authors who
+kindle him personally. It is all right to widen the field
+occasionally, for diversion, for contrast, for sharpening style, and
+for balancing of ideas, but strength comes of finding a main line and
+holding to it. No man can read a book with sympathetic understanding
+without taking from it something that makes him more complex and more
+potent.
+
+The main test is in this: if you read a book and feel stirred by it,
+even though alternately you strongly agree with certain of its
+passages and warmly contend against others, something new has been
+added. The writer is making you see things. Your own powers of
+observation are being made more acute. All good writers are in a sense
+hitch-hikers. While going along for the ride, and enjoying the essence
+of some highly developed mind, they are not loath to study the
+technique by which some other man develops his driving power, and to
+make note of his strong words and best phrases for possible future
+use.
+
+It is a good habit to underscore passages in books which have
+contributed something vital to one's own thought--always provided that
+the books have not been borrowed.
+
+Without mentioning names, we can take a cue from a man who some years
+ago entered one of the services while still a youth. He had had little
+formal education, but he began an earnest study of military
+literature, and the search for knowledge whetted his thirst to join
+the company of those who could speak to the world because they had
+something to say. He read such books as were at hand, and clipped
+pieces from magazines and newspapers which had particularly appealed
+to him, for one reason or another. Whenever he saw a new word, he
+wrote it down and sought the meaning in the dictionary, considering
+whether it had a shade of meaning which added anything important to
+his vocabulary. This done, he wrote sentences, many sentences,
+employing his new words in various ways, until their use became
+instinctive. On this foundation alone, he built his career as a
+national writer. There was nothing extraordinary about this start and
+the ultimate result. Literally thousands of Americans have qualified
+themselves for one branch or another of the writing profession by what
+they learned to do in military service. Too, an ability to "organize a
+good paper" has been a large element in the success of most of the men
+who have moved from the military circle into top posts in the
+diplomatic service, in education or in industrial administration. Had
+they been capable only of delegating this kind of work, their powers
+would never have been recognized.
+
+As a practical matter, it is better to concentrate on a few elementary
+rules-of-thumb, such as are contained in the following list, than to
+bog down attempting to heed everything that the pedants have said
+about how to become a writer.
+
+    The more simply a thing is said the more powerfully it influences
+    those who read. Plain words make strong writing.
+
+    There is always one best word to convey a thought or a feeling. To
+    accept a weaker substitute, rather than to Search for the right
+    word, will deprive any writing of force.
+
+    Economy of words invigorates composition.
+
+    To quote Carl Sandburg: "Think twice before you use an adjective."
+
+    It is better to use the adverb because an adverb enhances the verb
+    and is active, whereas the adjective simply loads down the noun.
+
+    On the other hand, it is the verb that makes language live. Nine
+    times out of ten the verb is the operative word giving motion to
+    the sentence. Hence, placing the verb is of first importance in
+    giving strength to sentence structure.
+
+    In all writing, but in military writing particularly, there is no
+    excuse for vague terminology or phrases which do not convey an
+    exact impression of what was done or what is intended. The
+    military vocabulary is laden with words and expressions which
+    sound professional but do not have definite meaning. They vitiate
+    speech and the establishment would gladly rid itself of them if a
+    way could be found. Men fall into the habit of saying
+    "performed," "functioned" or "executed" and forget that "did" is
+    in the dictionary. A captain along the MLR (main line of
+    resistance) notifies his battalion commander that he has "advanced
+    his left flank" when all that has actually occurred is that six
+    riflemen from the left have crawled forward to new, and possibly,
+    untenable ground.
+
+    It is better at all times to _rein in_. The strength of military
+    writing, like the soundness of military operations, does not gain
+    through overstatement and artificial coloring. The bigger the
+    subject, the less it needs embroidery.
+
+    For lucidity and sincerity, the important thing is to say what you
+    have to say in whatever words most accurately express your own
+    thoughts. That done, it is pointless to worry about the effect on
+    the audience.
+
+The list of suggestions could be extended indefinitely. But enough has
+already been said to stake out a main line for those who have already
+decided that this subject deserves their interest.
+
+A majority of the world's most gifted writers would in all probability
+be struck dumb if put before an audience; though dealing confidently
+with ideas, they lack confidence when dealing with people. The
+military officer has need of both talents, and as to where the accent
+should be placed, it is probably more important that he should speak
+well than that his writing prose should be polished. A unit commander
+may permit a clerk or a subordinate to do the greater part of his
+paper work, either because his own time is taken with other duties or
+because he is awkward at it, but if he permits any other voice to
+dominate the councils of the organization, he soon ceases to exercise
+moral authority over it.
+
+Of this there is no question. The judgment men take of their superior
+is formed as much by what he says and how he says it as by his action.
+
+The matter of nerve is a main element in speaking. When an officer is
+ill at ease, fidgety and not to the point, the vote of his command for
+the time being is "no confidence," and so long as he remains that
+way, they will not change, no matter though his good will shines forth
+through other acts.
+
+On the other hand, the military crowd is an extremely sympathetic
+audience. It has to be; it is drawing pay for so being. But even if
+that were not true, the ranks have a generous spirit and are ever
+disposed to give the newcomer an even break. If he meets them
+confidently and calmly, measures his words, smiles at his own mistakes
+and breaks it off when he has covered his subject, they'll pay no
+attention to his little fumbles, and they'll approve him. There is no
+better way to pick up prestige than through instruction or discourse
+which commands attention, for despite all that is said in favor of the
+"strong, silent man," troops like an officer who is outgiving, and who
+has an intelligence that they can respect because they have seen it at
+work.
+
+As for _how_ an officer should talk to men, his manner and tone should
+be no different than if he were addressing his fellow officers, or for
+that matter, a group of his intellectual and political peers from any
+walk of life. If he is stuffy, he will not succeed anywhere. If he
+affects a superior manner, that is a mark of his inferiority. If he is
+patronizing, and talks to grown men as a teacher might talk to a class
+of adolescents, the rug, figuratively, will be pulled from under him.
+His audience will put him down as a chump.
+
+It is curiously the case that the junior officer who can't get the
+right pitch when he talks to the ranks will also be out of tune when
+he talks to his superiors. This failing is a sign mainly that he needs
+practice in the school of human nature. By listening a little more
+carefully to other men, he may himself in time attain maturity.
+
+Concerning subject matter, it is better always to aim high than to
+take the risk of shooting too low. It is too often the practice to
+spell out everything in words of one syllable so that the more witless
+files in the organization will be able to understand it. When that is
+done, it insults the intelligence of the keenest men, and nothing is
+added to their progress. The target should be the intellect of the
+upper 25 or 30 percent. When they are stimulated and informed, they
+will bring the others along, and even those who do not fully
+understand all that was under discussion will have heard something to
+which to aspire. _The habit of talking down to troops is one of the
+worst vices that can afflict an officer._
+
+There are no dull lecture topics; there are only dull lecturers. A
+little eager research will enliven any subject under the sun. Good
+lecturing causes men's imaginations to be stirred by vivid images.
+Real good is accomplished only when they talk to each other of what
+they have heard and sharpen their impressions. Schopenauer somewhere
+observes that "people in general have eyes and ears, but not much
+else--little judgment and even little memory," which isn't far wrong.
+Consequently, competent lecturing entails the employment of every
+technique which can be used to hammer a point home. In this way, a
+truth or a lesson has a better chance of adhering because it is
+identified with some definite image. Simply to illuminate this point,
+it is noted that the jests which best stick in the memory are those
+which are associated with some incongruous situation. To relate a
+pertinent anecdote, to provide an apt quotation from some well-known
+authority and to draw upon our own rich battle history for
+illustrative materials are but a few of the means of freshening any
+discussion and sharpening its purpose. Men are always ready to listen
+to the story of other men's experience provided that it is told with
+vigor. And insofar as combat is concerned, such teaching is in point,
+for what has happened once will happen again.
+
+For his way as an instructor of young infantry officers of the A. E.
+F. in 1918, Lt. Col. H. M. Hutchinson of the British Army was awarded
+our D. S. M. Officers who sat at his feet at Gondrecourt were unlikely
+ever to forget the point of such an anecdote as:
+
+"There will be no 'Stack arms' in my army. It is a thing one sees on a
+brewer's calendar--The Soldier's Dream--showing a brave private
+sleeping under a stack of rifles which it will take him a good
+half-hour to untangle when the call comes to stand to. No, a soldier
+had better carry the rifle with him to his meals, have it beside him
+always, lavish his care upon it, and in short treat it more like a
+wife than a weapon.
+
+"I am reminded of the times in South Africa when we would come to a
+country inn where a chap could stop for beer. Well, a soldier would
+walk into the place, and immediately he would stand his rifle in a
+corner--like an umbrella, you know--'We've arrived!'--and he'd get
+well into his beer and a song, say, and suddenly firing would break
+out on the inn from four sides.
+
+"It seemed that a Boer had slipped into the entry and picked up all
+the rifles and passed them around to his mates in the bushes,
+and--well--there you are!"
+
+As a cadet and later as an instructor at Sandhurst, Colonel Hutchinson
+well knew the usefulness of the anecdote in catching and holding the
+attention of the young. Who could forget the lesson in this, related
+at Gondrecourt:
+
+"In my youth I was a dashing ignoramus with clearer ideas than I now
+have on the line of demarcation between the officer and his men. They
+sent me out to South Africa during the trouble and I brought a
+detachment into a country village. It seemed quite unpromising but I
+was told of a sort of place 3 miles in the country that you would call
+a chateau in France. So I cantered out and spent the night, turning my
+men over to a sergeant-major. After a refreshing breakfast along in
+the middle of the morning--the late middle of the morning--I rode back
+into town, but try as I might I could not locate a single one of my
+men.
+
+"Now nothing, you know, is as ineffective in a war as an officer
+without his men. Well, I spent the day in agony and it was not until
+along at dusk that the first of the blighters straggled in--quite
+drunk, all of them, and swearing to a man that they had engaged in
+five ferocious battles. It seems that about 2 miles away, in a barn,
+they had come on a hogshead of ginger brandy, and had stayed with it
+to the bitter end. Need I say that it was a great lesson to me, and
+that from then on I was never billeted farther than 15 rods from my
+men.
+
+"As a matter of fact, I love ginger brandy."
+
+Or this, in which the whole lesson of exactitude in the written
+communication is implicit:
+
+"Now on the subject of messages, it might be well to say immediately
+that as far as I know no one ever received a written message during a
+battle. They may be written, but that I think is as far as it goes.
+However, they are occasionally received before and after battles, and
+in this connection let me say that it is no earthly good writing
+generalities to signify times and places.
+
+"I mean to say, suppose you are writing a message and you write
+'Report after breakfast.' Well, to Sergeant Ramrod it might mean
+stand-to at 3 in the morning; while to Captain Brighteyes it would
+mean, say, 8 o'clock. But to Colonel Blue-fish it would signify some
+time after 11, depending quite a bit on how the old fellow felt.
+
+"So it is better to say 7 o'clock in the morning, if that is what you
+mean, for after all there is only one 7 o'clock in the morning. And,
+by the way, I must warn you chaps against the champagne on sale in the
+Cafe de l'Univers down here in the square. It is made in the
+basement--of potatoes."
+
+On as simple and basic a thing as continuing liaison between small
+units, the Colonel's listeners never forgot his elementary parable:
+
+"One rule is about all a chap can handle in a battle, and as good a
+one as any to remember is to keep in some sort of touch with the chaps
+to your right and left. If you do this--and I dare say you Americans
+will have as much trouble as ourselves in remembering to--then a great
+deal of distress to yourselves and all hands will be obviated.
+
+"Now here we have a triangular wood. There is to be an attack, and the
+objective is this line beyond the wood. So on this side of the wood at
+the hour of attack the Welsh Guards go forward--and on this side,
+here, the Inniskilling Fusiliers, and a tremendous battle ensues.
+Well, after an hour or two, with not much progress, it is discovered
+that the Welsh Guards have been firing into the Inniskilling
+Fusiliers, and the Fusiliers have been firing into the Welsh. This is
+thought a bit thick, you know, even in the confusion of battle. So
+eventually it is stopped."
+
+Some of the experts warn the lecturer who is only a beginner against
+the use of humor, commenting that if a joke is unlaughed at, it is
+disconcerting to all concerned. The only intelligent answer to that
+is: "Well, what of it?" The speaker who is going to cringe every time
+one of his passages falls a little flat had best not start. This
+happens at times to every lecturer; there are good days and bad days,
+live audiences and sour ones. If a man takes his work seriously, it is
+hardly within nature for him to harden his emotions against an
+unexpectedly dull reaction. But he can keep from ever showing that he
+is upset if as a speaker he consciously forms the habit of rapidly
+driving on from one point to another.
+
+Thus as to the use of humor in public address, it is not only an asset
+but almost a necessity. It is better to try with it, and to fall flat
+occasionally, thereby sharpening one's own wit through better
+understanding of what goes and what does not, than to attempt to go
+along humorlessly. Said William Pitt: "Don't tell me of a man's being
+able to talk sense. Everyone can talk sense. Can he talk a little
+nonsense?" Even more to the point is the remark of Thomas Hardy that
+men thin away to insignificance quite as often by not making the most
+of good spirits when they have them as by lacking good spirits when
+they are indispensable. Fighting is much too serious a trade to have a
+large place for men who are dry as dust.
+
+One of the spellbinders of ancient Greece, we are told, orated on the
+sands with his mouth filled with pebbles. In World War I, it was the
+custom of many higher commanders to take their officers out for voice
+exercises and have them talk through 150 feet of thicket; they were
+not satisfied unless the words came through distinctly on the far
+side. If, under average acoustical conditions, a military officer
+cannot get across to five hundred men, he needs to improve his voice
+placement. It is remarkable what miracles can be worked by consistent
+exercise of the vocal cords.
+
+The final thought is that it is all a matter of buildup. An officer
+can cut his audience to his own size, and strengthen his powers and
+his confidence as he goes along. That is his supreme advantage. He can
+start with a short talk to a minor working detail and move from that
+to a more formal address before a slightly larger group. By taking it
+gradually, and increasing his store of knowledge in the interim
+period, he will see the time come when he can hold any audience in the
+hollow of his hand. This is precisely the routine which was followed
+by most of the military leaders who have been celebrated for their
+command of speech.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
+
+THE ART OF INSTRUCTION
+
+
+    _Keep it simple._
+
+    _Have but one main object._
+
+    _Stay on the course._
+
+    _Remain cheerful._
+
+    _Be enthusiastic._
+
+    _Put it out as if the ideas were as interesting and novel to you,
+    as to your audience._
+
+By abiding by these few simple rules you will keep cool, preserve
+continuity and hold your audience.
+
+Instruction is just about the begin-all and end-all of every military
+officer's job. He spends the greater part of his professional life
+either pitching it or catching it, and the game doesn't stop until he
+is at last retired. Should he become a Supreme Commander, even, this
+is one thing that does not change; it remains a give-and-take
+proposition. Part of his time is taken instructing his staff as to
+what he wants done and just as much of it is spent in being instructed
+by his staff as to the means available for the doing of it.
+
+Instruction is the generator of unified action. It is the transmission
+belt by which the lessons of experience are passed to untrained men.
+Left uninstructed, men may progress only by trial-and-error and the
+hard bumps which come of not knowing the way.
+
+Need more than that be said to suggest that the officer who builds a
+competent skill in this field, so that it becomes a part of his
+reputation, has at the same time built the most solid kind of a
+foundation under his service career?
+
+The services do not discard that kind of man when the economy pinch
+comes and the establishment has to contract. The Reservist, who is
+known as a good instructor, is always on the preferred list. In any
+period of emergency, such officers move rapidly to the top; there are
+always more good jobs than there are good men. Look back over the
+lineup of distinguished commanders from World War II! It will be found
+that the high percentage of them first attracted notice by _being good
+school men_.
+
+Within the services, in all functions related to the passing on of
+information, the accent is on "knowing your stuff." The point is
+substantial, but not conclusive. It is upon the way that instruction
+is delivered rather than upon its contents as such that its moral
+worth rests. The pay-off is not in what is said, but in what sinks in.
