TRADOC Pam 525-3-7-01 - TRADOC - U.S. Army

TRADOC Pam 525-3-7-01dilemma as it exists today can inform us on how better to cope with it as it increases in frequencyand amplitude in the future.Persistent ConflictPersistent conflict poses another leadership challenge. Humans respond relatively well toshort bursts of tension followed by periods of respite. During the bloody trench warfare of WorldWar I, commanders regularly rotated units from the front to rearward areas. This tempers theexperience of intense combat and unimaginable carnage by shortening the period of exposure.Today and tomorrow, there is no clear front from which to rotate. What may have been intensecombat for weeks or even months for World War II divisions has become a series of deploymentswith shorter reset times in between.Persistent conflict implies persistent presence, whether in intense combat or simply engagedin extended operations. Soldiers steeled for a 12 or 15 month deployment engaged in fullspectrum operations in an uncertain nonlinear environment expect to go home at the end of theirdeployment. Their focus is on survival and taking care of each other. Throwing them anunexpected challenge such as extending their tour or transferring them to another theater can bevery disruptive if not catastrophic. In the future, the model of deployment changes to reduce thisuncertainty, or some other adjustment may offer relief to units from prolonged periods away fromhome stations. Unpredictability taxes even the best of highly motivated units. Leaders mustlearn to cope with this, both in them and in their subordinates. It is certainly an issue of moraleor the sense of well-being in individuals, but it is also an issue of chronicity—the cumulativeeffects of repeated deployments.On the individual level, fatigue, and stress are cumulative. In larger organizations, the effectsof long commitment with little relief in sight can lead to anger, indifference, carelessness, andfailure to pay attention to details.Frequently, the stress that affectseveryone affects the leaders evenmore. Soldiers and some smallerunits can take breaks or naps whiletheir leaders dare not relax. Thisdanger of compounding stress andfatigue only increases with the levelof engagement and the duration ofcommitment. Good leaders willseek rest when required. A leadercan share responsibility with atrusted peer or subordinate leaderlong enough to ensure he is restedand fit for command. Add tofatigue the trauma of losing Soldiers to combat or accidents. Consistently, commanders reportthat the most difficult challenge they face is the loss of their Soldiers. They also report thatnothing can prepare someone for this. Perhaps the most cogent reason for discussing complexityand persistence is their additive nature. If we know these dimensions of the future will grow,186