Center for the Army Profession and Ethic : Research Overview

1. Center for the Army Profession and Ethic: Research Overview 2011 U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Foundation Ethics Symposium 8 November 2011 MAJ Pete Jennings, PhD

2. Research is creating new knowledge. - Neil Armstrong

3. Army Profession Survey RESEARCH Scholarly Publications Technical Reports Case Studies Create knowledge Lesson Plans FM-1 Promote understanding The Army (2011) Apps CONCEPTS & PLANS INSTRUCTIONAL PRODUCTS Desktop Sims Concept Papers Doctrine

4. CAPE Research Lines of Effort • Instructional products and program development TRAINING & EDUCATION RESEARCH PROFESSION CONCEPTS “Validation” • Leadership • Culture/climate • Ethics APPLIED RESEARCH “Translation” BASIC RESEARCH • Human moral character development ARMY PROFESSION SURVEY • Annual “snapshot” of the profession

5. CAPE Research Collaborations

6. CAPE Research Approach The moral elements are among the most important in war…. …. Unfortunately they will not yield to academic wisdom.

7. A Tradition of Applied Research First-hand experience + Theoretical investigation = Practical Understanding

8. CAPE Research Findings Deployment Studies Non-Deployment Studies MNF-I EXCEL Excellence in Character and Ethical Leadership Study IMT One Station Unit Training New Soldier socialization & internalization of Army Values 2009 2011 BCT Pre- and Post-Deployment Assessment Unit leadership, Culture and Performance BCT Pre-Deployment Training Unit leadership, Culture and Junior Leader Development 2009- 2010 2011- 2012 The Art of Small Unit Leadership in Combat (2010) Embedded study of small unit leader character in combat Army Profession Campaign Army Profession Survey #2 2011- 2012 2010

9. Character in Combat “Every special calling in life, if it is to be followed with success, requires peculiar qualifications of understanding and soul.” - Carl von Clausewitz, On War

10. Character in Combat • 6 months embed within infantry platoons in Afghanistan (2010) • Airborne BCT, RC-E, OEF X • Participant-observation and in-depth interviews Leader Challenges? Leader Responses? x Decisive Factors?

11. Practice of Small Unit Leadership CHALLENGES LEADERSHIP LINES OF EFFORT • Tactical Fight • Complex mission • Adaptive enemy • Difficult terrain • High urgency • Limited troops • Byzantine culture Learning and adapting to the AO Internal tactical competency External Resources END STATE Training & cross-training Focusing on the basics Developing Soldiers & leaders Building teamwork & shared leadership Partnering with the ANSF Leveraging the COIST Counseling & mentoring • Completing the mission • Achieving small victories • Bringing everybody home • Mental Fight • Fighting complacency • Avoiding burnout Enforcing standards and sustaining morale Enforcing standards Maintaining tactical discipline Relaxing standards Maintaining authority Maintaining accountability Attending to the little things Performing checks Exercising tactical restraint Balancing work and rest • Emotional Fight • Personal drama • Combat trauma Putting Soldiers first and managing stress Putting Soldiers first Knowing your Soldiers Having compassion Being approachable Monitoring Soldiers’ condition Showing individual consideration Qualifications of Soul Honor-based character which constitutes the internal morality of the combat leader ethos DECISIVE MORAL FACTORS “Having Discipline” Willingness to fulfill obligations no matter how unpleasant or dangerous “Taking Pride” Willingness to achieve high standards no matter how difficult or demanding “Earning Trust & Respect” Desire to prove yourself to those whose opinions matter to you

12. Leader Character-in-Action Discipline: Determination to overcome adversity ”Anybody who thinks that I wasn't scared during that firefight is out of their [expletive] mind, because I was [expletive] bricks…. (-) Low crawling up that hill under fire to get mortar ammo, low crawling to get my weapon and my bag and getting [another soldier’s] weapon and his bag for him – just so we can get the [expletive] off that hill and then to get ambushed two more times…. Honor: Earning respect & trust (+) But I mean that's just what you got to do. If I'm the senior man on the support by fire position, then I'm the senior man. I have to push myself a little harder. I have to lead from the front.” Pride: Commitment to uphold standards

13. The Small Unit Leader’s Professional Military Ethic Aspiration Ceiling “Taking Pride” Honor “Earning trust & respect” Rules Ideals “Having Discipline” Obligation Floor

14. Leader Development for Army 2020 2011 2020 Junior Combat Leaders Senior Stewards of the Profession Cohort of Jr Leaders with extensive combat experience: How to leverage junior leader combat experience so that when they become senior leaders entrusted with stewardship of the profession, they are prepared to perform at the same level as they have demonstrated as junior leaders in combat? • Lead by example • Develop Soldiers from experience • Maintain and enforce standards • Take care of Soldiers • Adapt to a changing world