+_A competent instructor will not only teach his men but will increase
+his prestige in the act._ There are many inexpressibly dull bores who
+know what they're talking about, but still haven't learned how to say
+it, because they are contemptuous of the truth that it is the dynamic
+flow of knowledge, rather than the static possession of it, which is
+the means to power and influence. As technicians, they have their
+place. As instructors, they would be better off if they knew only half
+as much about their subject, and twice as much about people.
+
+To know where truth lies is not more important than knowing how to
+pitch it. Take the average American military audience: what can be
+said fairly of its main characteristics? Perhaps this--that it is
+moderately reflective; that it is ready to give the untried speaker a
+break; that it does not like windiness, bombast or prolonged
+moralizing; that it refuses to be bullied; and that it can usually be
+won by the light touch and a little appeal to its sporting instinct.
+It is the little leavening in the bread which makes all the difference
+in its savor and digestibility.
+
+In World War I an American major, name now long forgotten, was given
+the task of making the rounds of the cantonments, talking to all
+combat formations, and convincing them that the future was bright--no
+Boy Scout errand. But wherever he went, morale was lifted by his
+words. In substance, what he said was this:
+
+"None of us cares about living with any individual who wants every
+break his own way. But when the odds are even, the gamble is worth
+any good man's time. So let's look at the proposition. You now have
+one chance in two; you may go overseas, you may not. Suppose you do.
+You still have one chance in two. You may go to the front, or you may
+not. If you don't, you'll see a foreign country at Uncle Sam's
+expense; if you do, you'll find out about war, which is the toughest
+chance of them all. But up there, you still have one chance in two:
+you may get hit, or you may not. If you breeze through it, you'll be a
+better man for all the rest of your life. And if you get hit, you
+still have one chance in two. You may get a small wound, and become a
+hero to your family and friends. Or there is always the last chance
+that it may take you out altogether. And while that is a little
+rugged, it is at least worth remembering that very few people seem to
+get out of this life alive."
+
+There was as simple an idea as any military instructor ever unloaded,
+and yet troops cheered this man wherever he went.
+
+Lt. Col. H. M. Hutchinson, of the British Army, already described in
+this book as an instructor who made a powerful impression on the
+American Army in World War I because of his droll wit, was a master
+hand at taking the oblique approach to teach a lesson. Old officers
+still remember the manner and the moral of passages such as this one:
+
+"On the march back from Mons--and I may say that a very good army
+sometimes must retreat, though no doubt it wounds the sensibilities to
+consider it--we did rather well. But I noticed often the confusion
+caused by marching slowly up one side of a hill and dashing down the
+other. It is a tendency of all columns on foot.
+
+"A captain is sitting out in front on a horse, with a hell of a great
+pipe in his mouth and thinking of some girl in a cafe, and of course
+he moves slowly up the hill. He comes to the top and his pace
+quickens. Well, then, what happens? The taller men are at the top of
+the column, and they lengthen their stride--but what becomes of Nipper
+and Sandy down in the twentieth squad? Half the time, you see, they
+are running to catch up. So the effect is to jam the troops together
+on an upgrade and to stretch them out going down--you know--like a
+concertina."
+
+Where then is the beginning of efficiency in the art of instruction?
+It resides in becoming diligent and disciplined about self-instruction.
+No man can develop great power as an instructor, or learn to talk
+interestingly and convincingly, until he has begun to think deeply.
+And depth of thought does not come of vigorous research on an
+assignment immediately at hand, but from intensive collateral study
+throughout the course of a career. We are all somewhat familiar with
+the type of commander who, when asked: "What are your officers doing
+about special studies, so that they may better their reading habits
+and further their powers of self-expression?" will puff himself up by
+replying, "They are kept so busily employed that they have no time for
+any such exercise." This is one way of saying that his subordinates
+are kept too busy to get essential work done.
+
+Research, on the spot and at the time, is vital and necessary so that
+the presentation of any subject will be factually freshened and
+documented. But its nature and object should not be overrated. The
+real values can be compared to what happens to a pitcher when he warms
+up before a game. This is merely an act of suppling the muscles; the
+real conditioning process has already taken place, and it has been
+long and arduous.
+
+Even so is it with immediate research, in its relation to continuing
+military study, in the perfecting of instructorship. That which gives
+an officer power, and conviction, on the platform, or before a group,
+is not the thing which he learned only yesterday, having been
+compelled to read it in a manual or other source, but the whole body
+of this thought and philosophy, as it may be directed toward the
+invigorating of any presentation of any subject. If he forms the habit
+of careful reflection, then almost everything that he reads and hears
+other people say that arouses his own interest becomes grist for his
+mill.
+
+Like 10 years in the penitentiary, it's easy to say but hard to do. So
+much time, seemingly, has to be wasted in profitless study to find a
+few kernels amid much chaff. Napoleon said at one point that the
+trouble with books is that one must read so many bad ones to find
+something really good. True enough but, even so, there are perfectly
+practical ways to advance rapidly without undue waste motion. Consider
+this: Among one's superiors there are always discriminating men who
+have "adopted" a few good books after reading many bad ones. When they
+say that a text is worthwhile, it deserves reading and careful study.
+
+The junior who starts building a working library for his professional
+use cannot do better than to consult those older men who are scholars
+as well as leaders, and ask them to name five or six texts which have
+most stimulated their thought. It comes as a surprising discovery that
+some of the titles which are recommended with the greatest enthusiasm
+are not among the so-called classics on war. The well-read man need
+not have more than a dozen books in his home, provided that they all
+count with him, and he continues to pore over them and to ponder the
+weight of what is said. On the other hand, the ignorant man is
+frequently marked by his bookshelf stocked with titles, not one of
+which suggests that he has any professional discernment.
+
+The notebook habit is invaluable, nay, indispensable, to any young
+officer who is ambitious to perfect himself as an instructor. Most men
+who are distinguished for their thinking ability are inveterate
+keepers of scrapbooks and of reference files where they have put
+clippings and notes which jogged their own thoughts. This is not a
+cheap device leading to the parroting of other men; the truth is that
+the departure line toward original thinking by any man is established
+by the mental energy which he acquires by imaginative observation of
+other men's ideas.
+
+To get back to the notebook, it should be loose-leaf and well-bound,
+else it is not likely to be given permanent use. Whether it is kept at
+home or the office is immaterial. What matters is that it be made a
+receptacle for everything that one hears, reads or sees which may be
+of possible future value in the preparation of classroom work. Books
+can't be clipped; but short, decisive passages can be copied, and
+longer ones can be made the subject of a reference item. Copying is
+one way of fixing an idea in the memory. While on the subject of
+books, it is all right to quote the classics and to be able to refer
+to the great authorities on the science of war. But it is more
+effective by far to read deeply into such writers as Clausewitz, Mahan
+and Fuller, and to find some of their strongest but least-known
+passages for one's self, than to rely on the more popular but
+shop-worn quotations which are in general circulation. Such old
+chestnuts as, "The moral is to the material as three to one," do not
+refresh discourse.
+
+Even so, the classics are only one small field worth cultivating.
+Nearly every major speech by current military leadership contains a
+passage or two well worth salting away. The writings of the
+philosophers, the publications of the industrial world, the daily
+press and the scientific journals are goldmines containing rich
+nuggets of information and of choice expression worth study and
+preservation.
+
+In fact, the military instructor has the whole world as his workshop.
+His notebook should be as ready to receive some especially apt saying
+by a new recruit as the more ponderous words uttered by the sages. And
+it should contain, not less, comments on techniques and methods used
+by other speakers and instructors, which were visibly unusually
+effective.
+
+Above all, the consistent use of obvious and stereotyped devices and
+methods of presentation should be avoided. For the fact is that _no
+one has yet discovered the one best way_. In our service thinking, we
+tend to get into a rut, and to use none but the well-tried way. For
+example, we overwork the twin principles of thought-surprise and
+thought-concentration, and in the effort to produce dramatic effect,
+we sometimes achieve only an anticlimax. Using the techniques of the
+advertising world, the military instructor puts his exhibits behind a
+screen, in order to buildup anticipation, and at the appropriate
+moment he yanks the cover off. This is perfectly effective, in some
+instances. But it becomes a _reductio ad absurdum_ when he is working
+with only one chart, or a pair or so of objects. Let's say that he is
+talking about one machine gun, and he has one chart highlighting its
+characteristics. How much more impressive it would be if they were in
+the open at the beginning and he were to start by saying: "Gentlemen,
+I am talking about this one gun and what keeps it going. It is more
+important that you see and know this gun from this moment than that
+you be persuaded by what I am about to say!"
+
+It is a very simple but inviolable rule that where there is an obvious
+straining to produce an effect by the use of any training aid, then
+the effect of the training aid is lost and the speaker is
+proportionately enfeebled. A famous World War II commander said of all
+operations: "It is the chaps, not the charts, that get the job done."
+
+What needs to be kept in mind is the psychological object in their
+use. The scientists tell us, and we can partly take their word for it,
+that people learn about 75 percent of what they know through their
+sight, 13 percent through their hearing, and 12 percent through their
+other senses. But this is a relative and qualitative, rather than an
+absolute, truth. It has to be so. Otherwise, book study, which employs
+sight exclusively, would be the only efficient method of teaching, and
+oral instruction, which depends primarily on sound impact, would be a
+wasteful process.
+
+The more fundamental truth is that when oral instruction is properly
+done, the mind becomes peculiarly receptive because it is being
+bombarded by both sight and sound impressions. Nor is this small
+miracle wrought primarily by what we call training aids. The thoughts
+and ideas which remain most vivid in the memory get their adhesive
+power because some particular person said them in a graphic way in a
+pregnant moment. Our working thoughts are more often the product of an
+association with some other individual than not. We remember words
+largely because we remember an occasion. We believe in ideas because
+first we were impressed by the source whence they came.
+
+The total impression of a speaker--his sincerity, his knowledge, his
+enthusiasm, his mien, and his gestures--is what carries conviction and
+puts an indelible imprint on the memory. Man not only thinks, but he
+moves, and he is impressed most of all by animate objects. Vigorous
+words mean little or nothing to him when they issue from a lack-luster
+personality.
+
+Artificiality is one of the more serious faults, and it is
+unfortunately the case that though an instructor may be solid to the
+core, he will seem out of his element, unless he is careful to avoid
+stilted words and vague or catch-all phrases and connectives. Strength
+in discourse comes of simplicity.
+
+But it has become almost an American disease of late that we painfully
+avoid saying it straight. "We made contact, and upon testing my
+reaction to him, found it distinctly adverse" is substituted for "I
+met him and didn't like him." But what is equally painful is to hear
+public remarks interlarded with such phrases as "It would seem," "As I
+was saying," "And so, in closing," "Permit me to call your attention
+to the fact" and "Let us reflect briefly"--which is often the prelude
+to a 2-hour harangue.
+
+Not less out of place in public address is the apologetic note. The
+man who starts by explaining that he's unaccustomed to public
+speaking, or badly prepared, is simply asking for the hook. "To
+explain what I mean" or "to make myself clear" makes the audience
+wonder only why he didn't say it that way in the first place. But the
+really low man on this totem pole is the one who says, "Perhaps you're
+not getting anything out of this."
+
+A man does not have to go off like a gatling gun merely because he is
+facing the crowd. Mr. Churchill, one of the great orators of the
+century, made good use of deliberate and frequent pauses. It is a
+trick worth any young speaker's cultivation, enabling the collection
+of thought and the avoiding of tiresome "and ah-h-h's."
+
+Likewise, because a man is in military uniform does not require that
+his speech be terse, cold, given to the biting of words and the
+overemployment of professional jargon. Training instruction is not
+drill. Its efficiency does not come of its incisiveness but of the
+bond of sympathy which comes to prevail between the instructor and his
+followers.
+
+Another main point: It is disconcerting to talk about the ABCs, if the
+group already knows the alphabet. To devote any great part of a
+presentation to matters which the majority present already well
+understand is to assure that the main object will receive very little
+serious attention. Thus in talking about the school of the rifle, only
+a fool would start by explaining what part of it was the trigger and
+from which end the bullet emerged, though it might be profitable to
+devote a full hour to the discussion of caliber. Likewise, in such a
+field as tactical discussion, the minds of men are more likely to be
+won, and their imagination stirred, through giving them the reasoning
+behind a technique or method than by telling them simply how a thing
+is done.
+
+In talk, as in tactics, at the beginning the policy of the limited
+objective is a boon to confidence. It scares any green man to think
+about talking for an hour. But if he starts with a subject of his own
+choice and to his liking, and works up to 15-minute talk for a group
+of platoon size, he will quickly develop his powers over the short
+course; the switch from sprinting to distance running can be made
+gradually and without strain. But it's easy that does it, and one step
+at a time.
+
+Excessive modesty is unbecoming. No matter how firm his sources, or
+complex the subject, any instructor should form the habit of adding a
+few thoughts of his own to any presentation. It is not a mark of
+precocity but of interest when an instructor knows his material, and
+its application to the human element, sufficiently well to express an
+occasional personal opinion. Since he is not a phonograph record, he
+has a right to say, "I think" or "I believe." Indeed, if he does not
+have his subject sufficiently in hand that it has stirred his own
+imagination, he is no better than a machine.
+
+That leads to a discussion of outlines. They are necessary, if any
+subject is to be covered comprehensively. But if they are
+overelaborated, the whole performance becomes automatic and dull. A
+little spontaneity is always needed. Even when working from a
+manuscript, a speaker should be ever-ready to depart from his text if
+a sudden idea pops into his mind. It is better to try this and to
+stumble now and then than to permit the mind to be commanded by words
+written on paper.
+
+Likewise, revision of outline between talks is the way of the alert
+mind. A man cannot do this work without seeing, in the midst of
+discussion, points which need strengthening, and bets which have been
+missed. Notes should be revised as soon as the period is completed.
+
+There are many methods of instruction, among them being the seminar,
+critique, group discussion and conference. They are not described here
+for the reason that every young officer quickly learns about them in
+the schools, and gets to know the circumstances under which one form
+or another can be used to greatest advantage.
+
+It suffices to say that their common denominator, insofar as personal
+success and ease of participation are concerned, is the ability to
+think quickly and accurately on one's feet; the one best school for
+the sharpening of this faculty is the lecture platform. Keenness is a
+derivative of pressure.
+
+Use of a wire recorder or a platter, so that one can get a playback
+after talking, is an aid to self-criticism. But it is not enough. A
+man will often miss his own worst faults, because they came of
+ignorance in the first place; too, voice reproduction proves nothing
+about the effectiveness of one's presence, expression and gesture. It
+is common-sense professional procedure to ask the views of one or two
+of the more experienced members of the audience as to how the show
+went over, and what were its weak points.
+
+There is one hidden danger in becoming too good at this business. Too
+frequently, polished speakers fall in love with the sound of their own
+voices, and want to be heard to the exclusion of everyone else. In the
+military establishment, where the ideal object is to get 100 percent
+participation from all personnel, this is a more serious vice than
+snoring in a pup tent.
+
+When an officer feels any temptation to monopolize the discussion, it
+is time to pray for a bad case of bronchitis.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
+
+YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR MEN
+
+
+Inasmuch as most of this book has been directed toward covering the
+various approaches to this subject, there is need to discuss here only
+a relatively few points which could not conveniently be treated
+elsewhere.
+
+This is the touchstone of success.
+
+To any officer starting on a life career, it is impossible to
+overstate its importance. For the moment, we can forget the words duty
+and responsibility. The question is: "How do I get ahead?" And for a
+junior there is one main road open--he will strive to achieve such a
+communion of spirit with his subordinates that he will know the
+personality and character of every one of his men, will understand
+what moves and what stops them, and will be sympathetic to their every
+impulse.
+
+This is the main course. The great principles of war have evolved from
+centuries of observation on how men react in the mass. It could not be
+otherwise than that any officer's growth in knowledge of when and how
+these principles apply to varying situations, strategical and
+tactical, come primarily of the acuteness of his powers of observation
+of individual men, and of men working together in groups, and
+responding to their leadership, under widely different conditions of
+stress, strain and emotion.
