[Ailist] Changing Military Perspective

[Lionel Boxer]

When you read my post please keep in mind that the mission of the infantry is to seek out and destoy the enemy.

Soldiers are soldiers and they have a job to do.  If you change soldiers you may change the operational effectiveness and their capability to do their job.  With that in mind and in consideration of the thread of this discussion, my belief is that it would be more appropriate to change politicians and businessmen so that we can stop war.

If war happens we need soldiers to be able to do their job and not be confused by a set of rules crafted from the peace of a warless centre of thought.

Special Forces tend to be capable of "work with the local townspeople and help them" - this is because they are selected from the best of the army.  The regular army has a much broader range of capability and includes many people - even in the highest level of command (which can be populated by the politically astute, overly ambitious, and intellectually limited) - who are not capable of thinking in these terms.  Hence, it is best to keep the military out of conflict unless absolutely necessary.

Remember, the mission of the infantry is to seek out and destoy the enemy.

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au
Graduate School of Business
my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory" 
now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net
>>> <crightmer116995mi at comcast.net> 24/06/09 2:05 AM >>>
Cheri; 

I just finished reading an interesting book on Afghanistan the early days of the conflict. The title of the book is Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton and it details the actions of the special forces soldiers that were the first ones on the ground after 9/11. Part of the special forces doctrine is to work with the local townspeople and help them defeat the Taliban. The war had been going on for years and these soldiers help the locals defeat the Taliban and regain their country. This type of action actually had more success than when the regular army and marines arrived. It is an interesting book and I recommend it highly. 

Interesting the change in measurement only time will tell if it is successful. 

Jeff Rightmer 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cheri Torres" <cheri.torres at gmail.com> 
To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu 
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:46:15 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [Ailist] Changing Military Perspective 

I noticed today in the news that McCrystal has shifted the metrics in 
Afghanistan from measuring # of militants killed, to # of civilians safe 
from violence (which I take to mean violence in body, mind, and spirit from 
any source). What a different set of possibilities and options for going 
forward emerge from such a simple shift in metrics. This shift in 
perspective caused an immediate directive to avoid fighting in areas where 
people live. 
Subtle shifts have the potential to cause tidal waves. Kudos to our 
military; may they discover a world of possibilities for generating safety! 

Cheri 

-- 
Cheri B. Torres, Ph.D. 
Collaborative-by-Design 
Asheville, NC 
828-225-5088 

* * * 
This communication and its attachments are confidential and may be 
privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please immediately notify 
the sender and then delete this communication and its attachments without 
reading it or forwarding it. 
_______________________________________________ 
The Appreciative Inquiry Discussion List is hosted by the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Jack Brittain is the list administrator. For subscription information, go to: 
http://mailman.business.utah.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/ailist 
_______________________________________________
The Appreciative Inquiry Discussion List is hosted by the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Jack Brittain is the list administrator. For subscription information, go to:
http://mailman.business.utah.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/ailist