4th Armored Brigade Combat Team Leadership

Introduction

Inadequate leadership in 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) has compromised the safety of service members and created conditions that do not allow them to properly recuperate. Unable to receive help from the senior officer, lower-ranking officers have to deal with overstressed subordinates, dissatisfaction, and even unlawful behavior, whereas the unit’s turnover rate increases. Analysis of leadership issues, safety considerations, and suspected sexual violations in the 4^th ABCT will ascertain the causative factors, which can be addressed with education, training and proper leadership.

Critical Leadership Problem

The indifference expressed by COL Gould towards the psychological well-being of the unit showcases his leadership incompetence. Specifically, the colonel lacks empathy, which is crucial in understanding other people’s needs and challenges and connecting with them¹. Furthermore, the way he chose to resolve the situation is most accurately characterized as top-down leadership style. It manifests in the form of lack of superiors’ interest to consult or gain insight from their subordinates. Not only does it limit commanders’ sources of valuable information, but it also devalues the subordinates’ abilities to share meaningful advice. The subsequent implication is that neither superior officers, not subordinate staff trust each other to make a well-informed and justified decision.

Leadership Issues

The 4^th ABCT personnel lacks the sufficient motivation to follow superiors’ commands. Since returning from Afghanistan, the unit has been in the red cycle period, which allows service members to train and prepare for future deployments. An essential component of this period is the ability to reconnect with families. However, on multiple occasions the staff reports inability to fully take advantage of the available time. For instance, major Springsteen has voiced his displeasure that service members are required to shorten their leaves due to internal out-of-schedule training exercises. A similar complaint can be observed in the command climate survey, which specifies that COL Gould does not give enough time to reconnect with families. Meanwhile, COL Gould himself is dismissive and not willing to help subordinate leaders calm lower-ranking service members.

Safety

Another problem evident in day-to-day affairs of the 4^th ABCT is insufficient concern for safety. Some of the decisions made during and after the deployment in Afghanistan carried unnecessary risk to the health of service members. For example, in Afghanistan, the personnel had to perform operations it clearly had not anticipated or prepared for. The Center for Army Lessons Learned report notes that new objectives required the unit to cover previously unsecured areas despite the lack of the appropriately trained and equipped service members. Subsequently, “armor, engineer, artillery, and other Soldiers filled the void, performing civilian protection tasks and not their own military occupational skills”. However, this tendency was not limited to Afghanistan, as similar decisions were made after the deployment. Specifically, at some point the deficit of people who had the licence to drive trucks was noted. The consequence of this shortage was the order given to an unlicensed soldier to drive a vehicle. It is reasonable to suggest that some overstressed staff members engaged in driving under influence while being off duty. All of these instances signify the lack of the commanders’ consideration given to the subordinates’ safety.

Sexual Harassment

Finally, there is strong indication 4^th ABCT has had instances of sexual harassment. One such case can be proven since a corresponding complaint was filed. Another incidence is hinted at primarily by rumors, which implicate CPT Cooper, who supposedly “really got around while he was on the PSD”. Although some of the officers refuted these allegations, the overlying context does provide reasons to assume that such events have indeed transpired. First, there is confirmed growth of divorce statistics among the unit’s personnel. Even though they can be attributed to the long absence of spouses due to protracted deployments, infidelity rumors support the presence of unfaithful soldiers. Furthermore, at least eight couples needed marriage counseling due to rumors of infidelity. The 4^th ABCT has spent nine months in Afghanistan and its personnel is not given enough time to spend with families. Meanwhile, the psychological pressure and tension accumulate and drive service members to search for ways of releasing it. Engaging in sexual harassment may be how some personnel choose to manage service-related stress.

Vision

The ultimate goal is to restore the morale of the 4th ABCT to the pre-Afghanistan level. The unit should have psychologically prepared and mentally rested staff that is motivated enough to accept the decisions of its leaders. At the same time, the commanding officers should be aware of the challenges their subordinates face by regularly communicating with them and receiving feedback. The most evident indicators that can be used to measure progress in implementing the vision are low turnover, absence of DUI and sexual harassment cases, and the reduction of overall dissatisfaction with the command’s decisions.