+
+The roots of this kind of wisdom are not to be acquired from book
+study; books are a help only as they provide an index to what should
+be sought. The sage who defined strategy as "the art of the possible"
+(the art of politics has been defined in the same words) wrote better
+than he knew. The cornerstone of the science of war is knowledge of
+the economy of men's powers, of their physical possibilities and
+limitations, of their response to fatigue, hope, fear, success and
+discouragement, and of the weight of the moral factor in everything
+they do. Man is a beast of burden; he will fail utterly in the crisis
+of battle if there is no respect for his aching back. He is also one
+of a great brotherhood whose mighty fellowship can make the worst
+misery tolerable, and can provide him with undreamed strength and
+courage. These are among the things that need to be studied and
+understood; they are the main score. It is only when an officer can
+stand and say that he is first of all a student of human material that
+all of the technical and material aspects of war begin to conform
+toward each other and to blend into an orderly pattern. And the
+laboratory is right outside the office door. Either an officer grows
+up with, and into, this kind of knowledge through reflecting on
+everything that he can learn of men wherever he fits himself into a
+new environment, or because of having neglected to look at trees, he
+will also miss the forest.
+
+By the numbers, it isn't a difficult assignment. The schools have
+found by experiment that the average officer can learn the names of 50
+men in between 7 and 10 days. If he is in daily contact with men, he
+should know 125 of them by name and by sight within 1 month. Except
+under war conditions, he is not likely to work with larger numbers
+than that.
+
+This is the only way to make an intelligent start. So long as a man is
+just a number, or a face, to his officer, there can be no deep trust
+between them. Any man loves to hear the sound of his own name, and
+when his superior doesn't know it, he feels like a cypher.
+
+As with any other introduction, an officer meeting an enlisted man for
+the first time is not privileged to be inquisitive about his private
+affairs. In fact, nosiness and prying are unbecoming at any time, and
+in no one more than in a military officer. On the other hand, any man
+is flattered if he is asked about his work or his family, and the
+average enlisted man will feel complimented if an officer engages him
+in small talk of any kind. Greater frankness, covering a wide variety
+of subjects, develops out of longer acquaintance. It should develop as
+naturally and as easily as in civilian walks of life; rank is no
+barrier to it unless the officer is overimpressed with himself and
+bent on keeping the upper hand; the ranks are wiser about these
+things than most young officers; they do not act forward or
+presumptuous simply because they see an officer talking and acting
+like a human being. But they aren't Quiz Kids. Informal conversation
+between officer and man is a two-way street. The ball has to be batted
+back and forth across the net or there isn't any game. An officer has
+to extend himself, his thoughts, his experiences and his affairs into
+the conversation, or after his first trial or two, there will be
+nothing coming back.
+
+It is unfortunately the case that many young officers assume that
+getting acquainted with their men is a kind of interrogation process,
+like handling an immigrant knocking for admission to the United
+States. They want to know everything, but they stand on what they
+think is their right to tell a man nothing. That kind of attitude just
+doesn't wash. In fact, the chief value of such conversations is that
+it permits the junior to see his superior as a man rather than as a
+boss.
+
+An officer should never speak ironically or sarcastically to an
+enlisted man, since the latter doesn't have a fair chance to answer
+back. The use of profanity and epithets comes under the same heading.
+The best argument for a man keeping his temper is that nobody else
+wants it; and when he voluntarily throws it away, he loses a main prop
+to his own position.
+
+Meeting one of his own enlisted men in a public place, the officer who
+does not greet him personally and warmly, in addition to observing the
+formal courtesies between men in service, has sacrificed a main chance
+to win the man's abiding esteem. If the man is with his family, a
+little extra graciousness will go a long way, and even if it didn't,
+it would be the right thing.
+
+In any informal dealing with a number of one's own men, it is good
+judgment to pay a little additional attention to the youngest or
+greenest member of the group, instead of permitting him to be shaded
+by older and more experienced men. They will not resent it, and his
+confidence will be helped.
+
+It should go without saying that an officer does not drink with his
+men, though if he is a guest of honor at an organizational party where
+punch or liquor is being served, it would be a boorish act for him to
+decline a glass, simply because of this proscription. Sometimes in a
+public cocktail bar an officer will have the puzzling experience of
+being approached by a strange but lonely enlisted man who, being a
+little high, may have got it into his head that it is very important
+to buy an officer a drink. What one does about that depends upon all
+of the surrounding circumstances. It is better to go through with it
+than create a scene which will give everyone a low opinion of the
+service. Irrespective of rules, there are always situations which are
+resolved only by good judgment. And, of course, the problem can be
+avoided by staying away from cocktail bars.
+
+Visiting men in hospital is a duty which no officer should neglect.
+Not only does it please the man and his family; it is one of the few
+wide open portals to a close friendship with him. It is strange but
+true that the man never forgets the officer who was thoughtful enough
+to call on him when he was down. And the effect of it goes far beyond
+the man himself. Other men in the unit are told about it. Other
+patients in the ward see it and note with satisfaction that the corps
+takes its responsibilities to heart. If the man is in such shape that
+he can't write a letter, it is a worthy act to serve him in this
+detail. By the same token when a man goes on sick call, the officer's
+responsibility does not end at the point where the doctor takes over.
+His interest is to see that the man is made well, and if he has reason
+to think that the treatment he is receiving falls short of the best
+possible, it is within his charge to raise the question. The old saw
+about giving the man CC pills and iodine and marking him duty is now
+considerably outdated. But it is not assumed that every member of the
+medical staff serving the forces will at all times do his duty with
+the intelligence and reverence of a saint.
+
+A birthday is a big day in any man's life. So is his wedding. So is
+the birth of a child. By making check of the roster and records, and
+by keeping an ear to the ground for news of what is happening in the
+unit, an officer can follow these events. Calling the man in and
+giving him a handclasp and word of congratulation, or writing a note
+to the home, takes very little time and is worth every moment of it.
+Likewise, if he has won some distinction, such as earning a
+promotion, a letter of appreciation to his parents or his wife will
+compound the value of telling the man himself that you are proud of
+what he has done.
+
+Nothing is more pleasing or ingratiating to any junior than to be
+asked by his superior for his opinion on any matter--provided that it
+is given a respectful hearing. Any man gets a little fagged from being
+_told_ all the time. When he is consulted and asked for a judgment, it
+builds him up.
+
+There is absolutely no point in visiting kitchens or quarters and
+asking of the atmosphere if everything is all right. Men seldom
+complain, and they are loath to stick their necks out when there are
+other enlisted men within hearing. It is the task of the officer to
+_see_ that all is right, and to take whatever trouble is necessary to
+make certain. If he is doubtful about the mess, then a mere pecky
+sampling of it will do no good. Either he will live with it for a few
+meals, or he won't find the "bugs" in it.
+
+An officer should not ask a man: "Would you like to do such-and-such a
+task?" when he has already made up his mind to assign him to a certain
+line of duty. Orders, hesitatingly given, are doubtfully received. But
+the right way to do it is to instill the idea of collaboration. There
+is something irresistably appealing about such an approach as: "I need
+your help. Here's what we have to do."
+
+An officer is not expected to appear all-wise to those who serve under
+him. Bluffing one's way through a question when ignorant of the answer
+is foolhardy business. "I'm sorry, but I don't know," is just as
+appropriate from an officer's lips as from any other. And it helps
+more than a little to be able to add, "But I'll find out."
+
+Rank should be used to serve one's subordinates. It should never be
+flaunted or used to get the upper hand of a subordinate in any
+situation save where he had already discredited himself in an
+unusually ugly or unseemly manner.
+
+When suggestions from any subordinate are adopted, the credit should
+be passed on to him publicly.
+
+When a subordinate has made a mistake, but not from any lack of good
+will, it is common sense to take the rap for him rather than make him
+suffer doubly for his error.
+
+An officer should not issue orders which he cannot enforce.
+
+He should be as good as his word, at all times and in any
+circumstance.
+
+He should promise nothing which he cannot make stick.
+
+An officer should not work, looking over his men's shoulder, checking
+on every detail of what they are doing, and calling them to account at
+every furlong post. This maidenly attitude corrodes confidence and
+destroys initiative.
+
+On the other hand, contact is necessary at all times. Particularly
+when men are doing long-term work, or are operating in detachment at a
+remote point, they will become discouraged and will lose their sense
+of direction unless their superior looks in on them periodically, asks
+whether he can be of any help, and, so doing, gets them to open up and
+discuss the problem.
+
+The Navy says, "It isn't courtesy to change the set of the sail within
+30 minutes after relief of the watch." Applied to a command job, this
+means that it is a mistake for an officer, on taking a new post, to
+order sweeping changes affecting other men, in the belief that this
+will give him a reputation for action and firmness. The studying of
+the situation is the overture to the steadying of it. The story is
+told of Gen. Curtis E. LeMay of the Air Force. Taking over the 21st
+Bomber Command in the Marianas, he faced the worried staff officers of
+his predecessor and said quietly, "You're all staying put. I assume
+you know your jobs or you wouldn't be here."
+
+The identity of the officer with the gentleman should persist in his
+relations with men of all degree. In the routine of daily direction
+and disposition, and even in moments of exhortation, he had best bring
+courtesy to firmness. The finest officers that one has known are not
+occasional gentlemen, but in every circumstance: in commissioned
+company and, more importantly, in contact with those who have no
+recourse against arrogance.
+
+The traditional wisdom of addressing Judy O'Grady with the same
+politeness as one would the Colonel's Lady applies equally in all
+situations in life where one is at arbitrary advantage in dealing
+with another. To press this unnecessarily is to sacrifice something of
+one's quality in the eyes of the onlooker. Besides, there is always
+the better way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
+
+YOUR MEN'S MORAL AND PHYSICAL WELFARE
+
+
+To put it in a nutshell, the moral of this chapter is that when men
+are moral, the moral power which binds them together and fits them for
+high action is given its main chance for success.
+
+There should therefore be no confusion about how the word is being
+used. We are speaking both of training in morals for every day living,
+and of moral training which will harden the will of a fighting body.
+One moment's reflection will show why they need not be considered
+separately, and why we can leave it to Webster to do the
+hairsplitting.
+
+It is the doctrine of the armed establishment of the United States
+that when American men lead a personal life which is based on high
+moral standards, and when their aim is equally high as to physical
+fitness and toughness, under training conditions they will mature
+those qualities which are most likely to produce inspired leading and
+stout following within the forces.
+
+There is nothing panty-waist about this doctrine. It was not
+pronounced to gratify the clergy or to reassure parents that their
+sons would be in good hands, even though these things, too, are
+important.
+
+The doctrine came of the experience of the Nation in war, and of what
+the services learned by measuring their own men. But it happened,
+also, that the facts were consistent with a common sense reckoning of
+the case.
+
+Let's figure it out. To be temperate in all things, to be continent,
+and to refrain from loose living of any sort, are acts of the will.
+They require self-denial, and a foregoing of that which may be more
+attractive, in favor of the thing which should be done. Granted that
+there are a few individuals who are so thin-blooded that they never
+feel tempted to digress morally, men in the majority are not like
+that. What they renounce in the name of self-discipline, at the cost
+of a considerable inner stress, they endeavour to compensate by their
+gains in personal character. Making that grade isn't easy; but no one
+who is anyone has yet said that it isn't worthwhile. In the armed
+services there is an old saying that an officer without character is
+more useless than a ship with no bottom.
+
+In the summing up, the strength of will which enables a man to lead a
+clean life is no different than the strength of purpose which fits him
+to follow a hard line of duty. There are exceptions to every rule.
+Many a lovable rounder has proved himself to be a first-class fighting
+man. But even though he had an unconquerable weakness for drink and
+women, his resolution had to become steeled along some other line or
+he would have been no good when the pay-off came.
+
+Putting aside for the moment the question of the vices, and regarding
+only the gain to moral power which comes of bodily exercise and
+physical conditioning, it should be self-evident that the process
+which builds the muscle must also train and alert the mind. How could
+it be otherwise? Every physical act must have as its origin a mental
+impulse, conscious or unconscious. Thus in training a man to master
+his muscles we also help him to master his brain. He comes out of
+physical training not only better conditioned to move but better
+prepared to think about how and why he is moving, which is true
+mobility.
+
+In military organizations, "setting-up" and other formation exercises
+are usually a drag and a bore. Men grumble about them, and even after
+they are toughened to them, so that they feel no physical distress,
+they rarely relish them. The typical American male would much rather
+sit on his pants along the sidelines and watch someone else engage in
+contact sports. It's almost the national habit. Despite our athletic
+prowess, about 56 percent of American males grow to manhood without
+having ever participated in a group game.
+
+But no matter how great the inertia against it, there must be
+unremitting perseverance in the physical conditioning of military
+forces. For finally, it is killing men with kindness to relax at this
+point. If life is to be conserved, if men are to be given a fair
+chance to play their parts effectively, the physical standards during
+training cannot be less than will give them a maximum fitness for the
+extraordinary stresses of campaigning in war.
+
+When troops lack the coordinated response which comes of long, varied
+and rigorous exercises, their combat losses will be excessive, they
+will lack cohesion in their action against the enemy, and they will
+uselessly expend much of their initial velocity. In the United States
+service, we are tending to forget, because of the effect of
+motorization, that the higher value of the discipline of the road
+march in other days wasn't that it hardened the muscles, but that,
+short of combat, it was the best method of separating the men from the
+boys. This is true today, despite all of the new conditions imposed by
+technological changes. A hard road march is the most satisfactory
+training test of the moral strength of the individual man.
+
+At the same time, to senselessly overload men for road marching hurts
+them two ways. It weakens their faith in the sense of the command,
+thereby impairing morale, and it breaks down their muscle and tendon.
+Enough is known about the average American male to provide a basic
+logistical figure. He stands about 5 feet 8 inches, and weighs about
+153 pounds. The optimum load for a man is about one-third of body
+weight, the same as for a mule. That means that for a training march,
+approximately 50 pounds over-all, including uniform, blankets and
+everything, is the most that a man should be required to carry. If he
+gets so that he can handle that load easily, over let us say a 10-mile
+road march, then the thing to do, further to build up his power, is
+not to increase the weight that he carries, but to lengthen the march.
+Military men have known that this is the underlying principle for
+better than half a century. But the principle has not always been
+observed.
+
+There is another not infrequent cause of breakdown--the leader who
+makes the mistake of thinking that every man's limit is the same as
+his own. Some come into the officer corps fresh from the stadia and
+cinderpaths of the colleges, in the pink of condition. They take
+charge of a group of men, some not yet seasoned, and others somewhat
+older and more wind-broke than themselves. They shag them all over
+the lot at reveille or take them on a cross-country chase like a smart
+rabbit trying to outrun hounds. The poor devils ultimately get back,
+some with their corks completely pulled, a few feeling too nauseated
+to eat their breakfast, and others walking in, feeling whipped because
+they couldn't keep up with the group.
+
+When an officer does this kind of thing thoughtlessly, he shows
+himself to be an incompetent observer of men. When he does it to show
+off, he deserves to be given 10 days in the electric chair.
+
+_It is the steadiness and the continuity of exercise, not the working
+of men to the point of exhaustion and collapse, which keeps them
+upgrading until they are conditioned to the strain of whatever comes._
+To do it the other way around simply makes them hospital patients
+before their time, and fills them with resentment against the service.
+
+In the nature of things, the officer who has been an athlete can fit
+himself into this part of the program with little difficulty and with
+great credit, provided he acts with the moderation that is here
+suggested. The armed services put great store by this. A man with a
+strong flair for physical training can usually find a good berth.
+
+By the same token, the officer who has shunned sports in school,
+either because he didn't have the size or the coordination, or was
+more interested in something else, will frequently have an
+understandable hesitation about trying to play a lead hand in anything
+which he thinks will make him look bad. Of this comes much
+buck-passing. There is often a singular courtesy between officers
+within a unit, and they'll switch details, just to be friendly. So it
+frequently happens that the man who has no great knack at leading in
+exercise and recreation gets the mouse's share of it. And thereby the
+whole point is missed. For it should be perfectly clear that the man
+who has had the least active experience in this field is usually the
+one in greatest need of its strengthening effects. His case is no
+different than that of the enlisted man. If he has not kept himself in
+good physical shape, his nerves will not be able to stand the strain
+of combat, to say nothing of his legs.
