There’s a old adage in Special Operations, “Don’t confuse enthusiasm with capability.” I heard it used a lot over the years and was told it stemmed from the ill-fated Operation Eagle Claw, where an ad-hoc task force made up of different service capabilities was created to attempt the rescue of American hostages held by Iran. Truth be told, it’s probably even older than that. The point is, you can call yourself special all day, but that doesn’t mean that you are. With the Iran mission, everyone wanted a piece of the pie whether they were ready or not and the mission failed. Although the lessons learned from that mission led to the eventual creation of USSOCOM, don’t think this idea is solely the purview of SOF. It doesn’t matter what you do, or where you fit in the food chain, it’s applicable to everyone.
In more recent times, there were many new organizations stood up within DoD after 9/11. They were specialized in nature but not necassarily in capability. In each case, they were weighed in measured by the war. Some matured, others disappeared. The concept of enthusiasm being tempered by capability is an inescapable crucible.
Generally, SSD readers are a cut above. They care about their profession, or interest, and choose the best equipment. Others go a step further and seek out training to improve their capabilities. That is the sign of a true professional. However, such positive traits are not going to be true of everyone in an organization. We are truly as weak our weakest link and we all know someone who is all show and no go. Do not let them define you or your unit and don’t make promises you can’t deliver on.
Everything we do isn’t awesome. Accept criticism and reflect on it. That’s a trait of maturity. If you’re thin skinned, you’ve likely got maturity issues and aren’t very good at what you do. As an aside, don’t take criticisms of your profession in general, or of others in your profession personally. Every profession has plenty of room to improve. However, do deliver constructive criticism to your peers. Use it to grow professionally and personally and encourage others to do so as well. Make things better.
There is a current notion that everyone is a winner and gets a trophy. We must stop this concept from poisoning the profession of arms. Not everyone is going to be an Operator and we don’t need them to be. Figure out what it is you are supposed to do, and be awesome at it, both individually and collectively.
This isn’t meant as discouragement. To the contrary. Love what you do. Create enthusiastic capability and make sure that you can deliver on demand, no matter the job. Help others rise to the same level.