15. Mission Command: Rhetoric versus Reality

16. Mission Command 3-29. Mission command is the conduct of military operations through decentralized execution based on mission orders. Successful mission command demands that subordinate leaders at all echelons exercise disciplined initiative, acting aggressively and independently to accomplish the mission within the commander’s intent. Mission command gives subordinates the greatest possible freedom of action. - FM 3.0 Operations

17. BDE Commander: GOs “being pretty directive.” “The most difficult part is the balance between the tactical and operational and strategic requirements. It’s not uncommon …that you get some direct guidance from COMISAF or COMIJC. Today, for example, we had GEN [X] out in the battle space being pretty directive on how he wants things done. “ Company Commander: “Why am I here?” “ConOp risk assessment is so stringent that hardly any of my missions were at company level approval. I’m a Company Commander; I’m responsible for 180 people. But I can't approve any of the missions they're doing? Then why am I here? It felt like I really wasn't a Commander at all.” Squad Leader: “We tie our own hands.” “The enemy is winning and it’s because we tie our own hands. No one wants a Haditha. No one thinks it’s cool to kill civilians. That’s not why we’re here. We have a much more mature Army than that. We just want to be able to do what we’re trained [to do]. We want to take it to the enemy who’s taking it to us. It’s a big morale issue across the board. It undermines trust and confidence in the chain of command.”

18. “Fundamental Disconnect” • Tactical directives • ROE restrictions • ConOp approval • Risk assessment • Clearance of fires • Storyboards • 15-6s Strategic Level “Directives” • Impact on Small Units • Loss of confidence in the mission • Risk aversion • Eroded esprit & trust in senior leaders • Shrinking moral horizon • Decreased morale There's an insane disconnect between what [higher] is doing and what they think is happening at the COPs. It's palpable, I mean you can touch it. Everything is a story board to them. But everything down here is real life. - Company Commander “Fundamental disconnect” • Complex Mission • Adaptive Enemy • Difficult Terrain • Limited Troops • Limited Time • Byzantine Culture Tactical Level “Realities”

19. Implications for the Lifeblood of the Profession Trust in Army Leaders

20. FM 3.0: The Operational Art The art of linking strategic/policy objectives to tactical level execution. Army Leadership Culture “Tactical Generals” “Fundamental Disconnect” “Strategic Squad”

21. The Army’s Leadership Culture • Espoused Culture • Mission Command: • Control is decentralized and decision making is delegated to the lowest levels based on trust, high involvement and exercise of discretionary judgment • Culture in Practice • Centralized Control: • Control is centralized “virtually” through tactical directives, extensive information and reporting requirements, restricted discretionary judgment Tension

22. Center for the Army Profession and Ethic: Research Overview 2011 U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Foundation Ethics Symposium 8 November 2011 MAJ Pete Jennings, PhD

23. Backup Slides

24. CAPE Research Findings Some of the things I’m thinking about…..

25. Is military culture (combat character) better viewed as a source of atrocities or their prevention?

26. CAPE Applied Research Methodology • Command Partnerships… • To provide direct value to units/organizations • Longitudinal Studies… • To see changes in effects over time • Multi-method Collection… • To “triangulate” data and findings • Multi-level Analysis… • To understand 2nd and 3rd order “system effects” • Research Collaborations • To leverage military and civilian research expertise

27. “Trickle-down” Theory of Leadership [The moral economy of leadership] “Money was all appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy." - Will Rogers

28. “Trickle-down” Theory of Leadership [The moral economy of leadership] “Leadership is exercised by the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the Soldiers." - Adopted from Will Rogers

29. The Moral Economy of Leadership • Strength • Leaders in my unit/organization set the example for duty, loyalty and selfless service. • Leaders in my unit/organization inspire me to want to serve. • Leaders in my unit/organization take care of their people . • My unit/organization has a strong culture of service. Service/Duty Climate • Strength • Values demonstrated by direct leader • Loyalty, respect, honor demonstrated by direct leader • My leaders inspire me to want to be a person of character and virtue. • We have a winning spirit in this unit/organization. • Members of my unit/organization stand up for what's right despite personal or professional risk. • Weakness • My leaders maintain high standards of discipline in this unit/organization. • Members of my unit/organization maintain high standards of self-discipline. • Leader decision making: • Leaders in my unit/organization consider the consequences of their decisions on the long term health of the profession. Values/Ethical Climate • Leader role modeling: • Leaders in my unit/organization are good role models for what I want to be like in the future. • Strength • Competence demonstrated by direct leader • Weakness • My unit/organization makes good use of my skills and abilities. • Excellence in this unit/organization is properly acknowledged and rewarded. • My unit/organization has an effective formal leader development program. • The leader development program in my unit/organization provides a good assessment of my strengths and weaknesses and helps me grow. Expertise & Development Climate • Leader developing subordinates: • Leaders in my unit/organization invest their time and efforts to develop me. • Strength • My leader will stand up for me to higher level leaders. • My direct supervisor treats me fairly. • I trust other members of this unit/organization to fulfill their responsibilities. • Members in my unit/organization tell it like it is; we don't hide bad news. • Teamwork is strong in this unit/organization. • Members of my unit/organization are supportive of each other. • The members of my unit/organization treat me fairly. Trust Climate