+
+It can be said again and again: _The highest form of physical training
+that an officer can undergo is the physical conditioning of his own
+men._ Nothing else can give him more faith in his own ability to stay
+the course and nothing else is likely to give him a firmer feeling of
+solidarity with his men. Study, and an active thirst for wider
+professional knowledge, have their place in an officer's scheme of
+things. But there is something about the experience of bodily
+competition, of joining with, and leading men in strenuous physical
+exercise, which uniquely invigorates one's spirit with the confidence:
+"I can do this! I can lead! I can command!" Military men have
+recognized this since long before it was said that Waterloo was won on
+the playing fields of Eton. Bringing it down to the present, Gen. Sir
+Archibald Wavell said: "The civil comparison to war must be that of a
+game, a very rough and dirty game, for which a robust body and mind
+are essential." Even more emphatic are the words of Coach Frank Leahy
+of Notre Dame, an officer of the United States Navy in World War II:
+"The ability to rise up and grasp an opportunity is something that a
+boy cannot learn in lecture rooms or from textbooks. It is on the
+athletic field primarily that Americans acquire the winning ways that
+play such an important part in the American way of life. The burning
+desire to emerge the victor that we see in our contact sports is the
+identical spirit that gave the United States Marines victory at Iwo
+Jima. If we again know war, the boys who have received sound training
+in competitive athletics will again fight until the enemy has had
+enough."
+
+Men like to see their officers competing and "giving it a good college
+try" no matter how inept, or clumsy they may be. But they take a
+pretty dim view of the leader who perennially acts as if he were
+afraid of a sweat or a broken thumb. In team sports, developing around
+interorganized rivalry, the eligibility of an officer to participate
+among enlisted men is a matter of local ground rules, or special
+regulations. There is nothing in the customs of the services which
+prohibit it. To the contrary, it has been done many times, and is
+considered to be altogether within an officer's dignity. Where there
+is a flat ruling against it, it is usually on the theory that the
+officer, by competing, is robbing some enlisted man of his chance.
+
+Need it be said that in any event, going along with the team, and
+taking an active interest in its ups-and-downs, is not only a service
+officer's duty, but a rewarding privilege, if he is a real leader? In
+this respect, he has a singular relationship to any group that
+represents his unit. He becomes part of their force, and his presence
+is important not only to the team but to the gallery. It is not
+unusual to hear very senior officers excuse themselves from an
+important social function by saying, "I'm sorry, but my team is
+playing tonight." That is a reason which everybody understands and
+accepts.
+
+As for the ranks, even among those men who have had no prior
+acquaintance with organized sports, there is a marked willingness to
+participate, if given just a little encouragement. This is one of the
+effects of getting into military uniform. As someone said about
+gunpowder, "it makes all men alike tall," and provides a welcome
+release from former inhibitions. The military company is much more
+tightly closed than any other. When men are thinking and working
+together in a binding association, they will seek an outlet for their
+excess spirits, and will join together in play, even under the most
+adverse circumstance. During World War I, it was common to see
+American troops playing such games as duck-on-the-rock, tag and touch
+football with somebody's helmet in close proximity to the front.
+Because no other equipment was available, they improvised. So it is
+that in any situation, the acme in leadership consists, not in
+screaming one's head off about shortages, but in using a little
+imagination about what can be done.
+
+The really good thing about the gain in moral force deriving from all
+forms of physical training is that it is an unconscious gain. Will
+power, determination, mental poise and muscle control all march
+hand-in-hand with the general health and well-being of the man, with
+results not less decisive under training conditions than on the field
+of battle. A man who develops correct posture and begins to fill out
+his body so that he looks the part of a fighter will take greater
+pride in the wearing of the uniform. So doing, he will take greater
+care so to conduct himself morally that he will not disgrace it. He
+will gain confidence as he acquires a confident and determined
+bearing. This same presence, and the physical strength which
+contributes to it, will help carry him through the hour of danger.
+Strength of will is partly of the mind and partly of the body. In
+combat, fatigue will beat men down as quickly as any other condition,
+for fatigue inevitably carries fear with it. Tired men are men afraid.
+There is no quicker way to lose a battle than to lose it on the road
+for lack of preliminary hardening in troops. Such a condition cannot
+be redeemed by the resolve of a commander who insists on driving
+troops an extra mile beyond their general level of physical endurance.
+Extremes of this sort make men rebellious and hateful of the command,
+and thus strike at tactical efficiency from two directions at once.
+For when men resent a commander, they will not fight as willingly for
+him, and when their bodies are spent, their nerves are gone.
+
+Looking after the welfare of men, however, does not connote simply
+getting them into the open air and giving them a chance to kick the
+ball around. The services are pretty well organized to provide their
+personnel with adequate sport and recreational facilities, and to
+insure an active, balanced program, in any save the most exceptional
+circumstance. Too, the provisions made for the creature comforts of
+men are ample, experience-tested, and well-regulated.
+
+It is not so much that a young officer needs to have book instruction
+about the detail of these things. Such is the system that they can
+hardly escape his notice, any more than he can escape knowing where to
+get his pay check and by which path he goes to the barbershop.
+
+What counts mainly is that he should fully understand the prime
+importance of a personal caring for his men, so that they cannot fail
+of a better life if it is within his power and wisdom to lead them to
+it.
+
+Once the principle is grasped, and accepted without any mental
+reservation, time and experience will educate him in the countless
+meetings of situations which require its application.
+
+There are times and situations which require that all men be treated
+identically, for the good of organization. There are also occasions
+when nothing else suffices but to give the most help, the most
+encouragement, the most relief to those who are most greatly in need.
+Grown men understand that, and the officer, approaching every
+situation with the question in his mind: "What does reason say about
+what constitutes fair play in this condition?" cannot go far wrong in
+administering to the welfare of those who serve under him.
+
+_It is moral courage, combined with practice, which builds in one a
+delicate sense of the eternal fitness of things._
+
+One example: Under normal training conditions, it would be fair play,
+and the acceptable thing, to rotate men and their junior leaders to
+such an onerous task as guard duty. But if a unit was "dead beat"
+after a hard march, and an officer, pursuing his line of duty, walked
+among his men, inspecting their blistered feet and doing all he could
+to ease each man's physical discomfort, he would then be using
+excessively poor judgment if he did not pick out the men most
+physically fit to do whatever additional duty was required that night.
+
+But infinite painstaking in attending to the physical welfare of men
+is not more important than thoughtful attention to their spiritual
+wants, and their moral needs. In fact, if we would give a little more
+priority to the latter, the former would be far more likely to come
+along all right.
+
+The average American enlisted man is quite young when he enters
+service, and because he is young, he is impressionable. What his
+senior tells him becomes a substitute for the influence and teaching
+that he shed when he left his home or school. That need not mean a
+senior in age! _He looks to his officer, even though the latter may be
+junior in years, because he believes that the man with rank is a
+little wiser, and he has faith that he will not be steered wrong._
+
+Despite all the publicity given to VD, American kids don't know a
+great deal about its reality, and even though the greater number of
+them like to talk about women, what they have to say rarely reveals
+them as worldly-wise.
+
+If an officer talks straight on these subjects, and believes in what
+he says sufficiently to set the good example, he can convince his
+better men that the game isn't worth the candle, and can save even
+some of the more reckless spirits from a major derail.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
+
+KEEPING YOUR MEN INFORMED
+
+
+Nobody ever told the South Sea savage about the nature of air in
+motion. He had never heard of wind and therefore could not imagine its
+effects. Thus when he heard strange noises in the treetops and there
+was a howling around certain headlands, while other headlands were
+silent, he could believe only that the spirits were at work. He would
+strain his ear to hear what they had to say to him, and never being
+able to understand, he would become all the more fearful.
+
+It all sounds pretty silly. And yet civilization is a great deal like
+that. We pride ourselves today in saying, particularly within the
+western nations, that men and women are better informed than ever
+before in the history of the world. What we really mean by that is
+that they are overburdened with more kinds of fragmentary information
+than any people of the past. They know just enough about many major
+questions of the day that either they are driven to the making of
+fearful guesses about the unknown, or they try to close their minds to
+the subject, vainly seeking consolation in the half-truth, "What I
+don't know can't hurt me."
+
+Therein lies a great part of the problem. For it is a fair statement
+that if all of the mystery could be stripped from such a complex topic
+as the nature of atomic power, so that men everywhere would understand
+it, universal fear would be displaced by universal confidence that
+something could be done, and society would be well along the road
+toward its control.
+
+In World War I, the men who had the least fear of the effects of gas
+warfare were the gas officers who understood their subject right down
+to the last detail of the decontamination process and the formula for
+dichlorethylsulphide (mustard gas). The man to whom the dangers of
+submarine warfare seem least fearsome is the submariner. Of all hands
+along the battle line, the first aid man has the greatest calm and
+confidence in the face of fire, largely because he has seen the
+miracles worked by modern medicine in the restoring of grievously
+wounded men. The general or the admiral who is most familiar with the
+mettle of his subordinate commands will also have the most relaxed
+mind under battle pressure.
+
+This leads to a point, which it is better to state here than anywhere
+else. In all military instruction pertaining to the weapons and
+techniques of war, the basis of sound indoctrination is the teaching
+that weapons when rightly used will invariably produce victory, and
+preventive measures, when promptly and thoroughly taken, will
+invariably conserve the operational integrity of the defense. It is
+wrong, _dead wrong_, to start, or carry along, on the opposite track,
+and try to persuade men to do the right thing, by dwelling on the
+awful consequence of doing the wrong thing. Confidence, not fear, is
+the keynote of a strong and convictive doctrine.
+
+In war, in the absence of information, man's natural promptings
+alternate between unreasoning fears that the worst is likely to
+happen, and the wishful thought that all danger is remote. Either
+impulse is a barrier to the growth of that condition of alert
+confidence which comes to men when they have a realization of their
+own strength and a reasonably clear concept of the general situation.
+
+Man is a peculiar animal. He is no more prone to think about himself
+as the central figure amid general disaster than he is to dwell
+morbidly upon thoughts of his own death. Left in the dark, he will get
+a certain comfort out of that darkness, at the same time that it
+clouds his mind and freezes his action. Disturbed by bad dreams about
+what might happen, he nonetheless will not plan an effective use of
+his own resources against that which is very likely to happen. Only
+when he is given a clear view of the horizon, and is made animated by
+the general purpose in all that moves around him, does he understand
+the direction in which he should march, and taking hold, begin to do
+the required thing.
+
+It is almost gratuitous that this even needs to be stated. No high
+commander would think of moving deliberately into the fog of war if
+he was without knowledge of either the enemy or friendly situation.
+Even to imagine such a contingency is paralyzing. But in their nervous
+and spiritual substance, admirals and generals are no different than
+the green men who have come most recently to their forces. Such men
+can not stand alone any more than can the recruit. They draw their
+moral strength and their ability to contend intelligently against
+adverse circumstance largely from what is told them by the men who
+surround them. That is why they have their staffs. They could not
+command even themselves if they were deprived of all information.
+
+Toward the assuring of competent, collected action, the first great
+step is to remove the mystery. This is a process which must be
+mastered in peacetime, if it is to stand the multiplied strains of
+war. What mystery? Let it be said that it surrounds the average file
+on every hand, even though the average junior officer does not realize
+it, while at the same time he himself is completely mystified by much
+that transpires above him. For example, we all like to throw big words
+about, to air our professional erudition; and we do not understand
+that to the man who does not know their meaning, the effect is a
+blackout which makes even the simplest object seem formidable. To
+illustrate, we can take the word "bivouac," common enough in military
+parlance, but rare in civilian speech. When green men are told, "We
+are going into bivouac," and they are not sufficiently grounded in the
+service to know that this means simply going into camp for the night
+without shelter, their instinctive first thought is, "This is another
+complex military process that will probably catch me short." Similarly
+if told that they are detailed "on a reconnaissance mission along the
+line of communications with a liaison function," they could not fail
+to be "flummoxed." And if then instructed to take a BAR up to the MLR
+and follow SOP in covering a simulated SFC party, they wouldn't be far
+from justified if they blew their tops, and ran shrieking from the
+place.
+
+These are horrible examples, put forward only to illuminate a fairly
+simple point. Exaggerated though they may be, something of the same
+sort happens in almost every installation nearly every day. The
+difference is only in degree. _Every man in the service has an
+inalienable right to work and to think in the clear._ He is entitled
+to the why and the wherefore of whatever he is expected to do, as well
+as the what and the how. His efficiency, his confidence and his
+enthusiasm will wax strong in almost the precise measure that his
+superior imparts to him everything he knows about a duty which can be
+of possible benefit to the man. Furthermore, this is a two-way
+current. Any officer who believes in the importance of giving full
+information in a straight-forward manner, and continues to act on that
+principle, will over the long run get back more than he gives. But the
+chump who incontinently brushes off his subordinates because he thinks
+his time is too valuable to spend any great part of it putting them on
+the right track dooms himself to work in a vacuum. He is soon spotted
+for what he is, and if his superiors can't set him straight, they will
+shrug him aside.
+
+These are pretty much twentieth century concepts of how force is
+articulated from top to bottom of a chain of command. Yet the ideas
+are as old as the ages. Ecclesiastes is filled with phrases pointing
+up that clarification is the way of strength and of unity. "All go
+unto one place." "Two are better than one." "Woe to him that is alone
+when he falleth." "A threefold cord is not quickly broken."
+"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." "Folly is
+set in great dignity." "Truly the light is sweet." Great commanders of
+the past have reflected that knowledge is the source of the
+simplifying and joining of all action and have pondered how better to
+resolve the problem. But it is only in our time that this great
+principle in military doctrine has become rooted deep enough to stay,
+because the technological complexity of modern war is such as to
+permit of no other course.
+
+It is folly to attempt to oversimplify that which is of its nature
+complex. War cannot be made less intricate by conjuring everyone to
+return to kindergarten and henceforth use only one-syllable words. No
+such counsel is here intended. The one thought worth keeping is that
+the military system, as we know it, will prove far more workable, and
+its members will each become a stronger link in the chain of force, if
+all hands work a little more carefully toward the growth of a common
+awareness of all terminology, all process and all purpose.
+
+Once pronounced, the object also requires to be seen in due
+proportion. The principle does not entail that a corporal must
+perforce know everything about operation of a company which concerns
+his captain, to be happy and efficient in his own job. But it does set
+forth that he is entitled to have all information which relates to his
+personal situation, his prospects and his action which it is within
+his captain's power to give him. A coxswain is not interchangeable
+with a fleet admiral. To "bigot" him (make available complete detail
+of a total plan) on an operation would perhaps produce no better or
+worse effect than a slight headache. But if he is at sea--in both
+senses of that term--with no knowledge of where he is going or of his
+chances of pulling through, and having been told of what will be
+expected of him personally at the target, still has no picture of the
+support which will be grouped around him, he is apt to be as
+thoroughly miserable and demoralized as were the sailors under
+Columbus, when sailing on and on, they came to fear that they would
+override the horizon and go tumbling into space.
+
+Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick Morgan wrote of the policy applied at his
+COSSAC planning headquarters during World War II: "Right down to the
+cook, they were told what had happened, what was happening, along with
+their part in it, and what it was proposed to do next."
+
+Paraphrasing Montaigne, President Roosevelt told the American people
+during a great national crisis that the main thing they need fear was
+fear itself. In matters great and small, the fears of men arise
+chiefly from those matters they have not been given to understand.
+Fear can be checked, whipped and driven from the field when men are
+kept informed.
+
+The dynamics of the information principle lies in this simple truth.
+We look at the object through the wrong end of the telescope when in
+the military service we think of information only as instruction in
+the cause of country, the virtues of the free society and the record
+of our arms, in the hope that we will make strong converts. These are
+among the things that every American needs to know, but of themselves
+they will not turn an average American male into an intelligent,
+aggressive fighter. Invigorated action is the product of the free and
+well-informed mind. The "will to do" comes of the confidence that
+one's knowledge of what requires doing is equal to that of any other
+man present.
