Page 26 - Cormorant Issue 19 - 2016

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Land Component Re ections
LTC(US) Adam Lackey
ACSC 19 REINFORCED THE dominance of the land domain for current and foreseeable future joint operations. While
this statement may sound parochial, it re ects not on cross-service rivalries, but on the bedrock of trust upon which this generation of SO1’s builds its joint teams.
Land has led the way in the last decade and a half of combat and non-combat operations because the land domain has housed the preponderance of decisive conditions for operational and strategic end-states. Will this trend continue in the future? If the curriculum of ACSC has any predictive value, then it should be expected.
The organizational strength of a Land Domain bias
is in the reinforcement of systems and relationships built across the careers of our nations’ upcoming ag of cers. Leadership in the land domain will be increasingly joint; we have seen our Navy and Air Force teammates in the tactical and operational trenches of all recent expeditions. As Army
of cers we should take action to ensure this trend continues – that we continue to seek ways to share the workload within the land domain as well as contributing to efforts in maritime, air, cyber, and space domains. If this year is any indication, the challenges of a complexity global security framework will over-deliver on opportunity to excel across all domains.
The 2015-2016 academic year provided a variety of “real-world” injects to avour student conversation.
Internally, the UK experienced historical events such as: the 2015 SDSR, a new Chief of Defence Staff, the BREXIT vote to leave the EU, the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and the ascension of Theresa May to the of ce. Externally: Russia’s entry and exit into a ght against ISIL in Syria, terrorist attacks in Paris and later in Brussels and further attacks occurring in Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Lebanon. In addition to these events, changing tensions across diplomatic, economic, and information domains added to the complexity of
an already unpredictable international relations and security landscape.
So what were the implications for those whose tradecraft is the delivery of military effects within the land domain? How did land component students view challenges in terms of leadership? Here is an offering of commentary whose prescient value will only be known with the passage of time:
Lt Col Jim Barber
R SIGNALS
In uence.
Theory and doctrine indicate that ‘in uence’ must be a strategic, operational and tactical activity, but in reality and training there are signi cant restrictions applied to tactical
and operational commanders in their use of in uence, particularly when considering non-kinetic effects. If we are to counter an ‘enemy’s’ message or narrative, the likelihood is that tactical commanders will be as well placed as those above to engage and effectively in uence; speed may trump quality.
Innovation.
Innovation is a buzz word; to make it happen requires resource. At the Unit level, this should come in the form of both longer term recognition (appraisal),
but also instant and public remuneration; a nancial incentive. Small, but auditable, this would serve
to reward the bottom-up ideas that business has recognised as a vital and implement their successful model.
Lt Col Chris Boryer RGR
Cyber.
I believe a signi cant leadership challenge to be the embedding in the Army’s DNA, collective and individual, of the necessary,
practical understanding and awareness of the risks and mitigations / counters
associated with the cyber threat.
Lt Col Jamie Humphreys RIRISH
Decision Making.
My biggest concern relates to the issue of increasing risk aversion amongst Army hierarchy and our apparent increasing dependency on
LEGADs to pour over our decision making processes for fear of litigious repercussions. In the Land environment it is critical that we do not lose sight of the fact that Leadership at its most basic requires decisions to be made at speed and with conviction.
“
As Army of cers
we should take action to
ensure this trend
continues
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