Effects of Leadership in the US Army

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Recommended: The importance of soldier readiness

The readiness of the United States Army is something that many American citizens are guilty of taking advantage of. For nearly two hundred and thirty-nine years the Army has been responsible for all land-based military operations concerning the United States of America and it's interests. Months and years of training go into readying every single soldier for that moment when he or she will be called upon. Now, imagine that readiness being compromised by poor leadership or the poor development of future Army leaders. With the ever changing landscape of how the world fights it's wars, coupled with the probable possibility of downsizing in the US military, existing and new leaders must be sharp and honorable (Tan, 2011). They must be intellectually capable to overcome and adapt to any situation to keep the soldiers safe and effective. Sergeant Jones Sergeant (Sgt) Jones was an incredibly successful non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the Army. Projecting through the ranks quickly, Sgt Jones appeared to have everything it took to have a highly decorated career doing what appeared to be his calling. And although he was highly sought after by higher ranking NCO's and officers, he was often hated and bad-mouthed by those under his command. Now, one might think – “well it's the military, of course you dislike your superior”, but in the confines of the Army this is almost never true. Good leaders, particularly those at the Sgt level, are regularly loved and admired for the care, compassion and ultimate leadership that they show their soldiers. Toxic Leadership In Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Sgt Jones and his team were conducting a training exercise under the sweltering July sun of 1997. As part of the training exercise, Jones' t... ... middle of paper ... ...maybe, save someone's life. Works Cited Clark, D. (2013). Leadership & direction. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/ leaddir.html Hargrove, D. & Sitkin, S. (2011). Next Generation Leadership Development in a Changing and Complex Environment: An Interview With General Martin E. Dempsey. Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 528-533. Lindsay, D. R., Day, D. V., & Halpin, S. M. (2011). Shared Leadership in the Military: Reality, Possibility, or Pipedream?. Military Psychology (Taylor & Francis Ltd), 23(5), 528-549. doi:10.1080/08995605.2011.600150 Reed, G. A. (2010). Toxic Leadership: Part Deux. Military Review, 90(6), 58-64. Tan, M. (2011). Survey: bad leadership drives soldiers to leave. Retrieved November 16th, 2013 from http://www.armytimes.com/article/20110521/NEWS/105210315/Survey-Bad-leadership-drives- soldiers-to-leave

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