+
+This is the controlling idea and all constructive planning and work in
+the field of information is shaped around it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
+
+COUNSELING YOUR MEN
+
+
+Among the ever-pressing problems of the commander, and equally of the
+young officer schooling himself to the ways of the service, is the
+seeking of means to break down the natural timidity and reticence of
+the great majority of men.
+
+This he can never do unless he is sufficient master of himself that he
+can come out of his own shell and give his men a chance to understand
+him as a human being rather than as an autocrat giving orders. Nothing
+more unfortunate can happen to an officer than to come to be regarded
+by his subordinates as unapproachable, for such a reputation isolates
+him from the main problems of command responsibility as well as its
+chief rewards. So holding himself, he will never be able to see his
+forces in their true light, and will either have to exercise snap
+judgment upon the main problems within his own sphere, or take the
+word of others as to the factors on which promotions, rewards and
+punishments are based within the unit.
+
+When the block is due to an officer's own reticence, mistaken ideas
+about the requirements of his position, or feeling of strangeness
+toward his fellows, the only cure for him is to dive head-first into
+the cold, clear water, like a boy at the old swimming hole in the
+early spring. Thereby he will grow in self-confidence even as he
+progresses in knowledge of the character of his men and of human
+nature in general.
+
+If an officer is senior, and is still somewhat on the bashful side, by
+watching the manner of his own seniors when he gets counsel, and
+thawing toward his immediate juniors, thereby increasing his
+receptiveness toward them, there will occur a chain reaction to the
+bottom level.
+
+The block, however, is not always of the mind and heart. No man can
+help his own face, but it can sometimes be a barrier to communication.
+One commander in European Theater was told by his Executive that his
+subordinates were fearful to approach him because of his perpetual
+scowl. He assembled his officers and he said to them: "I have been
+told that my looks are forbidding. The mirror reminds me of that every
+morning. Years ago I was in a grenade explosion, and a consequent eye
+injury and strain have done to me what you have to see every time we
+get together. But if you cannot look beyond the face, and judge my
+disposition by all else that you see of me in our work together, you
+do not yet have the full perception that is commensurate with your
+responsibility."
+
+The too-formal manner, the overrigid attitude, the disposition to deal
+with any human problem by-the-numbers as if it were only one more act
+in organizational routine, can have precisely the same chilling effect
+upon men as came of this officer's scowl. Though no man may move
+wholly out of his own nature, a cheerfulness of manner in the doing of
+work is altogether within any individual's capabilities, and is the
+highest-test lubricant of his human relationships.
+
+As a further safeguard against making himself inaccessible, the
+officer needs to make an occasional check on the procedures which have
+been established by his immediate subordinates. At all levels of
+command it is the pet task of those "nearest the throne" to think up
+new ways to keep all hands from "bothering the old man." However
+positive an order to the contrary, they will not infrequently contrive
+to circumvent it, mistakenly believing that by this act they save him
+from himself. Many a compassionate commander leads an unwontedly
+lonely life because of the peculiar solicitude of his staff in this
+matter and his own failure to discover what is happening to him. In
+this way the best of intentions may be thwarted. There is no sure cure
+for the evil but personal reconnaissance.
+
+It is never a waste of time for the commander, or for any officer, to
+talk to his people about their personal problems. More times than not,
+the problem will seem small to him, but so long as it looms large to
+the man, it cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Ridicule,
+sarcasm and the brush-off are equally inexcusable in any situation
+where one individual takes another into his confidence on any matter
+which does not involve bad faith on the part of the petitioner. Even
+then, if the man imparts that which shows that his own conduct has
+been reprehensible or that he would enlist the support of his superior
+in some unworthy act, it is better to hear him through and then skin
+him, than to treat what he says in the offhand manner. An officer will
+grow in the esteem of his men only as he treats their affairs with
+respect. The policy of patience and goodwill pays off tenfold because
+what happens to one man is soon known to the others.
+
+In this particular there has been a radical change within the services
+during the current century, simply because of broader understanding of
+human relationships. In the Old Army, the man could get through to his
+commander only if he could satisfy the First Sergeant as to the nature
+of his business; this was a roadblock for the man who either was
+afraid of the First Sergeant, or was loath to let the latter know
+about his affairs. Custom dies hard and this one has not been entirely
+uprooted. But the distance we have traveled toward humanizing all
+command principles is best reflected by the words of General
+Eisenhower in "Command in Europe": "Hundreds of broken-hearted
+fathers, mothers, and sweethearts wrote me personal letters begging
+for some hope that a loved one might still be alive, or for additional
+detail as to the manner of his death. Every one of these I answered."
+
+It is not necessary that an officer wet-nurse his men in order to
+serve well in the role of counsel. His door should be open, but he
+does not play the part either of a father confessor or of a hotel
+greeter. Neither great solemnity nor effusiveness are called for, but
+mainly serious attention to the problem, and then straight-forward
+advice or decision, according to the nature of the case, _and provided
+that from his own knowledge and experience he feels qualified to give
+it_. If not, it is wiser to defer than to offer a half-baked opinion.
+To consider for a time, and to seek light from others, whether higher
+authority or one's closer associates, is the sound alternative when
+there is a great deal at stake for the man and the problem is too
+complex for its solution to be readily apparent. The spirit in which
+this work should be undertaken is nowhere more clearly indicated than
+in the words of Schuyler D. Hoslett who in his book, "Human Factor in
+Management," said this: "Counseling is advising an individual on his
+problem to the extent that an attempt is made to help him understand
+it so he may carry out a plan for its solution. It is a process which
+stimulates the individual's ability for self-direction."
+
+Family affairs, frictions within the organization, personal
+entanglements which prey upon the mind, frustrations and anxieties of
+varying kind, the sense of failure and other nameless fears which are
+rooted deep in the consciousness of nearly every individual, are the
+more general subjects in counseling.
+
+Whatever impairs the man that he wishes to take up with his officer
+becomes ipso facto the officer's rightful business. Equally so, on the
+positive side, when his only desire is to bring forward something that
+he believes would serve the interests of organization, he should be
+heard.
+
+In either case, the perfecting of counsel develops around two
+controlling ideas, stated in the order of their importance: (1) what
+is in the best interests of the unit, and (2) what is for the good of
+the man. In this particular, the officer as counselor is rarely in the
+role of a disinterested party. Unlike the preacher, the lawyer, the
+teacher or the best friend, he has to look beyond what is beneficial
+simply to the spiritual, mental and moral need of one individual.
+There is an abiding necessity to equate the personal problem to the
+whole philosophy within which a command operates. _To keep in mind
+that every individual has his breaking point is everlastingly
+important. But to remember that the unit is also made of brittle stuff
+is not less so._
+
+When undue personal favors are granted, when precedents are set
+without weighing the possible effects upon all concerned, when men are
+incontinently urged, or even sympathetically humored by their
+superiors toward the taking of a weak personal course, the ties of the
+organization are injured, tension within it mounts and the ranks lose
+respect for the manhood of their leaders.
+
+All things are to be viewed in moderation, and with compassion, but
+with a fine balance toward the central purpose. Let us take one
+example. Within a given command, at a particular time, leaves have
+been made so restricted, for command reasons, that there must be a
+showing of genuine urgency. One man comes forward and says that he is
+so sick for the sight of home that he can no longer take duty. As
+certainly as his superior tries to facilitate this man's purpose
+because of fear that he will break, the superior will be harassed by
+other requests with no better basis, and if they are not granted,
+there will be general discontent. On the other hand, suppose another
+man comes forward. A wire from home has informed him that his mother
+is dying. If the superior will not go to bat on such a case, he will
+win the deserved contempt of the same men who were ready to take
+advantage of the other opening, but in this instance would seek
+nothing for themselves.
+
+To know the record, the character and the measure of goodwill of the
+subject is all-important in counseling. It puts the matter in much too
+dim a light to say that after the call comes, the officer should check
+up on these points so that he can deal knowledgeably with the man.
+That is his first order of business within the unit--to learn all that
+he can about the main characteristics of his men. This general duty
+precedes the detail work of counseling. Under normal circumstances, no
+officer is likely to have more than 250 men in his immediate charge.
+There are exceptions, but this is broadly the rule. It is by no means
+an excessive task for one individual to learn the names and a great
+part of the history of the men he sees daily, when not knowing them
+means that he has neglected the heart of operations.
+
+What the man says of himself, in relation to the problem, deserves
+always to be judged according to his own record. If he has proved
+himself utterly faithful, action can be taken on the basis of his
+word. If he is known to be a corner-cutter and a cheat, his case,
+though listened-to with interest and sympathy, needs to be taken with
+a grain of salt, pending further investigation.
+
+World War II officers had to abide by this standard in dealing with
+the general malaise which arose out of redeployment. When a man came
+forward and said that he couldn't take it any more, and the commander
+knew that he had always been a highly dutiful individual, it became
+the commander's job to attempt to get the man home. But when a second
+man came forward with the same story, and the record showed that he
+had always shirked his work, the question was whether he should be
+given the final chance to shirk it again. To favor the first man meant
+furthering discipline; his comrades recognized it as a fair deal. To
+turn back the second man was equally constructive to the same end. In
+a general situation of unique pressure, commanders found that these
+principles worked.
+
+Many of the problems on which men seek advice of their officers are of
+a legal nature; unless an officer is versed in the law, the inquiry
+must be channeled to a qualified source. Other problems are of a kind
+that use should be made of the home services of such an organization
+as the Red Cross. A knowledge of the limits beyond which the help of a
+special office or agency must be sought is therefore as important to
+the officer-consultant as an ability to give the man full information
+about the whereabouts and use of these facilities.
+
+The Red Cross is usually an effective agent in checking the facts of a
+home situation and returning the data. But at the end of the line
+where officer and man sit together, its resources for helping the
+individual (when what is needed mainly is advice on a human equation)
+are not likely to be any better than what his military superiors can
+do for him. In any time of crisis, the normal human being can draw
+strength and composure far more surely from a person he well knows
+than from a stranger.
+
+There is this illustration. During World War II, many a man overseas
+got word that his home had been broken up. The counselor could talk
+the thing out with him, learn whether a reconciliation was the one
+most important thing, or whether the man was groping his way, looking
+for a friend who could help him see the matter in proportion, and
+weigh, among other things, his duty to himself. The Red Cross could
+check the facts of the home situation. But the man's readjustment
+depended in the main on what was done by those who were closest to
+him.
+
+Sooner or later every commander has to deal with some refraction of
+this kind of problem. When it comes, moralizing and generalizing about
+the weakness of human nature does no good whatever. To call the man a
+fool is as invidious as to waste indignation upon the cause of his
+misfortune. Likewise, any frontal approach to the problem, such as
+telling the man, "Here's what you should do," should be shunned, or
+used most sparingly. The more effective attitude can be expressed in
+these words: "If it had happened to me instead of to you, and I were
+in your same situation, here are the things I would consider, and here
+are the points to which I would give greatest weight." To tell any
+subject to brace up and be a man is a plain inference that he is not
+one. To reflect with him on the things which manhood requires is the
+gentle way toward stirring his self-respect. So doing, a counselor
+renews his own character. _Also worth remembering is that in any man's
+dark hour, a pat on the back and an earnest handclasp may work a small
+miracle._
+
+There is much counseling over the subject of transfer. Herein lies an
+exception to a general rule, for in this case the good of the man
+takes precedence over the good of organization. No conscientious
+officer likes to see a good man depart from his organization.
+Nevertheless, the service is not in competition with itself, and it
+advances as a whole in the measure that all men find the niche where
+they can serve most efficiently, and with the greatest satisfaction.
+There are officers who hold to every able subordinate like grim death,
+seeing no better way to advance their personal fortunes. This is a
+sign of moral weakness, not of strength, and its inevitable fruit is
+discontent within the organization. _The sign of superiority in any
+officer, at whatever level, is his confidence that he can make another
+good man to fill any vacancy._ When it is self-evident that a man can
+better himself and profit the service through transfer, it is contrary
+to all principle to deny him that right. This does not mean that the
+unit's exit door should be kept open, but only that it should be ready
+to yield upon a showing of competent proof. It is not unusual that
+when the pressure mounts and war danger rises, many a man develops a
+sudden conviction that he would be more useful in a noncombat arm. The
+officer body itself is not unsusceptible to the same temptation.
+Unless the great majority are held to that line of duty which they had
+accepted in less dangerous circumstance, the service would soon cease
+to have fighting integrity. But it makes no point to keep men in a
+combat arm or service who are quite obviously morally and physically
+unequipped for its rigor, and it is equally wasteful to deny some
+other arm or service the use of a specialist whose skills fill it
+particularly. Some of the ablest commanders in our service have abided
+by this rule: They never denied the man who had a legitimate reason
+for transfer, and they never shuffled off their lemons and goldbricks
+under a false label. Though seemingly idealistic, the rule is also
+practical. The time wasted in excessive worry over a discard is
+sometimes better spent by concentrating on the value of trumps.
+
+Men tend to seek officer counsel when they feel discriminated against
+by lesser authority. When that happens, it is the duty of the officer
+to get at the facts, and act according to them. Complaints against any
+junior are always unpleasant to hear because of their air of intrigue.
+Tactlessly handled, without due weighing of the case from both sides,
+they turn one blunder into two. But no officer is well-advised if he
+believes that his duty automatically is to uphold the arm of a
+subordinate when the facts say that the latter is dead wrong. His duty
+is to reduce friction wherever it is caused by a misuse of power. This
+implies dealing discreetly with the offender instead of directly
+discountenancing him.
+
+There are a few broad, common-sense rules which, when followed, will
+enable any officer to play his part more effectively in the counseling
+of men.
+
+    Privacy is requisite and the interview should not be held at an
+    hour when interruptions are likely.
+
+    A listless manner spoils everything, diminishes the force of
+    reason and discourages confidence.
+
+    To put the man at ease immediately by some personal gesture is
+    more important than observing forms.
+
+    Thereafter the situation is best served by relaxation of bearing
+    rather than by tension.
+
+    All excess of expression is a failing, but above all in the man to
+    whom another looks for guidance.
+
+    To listen well is the prelude toward pondering carefully and
+    speaking wisely.
+
+    No counsel is worthy that has any lower aim than one's own ideals
+    of self-respect.
+
+    Early enough is well; quickly done can be quickly undone.
+
+    To refuse with kindness is more winning than to acquiesce
+    ungraciously.
+
+    To note another man's mood, and to become congenial to it, is the
+    surest way to engage his confidence.
+
+    Decisions which are wholly of the heart and not of the mind will
+    ultimately do hurt to both places.
+
+    No man will talk freely if met by silence, but an intelligent
+    question encourages frankness above all else.
+
+    When one man loses possession of himself it is the more reason
+    that the other should tighten his reserve.
+
+    Affectation in one's own manner gives the lie to one's own credit
+    and destroys it with others.
+
+    To express pity for a man does not serve to restore him and put
+    him above pity.
+
+    When a man is so burdened by a personal problem that it shuts out
+    all else, he must be led to something else.
+
+    Imprudent tactics can undo the wisest strategy.
+
+While these dispositions have particular value in relation to the
+counseling of one's subordinates, they also have some application to
+any situation in which men work and commune together. Men at any level
+do not mistake the touch of sincerity, nor fail to mark as unworthy of
+trust the man who pays only a superficial regard to a matter which
+they deem important.
+
+For the officer already burdened with other duties, counseling may
+seem like a waste of time, and an activity that more properly belongs
+to the chaplain. The wise and understanding "padre" may sometimes
+counsel men on their material problems and thereby assist the officer
+who is over troops. But so doing, he is committing a trespass unless
+he acts with the commander's knowledge and consent. The commander is
+the foster father of the men in his organization. When he renounces
+this role, he neglects a trust.
+
+That neglect cuts the fighting efficiency of the unit at its root.
+Finally, counseling, like all else in military life, has a combat
+purpose. Other things being equal, the tactical unity of men working
+together in combat will be in ratio to their knowledge and sympathetic
+understanding of each other. Whatever the cause, aloofness on the part
+of the officer can only produce a further withdrawal on the part of
+the man. Finally, the cost comes high. In battle, and out of it, the
+failure to act and to communicate is more often due to timidity in the
+individual than to fear of physical danger.