Training as a Solution

Non-commissioned officers are the first people who have to manage the dissatisfied personnel. Army has a strict hierarchy that outlines the duties and responsibilities of each service member. However, it also forces each commanding officer into a situation where they are the only person who receives blame, even if their superiors are responsible for a certain mistake. Therefore, it is essential for each officer who has people under command to learn to communicate with subordinates. COL Gould lacks empathy, the deficit of which is the causative factor for all subsequent underappreciation². Communication training will enable officers to interact properly with subordinates, understand their issues, and look for loopholes in the commanding chain to work around the limitations of superiors’ orders.

Education as a Solution

Most of the psychological problems evident in the 4^th ABCT stem from the personnel’s inability to cope with existing pressures. The red cycle demands service members to constantly train and prepare for incoming deployments. However, the demands of military life are too strenuous for many people, as is evident by the high turnover rate, actions that compromise the safety, and sexual harassment allegations. Although managing these difficulties is an individual task, there seems to be a systemic lack of knowledge of how to approach these obstacles³. Therefore, educating the unit’s service members on tackling stress, enduring psychological pressure, and overcoming protracted isolation from families is essential in preserving the unit’s morale and cohesion.

Servant Leadership as a Solution

Finally, it is important to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual trust between superiors and subordinates. COL Gould’s approach to working with personnel was extremely polarizing since it did not take lower-ranking service members’ opinions into consideration. An appropriate way to tackle it is to consciously involve subordinates in decision-making⁴. If commanding officers develop a servant leadership style, service members will feel valued and appreciated.

Conclusion

Altogether, education, training, and a proper leadership style provide the means to solve the problems created by inadequate leadership practices by the commanding officers of the 4^th ABCT. A top-down management style can be tackled with servant leadership. Unsafe behaviors, such as sexual harassment and driving under the influence, can be resolved by mental resilience education. Subordinate dissatisfaction with superiors’ decisions can be addressed by communication skills training. Combined together, these solutions will reinforce the positive morale in the unit by creating an environment in which officers and soldiers are willing to listen and take each other’s perspectives into account.

Bibliography

Bahmani, Ebrahim, Hadi Teimouri, Mohammad Hosein Moshref Javadi, and Ali Rabbani Khorasegani. “Theoretical Development of Servant Leadership in a Military Context: A Mixed Methods Research.” Human Systems Management 40, no. 1 (2021): 65-80. doi:10.3233/HSM-200936.

Boe, Ole, and Torill Holth. “Is Guidance as a Tool for Leadership Communication Effective for Military Leaders.” Arts and Social Sciences Journal 8, no. 2 (2017): 1-8. doi:10.4172/2151-6200.1000263.

Hom, Melanie A., Ian H. Stanley, Matthew E. Schneider, and Thomas E. Joiner Jr. “A Systematic Review of Help-Seeking and Mental Health Service Utilization among Military Service Members.” Clinical Psychology Review 53 (2017): 59-78. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.01.008.

U.S. Department of the Army. “ADP 6-22 Army Leadership and the Profession.” U.S. Department of the Army. Web.

Footnotes

U.S. Department of the Army. “ADP 6-22 Army Leadership and the Profession.” U.S. Department of the Army. Web.
Boe, Ole, and Torill Holth. “Is Guidance as a Tool for Leadership Communication Effective for Military Leaders,” Arts and Social Sciences Journal 8, no. 2 (2017): 1-8. doi:10.4172/2151-6200.1000263.
Hom, Melanie A., Ian H. Stanley, Matthew E. Schneider, and Thomas E. Joiner Jr. “A Systematic Review of Help-Seeking and Mental Health Service Utilization among Military Service Members,” Clinical Psychology Review 53 (2017): 59-78. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.01.008.
Bahmani, Ebrahim, Hadi Teimouri, Mohammad Hosein Moshref Javadi, and Ali Rabbani Khorasegani. “Theoretical Development of Servant Leadership in a Military Context: A Mixed Methods Research,” Human Systems Management 40, no. 1 (2021): 65-80. doi:10.3233/HSM-200936.

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