30. “Trickle-down” Theory of Leadership Company Ethical Leadership Company Ethical Culture (N =- 2572) company (n = 42) platoon (n = 96) squad (n = 242) M = 3.61 M = 3.32 Platoon Ethical Leadership Platoon Ethical Culture Mistreatment of non-combatants Mistreatment of combatants General misconduct Intentions to report infractions Ethical confidence Exemplary acts M = 3.40 M = 3.03 Squad Ethical Leadership Squad Ethical Culture Follower Ethical Thoughts And Behaviors M = 2.96 M = 3.22 • Ethical leadership and ethical culture each on a 5 point level of agreement scale • Each organizational level was rated by separate rating sources

31. Effects of Abusive (Toxic) Effects Abusive Leadership Soldier Ethical Conduct (+) Correlations Acts against Non-combatants Unethical actions, e.g. lying, stealing, falsifying reports, defying orders (-) correlations Intentions to report others’ unethical acts Platoon Leader Mean 2.33 on 5 point agreement scale Squad Leader Mean 2.45 on 5 point agreement scale * Each leadership level was rated by separate rating sources

32. Ethical Transgressions (MNF-I Study)

33. Effects of Combat Exposure on Unethical Behavior (MNF-I)

34. Leadership Effects Ethical Courage Ethical Confidence Also: Ethical leadership promotes post-traumatic growth in combat Sample size = 373, representative sample Green are positive correlations, red are negative correlations. Level of correlation represented by pie slice size Post-deployment findings are shown

35. Change in Leadership Perceptions(From Pre- to Post-deployment) • Ratings of positive leadership and unit factors decreased. • Ratings of negative leadership and unit factors increased. Change in Leadership Ratings Change in Unit Factors Ratings Transformational Ethical Moral Framing Moral Courage Abusive/toxic (-) (-) (-) (-) (+) Cohesion Psych Safety Commitment Moral Courage “Above and beyond” Strict obedience (-) (-) (-) (-) (-) (+)

36. Trickle-down Theory of Leadership Leadership is a Team Sport • Develop team leadership capacity • Cultivate a shared moral perspective • Establish “mutually supporting” roles and responsibilities Moral Economy of Leadership Leadership influences unit climate, which in turn influences Soldier behavior Leadership style of leaders at higher levels influences the leadership style of their junior leaders

37. Character in Combat [Backup charts]

38. “Having Discipline” Willingness to fulfill obligations no matter how unpleasant or dangerous A lot of these privates don’t understand . They think, “Well I’m just a private that’s why they gave me this extra load.” A lot of Soldiers think it’s like a proof of manhood; hardening the hide, so to speak. It’s like they take it as a test of their manhood, you know; that their NCOs are just hazing them to see if they can take it. But that’s not what its about. It’s really so that the other guys don’t have to carry your load, which makes them more likely to fall out. We’re a team. Everyone has to pull their weight; everyone is depending on everyone to pull their weight. – Platoon Leader

39. “Taking Pride” Willingness to achieve high standards no matter how difficult or demanding We take pride in being the “go to” platoon. We walk farther, carry more weight than other platoons; we’re better physically conditioned, better tactically; we’re always on time and always squared away. We always get pulled to do the [tough] missions. It reflects the commander’s confidence in us. - Team Leader

40. “Earning Respect and Trust” Desire to prove yourself to those whose opinions matter. Q: What did it mean to you to get promoted to Sergeant? Tell me about the importance or significance of becoming an NCO. A: Respect. I feel that my guys have the confidence and even before I got Sergeant they had the confidence in me that I could do my job and tell them to do what was needed to get back safe. And walking around it feels like you get a little more respect because you have the stripes [wear the Sergeant’s rank]. It gives you a little bit more confidence. Plus, it helped me realize, you know, nailed down that I can do my job and my leaders know it and they have the trust in me or otherwise they wouldn’t have sent me to the [promotion] board. - Team Leader

41. Strong Evaluations • As an NCO, your number one job is to take care of your soldiers. That’s what we’re all out here for – to take care of them and make sure they can do their jobs and bring them home. If you’re in it for yourself, then you don’t deserve to be a leader and you need to go. • - Squad Leader