+
+Described in cold type, the counseling process probably appears a
+little sticky. Actually, it is nothing of the sort. For it has been
+going on ever since man became civilized. It is a force in all
+organized human relationships, beginning in infanthood and lasting
+through old age. Because of the nature of a military group, and
+particularly because of the deriving of united strength from
+well-being in each of the component parts, there is much more need to
+regularize it and to qualify all men in a knowledge of those things
+which will enable them to assist a fellow in need of help. But in the
+military society, far more than in civil life, confidence is a two-way
+street. It would be almost impossible to express the collective
+gratitude of tens of thousands of lieutenants and ensigns who in times
+past have learned to rely on the friendly counsel of a veteran
+sergeant or petty officer, and have usually gotten it straight from
+the shoulder, _but with respect_. The breaking-in of most young
+officers, and the acclimating of them to their role in a command
+system, is due, in large measure, to support from this source. Nor are
+senior commanders reluctant to receive moral comfort of this same kind
+in periods of crisis.
+
+When the planes of the First Tokyo Raid under Col. James H.
+Doolittle, crashed among the mountains and along the sea-coast of
+Eastern China, after one of the most valiant strokes in our military
+annals, their commander was among the few who had the added misfortune
+of coming to earth within the Japanese lines. By fate's mercy, he just
+happened to escape by walking between the enemy outposts. Farther
+along, he saw the wreck of another of his planes. Then he came to a
+third; it was smashed beyond hope. But its crew had already heard from
+several other parties. They too had lost their B-25's to the fog, the
+night and the crags. Doolittle realized then that everything was gone,
+lives saved yes, but otherwise the expedition was a total ruin.
+
+The Commander sat for a long time in the cockpit of the wrecked plane,
+terribly depressed, thinking only of how totally he had failed.
+
+At last one of the younger men, Sgt. Paul Leonard walked up to him and
+said: "What's the matter, Colonel?"
+
+Doolittle said: "It couldn't be worse. We've lost everything. We've
+let the country down."
+
+The kid said: "Why, Colonel, you've got this all wrong. You have no
+idea how this looks to the United States. Don't you realize that right
+now they're getting ready to make you a general? Why I'll make you a
+bet they give you the Congressional Medal."
+
+Doolittle thanked him. He thought it was a nice thing for the boy to
+say. That kind of loyalty was worth having in a bad hour. The boy
+started to walk away; he could tell that Doolittle didn't believe a
+word of it. Then suddenly he turned and came on back.
+
+"Colonel," he said, "I'd like to make a deal with you. Suppose I'm
+right about it and you're wrong. So they give you a star and the
+Congressional Medal. If that happens, will you agree to take me with
+you wherever you go?"
+
+Doolittle made him a solemn promise. Fresh courage came to him out of
+the boy's tremendous earnestness.
+
+And of course the boy was right, and the contract was kept, and all
+things went well until, by a savage irony, Sgt. Leonard was killed in
+the last German raid against Doolittle's headquarters in Europe
+shortly before the war ended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
+
+USING REWARD AND PUNISHMENT
+
+
+One of the illusions having greatest currency among our people is that
+any green member of the fighting establishment is merely an American
+civilian in a uniform, and that therefore, his spirit is nourished to
+the extent that accommodations and usages of the service most nearly
+duplicate what he has known elsewhere.
+
+This belief is especially prevalent during wartime when every mother's
+son puts on a new suit; it is natural to think that everything in the
+service will better suit the boy if it smells like home. The corollary
+of this rather quaint idea is that military organization is therefore
+most perfect when it operates in the same way as the civil society.
+
+Earlier in this book it has been suggested that these ideas need to be
+questioned on two broad grounds: Do not both of them run counter to
+the facts of encharged responsibility, and to human nature itself?
+
+To emphasize it once again, the military officer is not alone an
+administrator: _he is a magistrate_. There are special powers given
+him by the President. It is within these powers that he will sit in
+judgment on his men and that he may punish them when they have been
+grievously derelict. This dual role makes his function radically
+different from anything encountered in civil life--to say nothing of
+the singleness of purpose which a fighting service is supposed to move
+forward.
+
+Moreover, the military officer is dealing with men who are submitted
+to him in a binding relationship which by its nature is not only more
+compelling but more intimate than anything elsewhere in society. As
+much as the parent in the home, and far more than the teacher in the
+school or the executive in business, he is directed to center his
+effort primarily on the building of good character in other
+individuals.
+
+One need only compare a few points of advantage and disadvantage to
+see why a better balanced sense of justice and fair play is required
+of the military officer than of his brother in civil life, and why the
+aim would be far too low if the fighting services did not shoot for
+higher standards of personnel direction than are common in the
+management of American business. Here are the points:
+
+    If any subordinate in the civilian vineyard feels that he is
+    getting a bad deal from his boss, and has become the object of
+    unfair discrimination, it is his royal American privilege to quit
+    on the spot, be he a policeman, a government factotum or a hod
+    carrier. He can then maintain himself by carrying his skill into a
+    new shop. But an enlisted member of the armed establishment cannot
+    quit summarily, and finally, if his commander is just wrong-headed
+    and arbitrary, it can be made almost impossible for him to
+    transfer out. However bad his fortune, he's stuck with it.
+
+    Nepotism is so general in our business and political life that the
+    people who suffer from its effect accept it more or less as the
+    working of nature; the results are therefore less destructive of
+    efficiency than they might be otherwise. It is common to see the
+    boss's nephew or his son get a good spot in the office and then
+    rise like a rocket, even though he is a third-rater. And it is not
+    less common to see a straw boss in a factory favor the man whom he
+    thinks might grease the wheels for him on the outside. But in the
+    armed establishment, favoritism on any grounds, and particularly
+    on such treacherous grounds as these, will destroy the foundations
+    of work and of control.
+
+    The armed establishment has its own body of law. Therein, too, it
+    differs from any civilian autonomy except the state itself. The
+    code is intended to enable a uniform standard of treatment to all
+    individuals in the regulating of all interior affairs. The code is
+    not rigid; its provisions are not absolute. It specifies the
+    general nature of offenses against society, and special offenses
+    against the good of the service. But, except for the more serious
+    offenses, particularly those which by their nature also violate
+    the civil code, it does not flatly prescribe trial and punishment.
+    Military law, in this respect, has more latitude, and is more
+    congenial, than civil law covering minor offenders. Rarely
+    arbitrary in its workings, it premises the use of corrective good
+    judgment at all times. It regards force as an instrument only to
+    be used for conserving the general good of the establishment. The
+    essential power behind the force is something spiritual--the will
+    and conscience of the great majority, expressing itself through
+    the action of one or several of their number. Its major object is
+    not punishment of the wrong-doer but protection of the interests
+    of the dutiful. This view of military law is four-square with the
+    basic principle of all action within the armed services--_that in
+    all cases the best policy is one which depends for its workings on
+    the sense of duty in men toward each other, and thereby
+    strengthens that sense through its operations._
+
+Put in these terms, the attitude of the service toward the problem of
+correction as a means of promoting the welfare of the general
+establishment obviously reposes a tremendous burst in the justice and
+goodwill of the average officer. It would be useless to blink the
+fact. But there is this to be said unalterably in favor of the
+military system's way of handling things: If the organization of the
+whole human family into an orderly unit is ever to be made possible,
+it will be done only because many men, of all ages and working at many
+different levels, develop this faculty for passing critical, impartial
+judgment on the conduct and deserts of those whom they lead, instead
+of regarding it as a special kind of wisdom, given only to the few
+anointed. Nor is that all. Not only the knowledge but the sense of
+duty in men is imperfect. In every society are men who will not obey
+the law of their own accord. Unless the authority which receives and
+interprets the law will also impose it, by force if necessary, the
+reign of law soon ceases. Whether an ordered society is to exist thus
+depends upon whether there are citizens enough, fixed with a sense of
+duty, to obey it and to enforce it.
+
+At first glance, the responsibility seems extraordinarily heavy and
+difficult. But with broadening experience, it becomes almost second
+nature to an officer quickly to set a course by which to judge
+individual men in relation to the affairs of organization, provided
+that he has steered all along in the light of a few elementary
+principles.
+
+Concerning reward, and equally with respect to punishments, no more
+pertinent words could be said than those uttered long ago by Thomas
+Carlyle: "What a reflection it is that we cannot bestow on an unworthy
+man any particle of our benevolence, our patronage or whatever
+resource is ours--without withdrawing it, and all that will grow out
+of it, from one worthy, to whom it of right belongs! We cannot, I say;
+impossible; it is the eternal law of things."
+
+He said a number of important things in this one brief paragraph.
+There is first the thought that when any reward, such as a promotion,
+a commendation or a particularly choice assignment is given other than
+to the man who deserves it on sheer merit, some other man is robbed
+and the ties of organization are weakened.
+
+Next, there is this proposition: if, in the dispensing of punishment,
+undue leniency is extended to an individual who has already proved
+that he merits no special consideration, in the next round a bum rap
+will be given some lesser offender who is morally deserving of a real
+chance. The Italians have an epigram: "The first time a dog bites a
+man, it's the dog's fault; the second time, it's the man's fault."
+
+According to Carlyle, these things have the strength of a natural law.
+Nor is it necessary to take his word for it. Any wise and experienced
+military administrator will say approximately the same thing and will
+tell of some of the bad examples he has met along his way.... The
+commander who was afraid to punish anybody and by his indecision
+punished everybody.... The lieutenant who had such a bad conscience
+about his own weak handling of a bad case of indiscipline that he
+threw the book at the next offender and thereby spoiled a good man and
+gained the ill will of the company.... The old timer who smarted under
+excessive punishment for a trivial offense, broke under it, got into
+worse trouble, and became a felon.... The officer who promoted his
+pets instead of his good men and at last found that there were no good
+men left.... The skipper who condoned a small case of insolence until
+it swelled into a mutiny.... The fool who handled every case alike, as
+if he were an animal trainer instead of a builder of human character
+... and so on, ad infinitum. It is a long and sorry list, but the
+overwhelming majority of dutiful executives in the armed services
+avoid these stupid blunders by following a Golden Rule policy toward
+their men.
+
+If lack of obedience is the most frequent cause of service men being
+brought on the carpet, then as obedience is a moral quality, so should
+punishment be employed as a moral act, its prime purpose being to
+nourish and foster obedience. Before meting punishment, it is
+necessary to judge a man, and judgment means to think over, to
+compare, to weigh probable effects on the man and on the command, and
+to give the offender the benefit of any reasonable doubt. Before any
+punishment is given, the questions must be faced: "What good will it
+achieve?" If the answer is none, then punishment is not in order.
+Punishment of a vindictive nature is a crime; when it is given
+uselessly, or handed out in a strictly routine manner, it is an
+immoral act.
+
+But when punishment has to be awarded, the case must be handled
+promptly, and its issue must be stated incisively, so that there is no
+room for doubt that the officer is certain about his judgments. Men
+know when they are in the wrong, and even when it works to their
+disadvantage, they will feel increased respect toward the officer who
+knows what should be done, and states it without hemming and hawing.
+The showing of firmness is the first requirement in this kind of
+action. It is as foolish to go back on a punishment as to threaten it
+and not follow through. The officer who is always running around
+threatening to court martial his subordinates is merely avowing his
+own weakness, and crying that he has lost all of his moral means. Even
+the dullest men do not mistake vehemence and abuse for signs of
+strength.
+
+To punish a body of men, for offenses committed by two or three of
+their number, even though the offense is obnoxious and it is
+impossible to put the finger on the culprits, is the act of a sadist,
+and is no more excusable within military organization than in civilian
+society. Any officer who resorts to this stupid practice will forfeit
+the loyalty of the best men in his command. There is no reason why it
+should be otherwise.
+
+As a general rule, it is a serious error to reprimand a subordinate in
+the presence of any other person, because of the unnecessary hurt to
+his pride. But circumstances moderate the rule. If the offense for
+which he is being reprimanded involves injury of any sort to some
+other person, or persons, it may be wholly proper to apply the
+treatment in their presence. For example, the bully or the smart-aleck
+who wantonly humiliates his own subordinates is not entitled to have
+his own feelings spared. However, in the presence of his own superior,
+an officer is always ill-advised to administer oral punishment to one
+of his own juniors, since the effect is to destroy confidence both up
+and down the line.
+
+It is always the duty of an officer to intervene, toward the
+protection of his own men against any manifest injustice, whatever its
+source. In fact, this trust is so implicit that he should be ready to
+risk his professional reputation upon it, when he is convinced beyond
+doubt that the man is being unfairly assailed, or that due process is
+not being followed. Both higher authority and civil authority
+occasionally overreach; an officer stands as a shield protecting his
+men against unfair treatment from any quarter. _But it is decidedly
+not his duty to attempt to cheat law or thwart justice for the sake of
+his men simply because they are his men._ His job, as Shakespeare puts
+it, is "to unmask falsehood and bring truth to light, to wrong the
+wronger till he render right."
+
+Finally, the best policy on punishments is to eliminate the frictions
+which are the cause of most transgressions. When a ship is happy, men
+do their duty. Scarcely anything will cross them up more quickly than
+to see rewards given with an uneven hand. Even the stinker who has no
+ambition but to duck work can recognize a deserving man, and will burn
+if that man is bypassed in favor of a bootlicker or some other
+lightweight.
+
+Nothing is more vain than to give a promotion, or any reward, in the
+hope, or on the promise, that the character who receives it will hit
+the sawdust trail and suddenly reform.
+
+Duty is the only sure proving ground. Men, like motors, should be
+judged on their all-around performance. There is no other way to
+generate the steady pull over the long grind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
+
+FITTING MEN TO JOBS
+
+
+In civilian society, what amounts to a cult has developed around the
+idea that the average person has a natural bent for some particular
+job or profession, which if thwarted will fill him with those
+frustrations which are conceded to be the cause of most of the mental
+and moral disorders of mankind.
+
+Therefore if all men could become rightly placed, we would have Utopia
+tomorrow.
+
+This theory of what humanity mainly cries for is perforce rejected by
+the military establishment, for several eminently practical as well as
+ideal reasons.
+
+It discounts man, his plastic and impressionable nature, his response
+to all that goes on around him and his marked ability to adjust to any
+environment. He is not like a bolt fitted into a hole by a riveter,
+nor merely clay in the hands of the potter. What he becomes is mainly
+of his own making.
+
+Further, the theory does not meet the needs of the situation, since in
+the services, as elsewhere, there are not enough better holes to go
+around, and no man is ready to say that he is good for nothing but
+life as a file-closer.
+
+But the last and main reason why the theory is no good is that it
+doesn't square with human experience. A narrow classification system
+invites the danger of overspecialization and lessens the team play
+which is so indispensable to all military enterprise. It is possible
+for the machine to break down totally from lack of interchangeability
+in its parts.
+
+We learn much from war, but some of the most obvious lessons are
+disregarded. One of the things that it should teach us is the
+tremendous adaptability of the average intelligent man, his ability to
+take hold of work altogether remote from any prior experience, master
+it, and find satisfaction in it, provided he is given help and
+encouragement by those who already know.
+
+This is the great phenomenon of war--greater than the atomic bomb or
+supersonic flight. Former bookkeepers emerge as demolitions men.
+Divinity students become pharmacist's mates. School teachers operate
+tanks. Writing men turn into navigators. Woodsmen become lecturers.
+Longshoremen specialize in tactics. And all goes well.
+
+Then when it is all over, and everyone gets back in his well-worn
+groove, the social scientists explain that these miracles occurred
+because under the stimulus of great fear and excitement which attends
+a period of national emergency, individuals will sublimate their main
+drives, and adjust temporarily to what would be otherwise an onerous
+personal difficulty. Sheer poppycock! Normal men do not feel pressed
+by fear simply because a state of war exists; their chief emotions
+change scarcely at all. These transformations occur only because the
+man had the potential all along, and with someone backing him up _and
+giving him the feeling of success_, his incentives became equal, at
+least, to anything he had known in his peacetime occupation.
