2 Responses to “Stanley McChrystal on Leadership with Bob Schieffer at the Aspen Ideas Festival”

1. Matt says:

   July 15, 2012 at 23:50

   Well worth watching this (or is it listening) as Gen. McChrystal has many good points.

2. Bill - F.A. Semper Fidelis says:

   July 17, 2012 at 00:40

   GEN McChrystal’s comments are evidence just how the Combat Arms Branches of the U.S. Armed Forces have gone astray. I firmly believe in the old adages that my father taught me, which were reinforced in ROTC and all other training. First, my father, who was a veteran of U.S. Army – Europe during World War II, stated and reiterated in numerous conversations that a leader leads from the front; and, he always emphasized that a leader never orders his men to do something that he is unwilling to do. Second, my father’s ideas were reinforced by training I received courtesy of Vietnam veterans in both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. Therefore, I would never deliberately order my men to attack anywhere just to show the locals that we meant business. My soldiers and Marines meant too much to have their lives wasted on virtually meaningless show of force. Of course, we would go through all hell – with me at the front – in order to accomplish objectives in order to defeat the enemy. GEN McChrystal needs to be reminded that THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR VICTORY! Also, he needs to remember that those “commandos” as he termed them are not JAG, MP, and/or M.D. (“shrinks”) because they are first and foremost the best fighting force in world history. GEN McChrystal and several others in the Pentagon (and beyond) need to watch the movie “Patton” —especially the end with conversation between George C. Scott and Karl Malden regarding in which GEN Patton feared the future when soldiers would be used for purposes other than combat. I say let the REMFs be REMFs and the COMBAT SOLDIERS take care of combat. In other words, I believe that LEAD, FOLLOW, or GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY remains pertinent, yes even today in the 21st Century.