[Ailist] Changing Military Perspective

Tue Jun 23 22:18:30 MDT 2009

Cheri,

I am afraid you touched a raw nerve with your comment!  An infantryman  
is trained to survive in battle and to kill the enemy whomever that  
is.  Think of the film "They Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson playing  
the role of Hal Moore, the colonel in charge of the group heading into  
central Vietnam.   The orders were: "simple orders, Hal, find the  
enemy and kill him".

Police are the people trained to work with community.  If you were to  
cross-train the infantry in police techniques, I could go with your  
comment.  As it stands, it is akin to me suggesting that the  
traditional command and control executive could be successful with Ai  
if you defined Ai differently!  That, of course, is a fundamental  
shift in perception of Ai.  Could that work?

Regards,

Chris

On 23-Jun-09, at 7:16 PM, Cheri Torres wrote:

> Lionel,
> Perhaps that is only one definition of the infantry.
>
>
> Cheri
>
> On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:58 PM, Lionel Boxer <lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au 
> >wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
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>
>
> -- 
> 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