+
+That is the long-and-short of it. If our average man couldn't become a
+jack of many trades, and a master of several, the United States would
+never be able to meet a major war emergency.
+
+For these reasons, service concepts of how men should be fitted to
+jobs do not develop around the simple notion that it is all a matter
+of putting a square peg in a square hole--which is the one best way to
+deny the peg any room for expansion. The doctrine is that _men are
+many sided, that they learn their own powers and likes through
+experiment, that they are entitled to find what is best for them, and
+that having found it, their satisfactions will still derive mainly
+from intelligent and interested treatment by their superiors_.
+
+Every officer arrives sooner or later at the point where he has a
+direct hand in the placement of men. By way of preparation for that
+responsibility he should do two things mainly--learn all that he can
+from his superiors about its technical aspects, and in his own
+thinking, concentrate on principles to the exclusion of detail.
+
+The fundamental purpose of all training today is to develop the
+natural faculties and stimulate the brain of the individual rather
+than to treat him as a cog which has to be fitted into a great
+machine.
+
+The true purpose of _all_ rules covering the conduct of warfare and
+all regulations pertaining to the conduct of its individuals is to
+bring about order in the fighting machine rather than to strangle the
+mind of the man who reads them.
+
+Thus in the assignment of men to work within any military
+organization, no amount of perfection in the analysis of skills and
+aptitudes can compensate for carelessness in their subsequent
+administration. The uniformed ranks are not mechanics, storekeepers
+and clerks primarily, but fighting men. This makes a difference. The
+optimum over-all results do not come from the care exercised in seeing
+that every man is placed at exactly the right job but from the concern
+taken that in whatever job he fills, he will feel that he is supported
+and that his efforts are appreciated. There is scarcely a good man who
+has served long within the profession without filling a half-dozen
+roles requiring vastly different skills. And looking back, what would
+the average one say about it? Not that he was happiest where the
+nature of the task best suited his hand, but happiest where his
+relations with his superiors gave him the greatest sense of
+accomplishment.
+
+That is the human nature of the equation. We can let the economist
+argue that what a man puts into a job is largely dependent on what he
+takes out of it. And we can let the philosopher answer him that the
+fault in his proposition is that he has turned it the wrong way
+'round. Regardless of which man has put the cart before the horse,
+there are two basic truths which outweigh the merits of the argument.
+
+First. _All human progress has come of the willingness of a man at a
+particular time to undertake a job which no one had ever done before._
+
+Second. _The main reward of any job is the knowledge that worthwhile
+work has been accomplished._
+
+This last may sound like a corny maxim, but it's true. The reason
+maxims become corny is because they're true.
+
+Despite all of the present-day emphasis on paycheck security as the
+mainspring of human action, the far stronger force which moves man as
+a social being is his desire for a secure place in the respect and
+affections of his associates, including his chief or his employer.
+Gary Cooper, playing in "The Cowboy and the Lady," used the line, "I
+aims, ma'm, to be high-regarded." Except for the few wrong-headed
+people, he was speaking for the whole human family.
+
+The man who can get along without wanting or needing words of approval
+from other people is fit for a cell by himself, either padded or
+barred.
+
+Loyalty in the masses of men waxes strong in the degree that they are
+made to believe that real importance is attached to their work and to
+their ability to think about their work. It weakens at every point
+where they consider that there is a negative respect for their
+intelligence; the dignity in any work is not inherent in the job
+itself but in the attitude of others toward it. Cabinet ministers,
+college presidents and industrial magnates will quit their jobs when
+they feel they no longer have the confidence of those to whom they are
+responsible. That experience is as demoralizing to great men as to the
+mine-run. Equally, the feeling of compensation which comes with any
+token of recognition is one of those touches of human nature which
+make all men akin. If men of genius and good works did not find Nobel
+prizes and honorary college degrees highly gratifying, this custom
+would have faded long ago. It is as rewarding to them to be called
+good at their job as it was to the New Jersey street sweeper who
+pushed his broom so diligently that he swept halfway into the next
+town before discovering his mistake.
+
+The far inferences of these things should be reasonably clear to every
+officer of the fighting establishment. It makes little difference
+whether a man is digging a ditch or is working up a loading table for
+an invasion: what he thinks about his work will depend in large
+measure upon the attitude of his superiors. He will develop no great
+conviction about what he is doing except as it is transmitted to him.
+_The fundamental cause of any breakdown of morale and discipline
+within the armed service usually comes of this, that a commander or
+his subordinates transgress by treating men as if they were children
+or serfs instead of showing respect for their adulthood._
+
+The requirements of modern war are such that we certainly do not want
+to turn out one man exactly like another, or turn the majority into
+mechanical men, capable of one set function. But the rule applies to
+officers as well as men. The greater freedom which is needed has
+nothing to do with social behavior or privilege. It is the freedom to
+think boldly and originally for the common good, for, to quote Kant
+again: "What one learns the most fixedly and remembers the best is
+what one learns more or less by oneself."
+
+Thus in the matter of sizing up men, judging of their capacities and
+trying to get them rightly placed, the need is not a formula, since no
+formula will work. It is only by keeping principles uppermost in our
+thoughts that the greatest measure of common sense will prevail in our
+actions. That is what is needed, rather than clairvoyant powers, or a
+master's degree in psychology, if the service officer is to handle
+personnel efficiently. There are no great wizards in this field: there
+are only men who know more about the human nature of the problem than
+others because they have had a zest for meeting humanity and have
+built a text out of what others have told them.
+
+The job begins by the search for data on the individual--all of the
+data that may be obtained. It goes on from that to sitting down with
+the subject, getting him to open up and talk freely about himself,
+what he has done, what he would like to do with his life, and his
+reasons for so feeling, et cetera. But the information from all
+sources has to be balanced against one's impression of the outer man,
+not just what he says but how he talks, the degree of his
+attentiveness, his bearing, his eye, his self-control. The decision is
+made on the basis of all these reckonings. This is common sense in
+action, and the only alternatives to it are to act upon a hunch or
+purely emotional grounds; one might, with better reason, determine
+another man's fortune by the flip of a coin.
+
+Let's see briefly how the method works out in practice.
+
+If the record shows that a man is a bad speller, careless about
+punctuation, not interested in writing, non-experienced at clerkship,
+and something of a rough diamond in his nature, he would be a bad bet
+for the administrative side, or in supply work, or in a communications
+role, though with a little polishing, and provided that he seems
+self-assured and is what we would call a "likeable" man, he might
+become a capital leader of a tactical group.
+
+On the other hand, the man who says he had tried in vain to develop a
+manual skill, but has always been clumsy with his hands, and is
+supported in what he says by the records of his service, isn't
+necessarily excluded from becoming a good weapons or demolitions man,
+if he seems strong in body and nerve, though he would hardly do for a
+mechanic's berth, or a carpenter's assistant or as a radio repairman.
+Weapons and demolitions require strength, carefulness and good sense
+rather than great dexterity.
+
+Take the man who is uncommunicative, or morose or unusually shy. From
+the day that he starts his service, his superiors should do their best
+to help him to change his ways; these ingrown men are roadblocks to
+group cooperation. But if he does not pick up and become outgiving, he
+hasn't the quality of a junior leader and there is no point in wasting
+space by sending him to any school or course out of which it would be
+expected that duties as an instructor would devolve upon him.
+
+However, there is one word of extreme caution on this point. For as
+long as 6 months after entering service, some men are under abnormal
+constraint because they are in a new element, and feel a little
+frightened inside. Whether this is the case is to be judged best by
+getting full information on the man. If the record shows that he had
+led his class in college, managed an athletic team, headed a debating
+team in high school, been the main wheel in a boy's club or a Scout
+troop, or led any kind of group, this is to be taken as a sign that
+the potential is there and that he is a sleeper. The most common error
+made in the services is that we are prone to underscore that a man was
+a lieutenant in a cadet company while taking no note of the file who
+had greater prestige in other activities because of his natural
+qualities as a leader.
+
+These are only a few average samples of personnel handling, and of
+elementary reasoning. As Mother Goose might say, if the list had been
+longer, the case still wouldn't have been stronger. Far more
+profitably, we can dig a little deeper into the subject of principles.
+
+In two senses, every decision as to the placing of men in the armed
+service is a moral decision, and therein it differs from average
+civilian responsibility. What is best for the man has always to be
+measured against the ultimate security and fighting objects of the
+establishment.
+
+For example, it is dead wrong, even in time of peace, to commit
+tactical leadership to the hands of the man whose moral force clearly
+falls short of what is required on the field of war, no matter how
+congenial he may be. And it is just as wrong to let a blabbermouth
+work his way into security channels, even though the hour is such that
+he can do no immediate harm.
+
+What importance should be attached to a man's estimate of his own
+capabilities? It is always pertinent, but it is by no means decisive.
+This is so for two reasons, the first being that the majority of men
+tend to over-sell themselves on the thing they like to do, and the
+second, that very few men know their own dimensions. Almost
+consciously, men resist the thing that they do not know, because of
+premonitory fears of failure. When the Armored Force School was first
+organized in 1941, a private from a unit stationed in Georgia was
+arbitrarily assigned to take the radio course. He protested, saying
+that he did not like anything about the field and therefore had no
+talent for it. But his commander sent him along. Within 1 week after
+arriving at Fort Knox, he was operating at a faster rate than any man
+in the history of the Army. Every service could tell stories of this
+kind; they are not miracles; they are regular features of the daily
+show.
+
+At the same time, the man who volunteers for a particular line of
+duty--especially if it is a hard duty--already has one mark in his
+favor. The fact that he wants to do it is one-half of success. Before
+turning him down, there must be a substantially clear showing that he
+lacks the main qualifications. It must be a _compelling_ reason,
+rather than the overweening excuse that it is more convenient to keep
+him where he is. In any case, he should be thanked for coming forward,
+and earmarked as a good prospect for the next likely opening.
+
+There is a slack saying in the services that "the good man never
+volunteers." That is an outright canard. The best men still do.
+
+In job placement, mistakes are inevitable. Any authority in this work
+will say so. Every experienced man who has had conspicuous success in
+picking the right men, and in getting scores of individuals started up
+the right ladder, will also shudder a little as he recalls his
+particularly atrocious blunders. Outward appearances are so greatly
+deceiving! The prior estimates placed on men are so frequently highly
+colored or outright dishonest!
+
+As to the making of mistakes, it is just not enough to comment that
+they have value, provided one has sufficient breadth to learn from
+hard experience. What is vastly more important is that the mistake,
+once made, will not be needlessly compounded. That is a normal, human
+temptation. The attitude, "I don't care if he is a chump; he's my
+chump," has nothing in its favor. Yet it becomes a point of pride in
+some men that they will not admit their judgments are fallible.
+Consequently, having chosen the wrong man for a given responsibility,
+they will sustain him there, come hell or high water, rather than make
+public acknowledgement of error.
+
+With what result? Mainly this, that for the sake of the point, they
+win, with it, the contempt of their other subordinates. For there is
+something very childish about this form of weakness, though it is a
+failing not unknown in many men otherwise qualified for high
+responsibility. To put it plainly, _no man_ has the moral right to
+suffer this upon any organization he is professing to serve.
+
+The advice of one's subordinates, as to the placement and promotion of
+men with whom they are in close contact, is not to be followed
+undeviatingly. Men play favorites: they will sometimes back an
+individual for no better reason than that they "like the guy." Too,
+each small group leader, even the best one, will work to advance the
+interests of his own men, because so doing is part of his own buildup.
+Unless decisions are made from a central point of view, the
+subordinate who talks the most convincingly will get an extra portion
+of favor for his men, and jealousies will wrack the organization.
+
+There is one last point. No officer can progress in fitting men to
+jobs except as he becomes better informed about job requirements. This
+is an essential part of his education. There is no administrative
+technique which is separate and apart from knowledge of how basic work
+is performed in the fields which have to be administered. A great many
+officers resist this truth, but it is nonetheless valid.
+
+What is eternally surprising in the fighting services is how the
+aggressive questing for knowledge continues to pay large dividends,
+and leads, in the average case, to a general forgiveness of one's
+little sins and vices.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
+
+AMERICANS IN COMBAT
+
+
+The command and control of men in combat _can_ be mastered by the
+junior leaders of American forces short of actual experience under
+enemy fire.
+
+It is altogether possible for a young officer his first time in battle
+to be in total possession of his faculties and moving by instinct to
+do the right thing, provided that he has made the most of his training
+opportunities.
+
+Exercise in the maneuvering of men is only an elementary introduction
+to this educational process. The basic requirement is a continuing
+study, first of the nature of men, second of the techniques which
+produce unified action, and last, of the history of past operations,
+which are covered by an abundant literature.
+
+Provided always that this collateral study is sedulously carried
+forward by the individual officer, at least 90 percent of all that is
+given him during the training period becomes applicable to his
+personal action and his power to lead other men when under fire.
+
+Each service has its separate character. The fighting problem of each
+differs in some measure from those of all others. In the nature of
+things, the task of successfully leading men in battle is partly
+conditioned by the unique character and mission of each service.
+
+It would therefore be gratuitous, and indeed impossible, to attempt to
+outline a doctrine which would be of general application, stipulating
+methods, techniques, etc., which would apply to all Americans in
+combat, no matter in what element they engaged.
+
+There are, however, a few simple and fundamental propositions to which
+the Armed Services subscribe in saying to the officer corps what may
+be expected of the average man of the United States under the
+conditions of battle. Generally speaking, they have held true of
+Americans in times past from Lexington to Okinawa. The fighting
+establishment builds its discipline, training, code of conduct and
+public policy around these ideas, believing that what served yesterday
+will also be the one best way tomorrow, and for so long as our
+traditions and our system of freedoms survive. These propositions are:
+
+I
+
+When led with courage and intelligence, an American will fight as
+willingly and as efficiently as any fighter in world history.
+
+II
+
+His keenness and endurance in war will be in proportion to the zeal
+and inspiration of his leadership.
+
+III
+
+He is resourceful and imaginative, and the best results will always
+flow from encouraging him to use his brain along with his spirit.
+
+IV
+
+Under combat conditions he will reserve his greatest loyalty for the
+officer who is most resourceful in the tactical employment of his
+forces and most careful to avoid unnecessary losses.
+
+V
+
+He is to a certain extent machine-bound because the nature of our
+civilization has made him so. In an emergency, he tends to look around
+for a motor car, a radio or some other gadget that will facilitate his
+purpose, instead of thinking about using his muscle power toward the
+given end. In combat, this is a weakness which thwarts contact and
+limits communications. Therefore it needs to be anticipated and
+guarded against.
+
+VI
+
+War does not require that the American be brutalized or bullied in any
+measure whatever. His need is an alert mind and a toughened body. Hate
+and bloodlust are not the attributes of a sound training under the
+American system. To develop clearly a line of duty is sufficient to
+point Americans toward the doing of it.
+
+VII
+
+Except on a Hollywood lot, there is no such thing as an American
+fighter "type." Our best men come in all colors, shapes, and sizes.
+They appear from every section of the Nation, including the
+territories.
+
+VIII
+
+Presupposing soundness in their officer leadership, the majority of
+Americans in any group or unit can be depended upon to fight loyally
+and obediently, and will give a good account of themselves.
+
+IX
+
+In battle, Americans do not tend to fluctuate between emotional
+extremes, in complete dejection one day and in exultation the next,
+according to changes in the situation. They continue, on the whole, on
+a fairly even keel, when the going is tough and when things are
+breaking their way. Even when heavily shocked by battle losses, they
+tend to bound back quickly. Though their griping is incessant, their
+natural outlook is on the optimistic side, and they react unfavorably
+to the officer who looks eternally on the dark side.
+
+X
+
+During battle, American officers are not expected either to drive
+their men or to be forever in the van, as if praying to be shot. So
+long as they are with their men, taking the same chances as their men,
+and showing a firm grasp of the situation and of the line of action
+which should be followed, the men will go forward.
+
+XI
+
+In any situation of extreme pressure, or moral exhaustion, where men
+cannot otherwise be rallied and led forward, officers are expected to
+do the actual physical act of leading, such as performing as first
+scout, or point, even though this means taking over what normally
+would be an enlisted man's function.
+
+XII
+
+The normal, gregarious American is not at his best when playing a
+lone-handed or tactically isolated part in battle. He is not a
+kamikaze or a one-man torpedo. Consequently, the best tactical
+results obtain from those dispositions and methods which link the
+power of one man to that of another. Men who feel strange with their
+unit, having been carelessly received by it, and indifferently
+handled, will rarely, if ever, fight strongly and courageously. But if
+treated with common decency and respect, they will perform like men.
+
+XIII
+
+Within our school of military thought, higher authority does not
+consider itself infallible. Either in combat or out, in any situation
+where a majority of militarily-trained Americans become undutiful,
+that is sufficient reason for higher authority to resurvey its own
+judgments, disciplines and line of action.
+
+XIV
+
+To lie to American troops to cover up a blunder in combat rarely
+serves any valid purpose. They have a good sense of combat and an
+uncanny instinct for ferreting out the truth when anything goes wrong
+tactically. They will excuse mistakes but they will not forgive being
+treated like children.
+
+XV
+
+When spit-and-polish are laid on so heavily that they become onerous,
+and the ranks cannot see any legitimate connection between the
+requirements and the development of an attitude which will serve a
+clear fighting purpose, it is to be questioned that the exactions
+serve any good object whatever.
+
+XVI
+
+On the other hand, because standards of discipline and courtesy are
+designed for the express purpose of furthering control under the
+extraordinary frictions and pressures of the battlefield, their
+maintenance under combat conditions is as necessary as during
+training. Smartness and respect are the marks of military alertness,
+no matter how trying the circumstances. But courtesy starts at the
+top, in the dealing of any officer with his subordinates, and in his
+decent regard for their loyalty, intelligence, and manhood.
+
+XVII
+
+Though Americans enjoy relatively a bountiful, and even luxurious
+standard of living in their home environment, they do not have to be
+pampered, spoon-fed and surfeited with every comfort and convenience
+to keep them steadfast and devoted, once war comes. They are by nature
+rugged men, and in the field will respond most perfectly when called
+on to play a rugged part. Soft handling will soften even the best men.
+But even the weak man will develop a new vigor and confidence in the
+face of necessary hardship, if moved by a leadership which is
+courageously making the best of a bad situation.
+
+XVIII
+
+Extravagance and wastefulness is somewhat rooted in the American
+character, because of our mode of life. When our men enter military
+service, there is a strong holdover of their prodigal civilian habits.
+Even under fighting conditions, they tend to be wasteful of drinking
+water, food, munitionment and other vital supply. When such things are
+made _too_ accessible, they tend to throw them away, rather than to
+conserve them in the general interests. This is a distinct weakness
+during combat, when conservation of all supply is the touchstone of
+success. The regulating of all supply, and the preventing of waste in
+any form, is the prime obligation of every officer.
+
+XIX
+
+Under the conditions of battle, any extra work, exercise, maneuver or
+_marching which does not serve a clear and direct operational purpose_
+is unjustifiable. The supreme object is to keep men as physically
+fresh and mentally alert as possible. Tired men take fright and are
+half-whipped before the battle opens. Worn-out officers cannot make
+clear decisions. The conservation of men's powers, not the exhaustion
+thereof, is the way of successful operation.
+
+XX
+
+When forces are committed to combat, it is vital that not one
+unnecessary pound be put on any man's back. Lightness of foot is the
+key to speed of movement and the increase of firepower. In judging of
+these things, every officer's thought should be on the optimistic
+side. It is better to take the chance that men will manage to get by
+on a little less than to overload them, through an over-cautious
+reckoning of every possible contingency, thereby destroying their
+power to do anything effectively.
+
+XXI
+
+Even a thorough training and long practice in weapons handling will
+not always insure that a majority of men will use their weapons freely
+and consistently when engaging the enemy. This is particularly true of
+Americans. In youth they are taught that the taking of human life is
+wrong. This feeling is deep-rooted in their emotions. Many of them
+cannot shake it off when the hour comes that their own lives are in
+danger. They fail to fire, though they do not know exactly why. In
+war, firing at an enemy target can be made a habit. Once required to
+make the start, because he is given personal and intelligent
+direction, any man will find it easier to fire the second and third
+time, and soon thereafter his response will become automatic in any
+tactical situation. When engaging the enemy, the most decisive task of
+all junior leaders is to make certain that _all_ men along the line
+are employing their weapons, even if this means spending some time
+with each man and directing his fire. Reconnaissance and inspection
+toward this end, particularly in the early stages of initial
+engagement, are far more important than the employment of weapons by
+junior leaders themselves, since this latter tends to distract their
+attention from what the men are doing.
+
+XXII
+
+Unity of action develops from fullness of information. In combat, all
+ranks have to know what is being done, and why it is being done, if
+confusion is to be kept to a minimum. This holds true in all types of
+operation, whatever the service. However, a surfeit of information
+clouds the mind and may sometimes depress the spirit. We can take one
+example. A commander might be confronted by a complex situation, and
+his solution may comprise a continuing operation in three distinct
+phases. It would be advisable that all hands be told the complete
+detail of "phase A." But it might be equally sensible that only his
+subordinates who are closest to him be made fully informed about
+"phase B," and "phase C." All plans in combat are subject to
+modification as circumstances dictate; this being the case, it is
+better not to muddle men by filling their minds with a seeming
+conflict in ideas. More important still, if the grand object seems too
+vast and formidable, even the first step toward it may appear doubly
+difficult. Fullness of information does not void the other principle
+that one thing at a time, carefully organized all down the line, is
+the surest way.
+
+XXIII
+
+There is no excuse for malingering or cowardice during battle. It is
+the task of leadership to stop it, by whatever means would seem to be
+the surest cure, always making certain that in so doing it will not
+make a bad matter worse.
+
+XXIV
+
+The Armed Services recognize that there are occasional individuals
+whose nervous and spiritual makeup may be such that, though they erode
+rapidly and may suffer complete breakdown under combat conditions,
+they still may be wholly loyal and conscientious men, capable of doing
+high duty elsewhere. Men are not alike. In some, however willing the
+spirit, the flesh may still be weak. To punish, degrade or in any way
+humiliate such men is not more cruel than ignorant. When the good
+faith of any individual has been repeatedly demonstrated in his
+earlier service, he deserves the benefit of the doubt from his
+superior, pending study of his case by medical authority. But if the
+man has been a bad actor consistently, his officer is warranted in
+proceeding on the assumption that his combat failure is just one more
+grave moral dereliction. To fail to take proper action against such a
+man can only work unusual hardship on the majority trying to do duty.
+
+XXV
+
+The United States abides by the laws of war. Its armed forces, in
+their dealing with all other peoples, are expected to comply with the
+laws of war, in the spirit and to the letter. In waging war, we do not
+terrorize helpless non-combatants, if it is within our power to avoid
+so doing. Wanton killing, torture, cruelty or the working of unusual
+and unnecessary hardship on enemy prisoners or populations is not
+justified in any circumstance. Likewise, respect for the reign of law,
+_as that term is understood in the United States_, is expected to
+follow the flag wherever it goes. Pillaging, looting and other
+excesses are as unmoral where Americans are operating under military
+law as when they are living together under the civil code. None the
+less, some men in the American services will loot and destroy
+property, unless they are restrained by fear of punishment. War looses
+violence and disorder; it inflames passions and makes it relatively
+easy for the individual to get away with unlawful actions. But it does
+not lessen the gravity of his offense or make it less necessary that
+constituted authority put him down. The main safeguard against
+lawlessness and hooliganism in any armed body is the integrity of its
+officers. When men know that their commander is absolutely opposed to
+such excesses, and will take forceful action to repress any breach of
+discipline, they will conform. But when an officer winks at any
+depradation by his men, it is no different than if he had committed
+the act.
+
+XXVI
+
+On the field of sport Americans always "talk it up" to keep nerves
+steady and to generate confidence. The need is even greater on the
+field of war, and the same treatment will have no less effect. When
+men are afraid, they go silent; silence of itself further intensifies
+their fear. The resumption of speech is the beginning of thoughtful,
+collected action, for self-evidently, two or more men cannot join
+strength and work intelligently together until they know one another's
+thoughts. _Consequently, all training is an exercise in getting men to
+open up and become articulate even as it is a process in conditioning
+them physically to move strongly and together._
+
+XXVII
+
+Inspection is more important in the face of the enemy than during
+training because a fouled piece may mean a lost battle, an overlooked
+sick man may infect a fortress and a mislaid message can cost a war.
+In virtue of his position, every junior leader is an inspector, and
+the obligation to make certain that his force at all times is
+inspection proof is unremitting.
+
+XXVIII
+
+In battle crisis, a majority of Americans present will respond to any
+man who has the will and the brains to give them a clear, intelligent
+order. They will follow the lowest-ranking man present if he obviously
+knows what he is doing and is morally the master of the situation, but
+they will not obey a chuckle-head if he has nothing in his favor but
+his rank.
+
+XXIX
+
+In any action in which the several services are joined, any American
+officer may expect the same measure of respect from the ranks of any
+other service as from his own, provided he conducts himself with a
+dignity and manner becoming an American officer.
+
+For all officers, due reflection on these points, relating to the
+character of our men in war, is not more important than a continuing
+study of how they may be applied to all aspects of training, toward
+the end that we may further strengthen our own system. This is the
+grand object in all military studies. That service is most perfect
+which best holds itself, at all times and at all levels, in a state of
+readiness to move against and destroy any declared enemy of the United
+States.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX ONE
+
+RECOMMENDED READING
+
+
+    Army Historical Division--Okinawa: The Last Battle, 1949.
+                                       Omaha Beachhead, 1946.
+
+    H. H. Arnold--Global Mission, 1949.
+
+    Basil Bartlett--My First War, 1941.
+
+    William Liscum Borden--There Will Be No Time, 1946.
+
+    David L. Brainard--The Outpost of the Lost, 1929.
+
+    Bernard Brodie--A Guide to Navy Strategy, 1944.
+                    The Absolute Weapon, 1946.
+
+    Vannevar Bush--Modern Arms and Free Men, 1949.
+
+    Winston S. Churchill--The World Crisis, 1931.
+                          The Unknown War, 1931.
+                          The River War, 1933.
+                          Marlborough: His Life and Times, 1933-35.
+                          A Roving Commission, 1939.
+                          The Second World War, 1948--.
+
+    Hugh M. Cole--The Lorraine Campaign, 1950.
+
+    W. F. Craven and J. L. Cate--The Army Air Forces in World War II,
+                                                              1948--.
+
+    Edward S. Creasy--Decisive Battles of the World, 1862.
+
+    James P. S. Devereux--The Story of Wake Island, 1947.
+
+    Giulio Douhet--Command of the Air, 1927.
+
+    Clifford Dowdey--Experiment in Rebellion, 1946.
+
+    Theodore Draper--The Six Weeks' War, 1944.
+
+    Dwight D. Eisenhower--Crusade in Europe, 1948.
+                          Report by the Supreme Commander, 1946.
+
+    George Fielding Eliot--The Ramparts We Watch, 1938.
+                           If Russia Strikes, 1949.
+
+    Charles W. Elliott--Winfield Scott, 1937.
+
+    Cyril Falls--The Nature of Modern Warfare, 1941.
+
+    Ferdinand Foch--The Principles of Warfare, 1913.
+
+    J. F. C. Fuller--Decisive Battles, 1940.
+                     The Generalship of Ulysses S. Grant, 1929.
+                     Armament and History, 1946.
+                     The Second World War, 1948.
+                     Armored Warfare, 1943.
+
+    Douglas F. Freeman--R. E. Lee, 1934.
+
+    William A. Ganoe--History of the United States Army, 1942.
+
+    James M. Gavin--Airborne Warfare, 1947.
+
+    Joseph I. Greene--The Living Thoughts of Clausewitz, 1943.
+
+    Russell Grenfell--The Bismarck Episode, 1949.
+
+    U. S. Grant--Personal Memoirs, 1885.
+
+    Augustin Guillaume--Soviet Arms and Soviet Power, 1949.
+
+    Francis de Guingand--Operation Victory, 1947.
+
+    W. F. Halsey--Admiral Halsey's Story, 1947.
+
+    Gordon A. Harrison--The Cross-Channel Attack, 1950.
+
+    B. H. Liddell Hart--Sherman, 1934.
+                        The Future of Infantry, 1934.
+                        The German Generals Talk, 1949.
+
+    G. F. R. Henderson--Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War,
+                                                                1898.
+                        The Science of War, 1905.
+
+    Pendleton Herring--The Impact of War, 1941.
+
+    R. D. Heinl, Jr.--The Defense of Wake, 1947.
+                      Marines at Midway, 1948.
+
+    John Hersey--Into the Valley, 1943.
+
+    Russell Hill--Desert War, 1942.
+
+    Max von Hoffmann--The War of Lost Opportunities, 1925.
+
+    Ralph Ingersoll--The Battle Is the Pay-Off, 1943.
+
+    Douglas Wilson Johnson--Topography and Strategy in the War, 1917.
+
+    Melvin M. Johnson and Charles T. Haven--Automatic Arms, 1941.
+
+    Walter Karig, Russell L. Harris and Frank A. Manson--Battle Report,
+                                                             1944-1949.
+
+    George C. Kenney--General Kenney Reports, 1949.
+
+    Roger Keyes--Naval Memoirs, 1933.
+
+    Alexiei Kuropatkin--The Russian Army and the Japanese War, 1909.
+
+    Lee J. Levert--Fundamentals of Naval Warfare, 1947.
+
+    Bert Levy--Guerilla Warfare, 1942.
+
+    Charles B. MacDonald--Company Commander, 1947.
+
+    A. T. Mahan--Influence of Seapower Upon History.
+
+    George McMillan--The Old Breed, 1949.
+
+    George C. Marshall--General Marshall's Report, 1946.
+
+    S. L. A. Marshall--Island Victory, 1944.
+                       Bastogne: The First Eight Days, 1946.
+                       Men Against Fire, 1948.
+
+    Giffard Martel--An Outspoken Soldier, 1944.
+
+    Walter Millis--The Last Phase, 1946.
+                   This Is Pearl, 1947.
+
+    John Miller, Jr.--Guadalcanal: The First Offensive, 1949.
+
+    Drew Middleton--Our Share of Night, 1946.
+
+    Samuel Taylor Moore--America and the World War, 1937.
+
+    Samuel Eliot Morison--History of United States Naval Operations in
+                                      World War II (14 vols.), 1947--.
+
+    W. F. P. Napier--History of the War in the Peninsula (6 vols.) 1828.
+
+    James R. Newman--The Tools of War, 1942.
+
+    Frederick Palmer--America in France, 1921.
+                      John J. Pershing, 1921.
+
+    George S. Patton, Jr.--War As I Knew It, 1947.
+
+    Thomas R. Phillips--Roots of Strategy, 1940.
+
+    Frederick Pile--Ack-Ack, 1949.
+
+    Fletcher Pratt--Ordeal by Fire, 1935.
+                    Road to Empire, 1939.
+                    The Marine's War, 1948.
+                    Navy: A History.
+
+    Leonard Rapport and Arthur Northwood--Rendezvous With Destiny, 1948.
+
+    Roland Ruppenthal--Utah Beach to Cherbourg, 1947.
+
+    W. T. Sherman--Memoirs, 1886.
+
+    Robert E. Sherwood--Roosevelt and Hopkins, 1948.
+
+    Milton Shulman--Defeat in the West, 1948.
+
+    Holland M. Smith--Coral and Brass, 1949.
+
+    E. L. Spears--Liaison 1914, 1930.
+                  Prelude to Victory, 1939.
+
+    Joseph W. Stilwell--The Stilwell Papers, 1948.
+
+    Alfred Vagts--The History of Militarism, 1937.
+
+    Yorck von Wartenburg--Napoleon as a General.
+
+    Archibald Wavell--Allenby, 1941.
+                      Generals and Generalship, 1941.
+
+    John W. Wheeler Bennett--The Forgotten Peace, 1939.
+                             Munich: Prologue to Tragedy, 1948.
+
+    Kenneth P. Williams--Lincoln Finds a General, 1949.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARMED FORCES OFFICER***
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