Killing Complacency – For The Next Fight
“Complacency (noun): a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.”
Complacency is something that is on my mind a lot as I watch the United States Army’s perpetual tension between its history of warfighting and its bureaucratic garrison culture come to a fine point. Our public messaging at the institutional level is about preparing for large-scale combat operations, but it’s also trying to match the social climate of the day in our recruiting and retention strategies, along with our promotion and assignment systems. Meanwhile, American soldiers find themselves still engaged in underreported contingency operations in the Middle East and Africa and on guard at the periphery of conflict in Asia and Europe. We are training for the next big war, but still fighting the last bush war. That’s a heavy predicament for small unit leaders, and especially junior officers, looking to train their soldiers to the best of their abilities.
We can’t remove the complexity of geopolitics, and we can’t alter the uncertainty of tomorrow’s wars. But we can fight complacency in our team from the moment we start the morning off with physical training; and in ourselves when we look in the mirror at the end of every day and ask ourselves, “Was it enough?”. Small unit leaders can start by focusing on four areas of complacency that are incredibly difficult – but even more important – to fight as Soldiers and leaders in today’s army:
1. Complacency about our adversaries
2. Complacency about our own competence
3. Complacency about our team, and
4. Complacency about our personal lives.
There’s no “Swiss Army knife” solution to any of these problems, but it’s important to recognize them so we can begin to address them based on each of our own unique team dynamics and personal idiosyncrasies.
Complacency about our adversaries:
In today’s army, it’s not uncommon to witness leaders telling their Soldiers that “we’ll never fight another conventional war again” or that “our conventional adversaries don’t have the stones to go against us, they have too much to lose.” The flip side of that coin is the phenomenon of junior leaders who believe that the counterinsurgency campaigns of the Global War on Terrorism or the Vietnam War are a thing of the past, even though Americans are still at the far outposts of our republic in places like Syria, Iraq, and Somalia. There is something inherently dangerous in fabricating a false sense of security in our Soldiers and leaders about the dangers of tomorrow. Without making our adversaries into six-foot-tall bogeymen, we must instill a sense of vigilance in our warfighters and enablers who will likely be leaders in the first wave of tomorrow’s fight. This can come in many forms and all of which are employable by junior officers such as Current events briefs, threat briefs on adversary capabilities & vulnerabilities, foreign weapons training, or adding realism to training exercises with relevant opposing force (OPFOR) tactics based on ATP 7-100.3 Chinese Tactics, ATP 7-100.2. North Korean Tactics, and The Russian Way of War.
Complacency about our competence:
How do we fight complacency about our own competence? Realistically, small unit leaders will not be able to influence the personnel system that churns out an ever-evolving roster in any given platoon or company on a yearly basis. However, they can advocate for fighting personnel swaps not tied to PCS moves after a CTC rotation. Crew stability matters. You’re going to want a weapons squad that can get their guns up quickly and accurately because they’ve had months and years of practice together, in the same way you would want cohesion and experience in a fire support team, engineer squad, reconnaissance platoon, or mortar section. We also owe our leaders candid feedback about our team’s combat readiness. One of the most powerful things a junior officer can say about their unit is that they are not “green” on something and need to improve. Come to them with a plan: identify mission essential tasks that your team is not proficient on, fight for protected time and training areas to conduct field problems and team-internal training on those tasks, take pictures and write exercise summaries (EXSUMs) and after action reviews (AARs) to capture lessons learned and let your leadership know you’re not just wasting time, and be honest enough with yourself and your team to know when you need retraining on a specific task.
Complacency about our team:
We can never take for granted that everyone on the team is okay. As leaders, we have to constantly look ourselves in the mirror and look our Soldiers in their eyes and ask two fundamental questions: Am I leading my team in a manner that will prepare them for combat? Do my actions support the morale and human wellness of my team? If there is someone on your team who is falling out on ruck marches, failing to qualify at the range, not passing their MOS-specific certifications, or creating disunity or weakness in your team – you owe it to them and the rest of your team to honestly address that issue. Counsel them formally so they understand the gravity of the situation, but write yourself and your subordinate leaders heavily into the plan of action so that you are accountable for and involved in their growth in the face of adversity. Most people don’t wake up in the morning wanting to mess up, so you owe it to your team as a leader to find the best in your people and challenge them to rise to the occasion.
If someone in your team is experiencing marital problems, financial pitfalls, mental/emotional health issues, or other personal challenges – it should be on your radar. Junior Officers and NCOs aren’t babysitters, and they’re not counselors, but they should be emotionally intelligent enough and connected to their Soldiers enough to recognize when something is wrong. Point them towards resources on post like Behavioral Health (BH), Military Family Life Counselors (MFLC), Army Community Services (ACS), Family Advocacy Program (FAP), Military OneSource counseling, Army Emergency Relief (AER), Army Wellness Centers (AWC), Resiliency Performance Centers, or installation religious services. Sometimes, it’s enough to listen quietly and then let them know that you care about them and want them to beat their demons. Check up on them, host team barbecues, and build a sense of camaraderie that helps some of your young folks fend off the darkness in a way they might not have learned at home.
Complacency about our personal lives:
The profession of arms is an inherently noble and meaningful way of life. But that is not all there is to life. It can be demanding and unforgiving. And one day it will be over. It’s easy to become so engrossed, especially for junior leaders, in what temporarily seems important in the army that you stop noticing how late you’re working, how many weekends with your family you’re needlessly surrendering, and how many of your conversations are centered on the army. It sometimes takes hard knocks to redirect us back to focusing on family and creating space and time for our own mental health. The army deserves our attention and energy, but none of us have a limitless charge on our battery. We all need nutrition, exercise, sleep, companionship, and hobbies in order to be truly healthy enough to offer value to a high-performance organization like our sections, platoons, and companies. We need to recognize when there are opportunities to ask for more time with our families – and have the courage to speak up when we have to say “no” to the army and “yes” to our spouses, our siblings, our parents, and our children. You’ll have plenty of other field exercises and cool guy schools, but you’ll only sit with your dad on his deathbed once. It’ll only be your kiddo’s first day of kindergarten once. And you only have so many chances with isolating and sidelining your spouse until they have to choose between you and their mental health. Don’t be complacent at home. In the words of Sam Damon from Anton Myrer’s novel, Once an Eagle: “If it comes to the choice between being a good soldier and being a good human being – try to be a good human being.”
Killing Complacency:
The platoons and companies of today’s army who are experiencing a period of relative peace have the potential to serve in the first wave of tomorrow’s large-scale combat operations or to steward a return to fully-fledged counterinsurgency operations. This means that lieutenants and captains leading those small units of warfighters and enablers have a special responsibility to ensure the victory and survival of their Soldiers by combating complacency in garrison, in training, and in real-world missions. Our adversaries in global power competition are becoming bolder and more aggressive in establishing regional hegemony through force. Violent extremist organizations and non-state actors are pioneering new ways of threatening American lives and interests. And, right here at home, our army is struggling to recruit, retain, and train a force capable of meeting those threats. At the tactical level, these challenges must be addressed by the platoon leaders, executive officers, company commanders, and staff officers who are capable and willing to take the hard steps to prepare our Soldiers and non-commissioned officers for the next fight. The abstraction of a young officer fighting complacency in their formation is brought to a fine point by the hard truth that it may save the lives of their Soldiers on a distant beach or faraway hilltop when they are calling for fire, coordinating a medical evacuation, or fighting through an ambush. We can act now to fight that good fight against complacency. In the words of an old soldier, “No one else is coming – it’s up to us.”
Author Biography
J.H. Edmonds is an active duty army officer. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in history, he served in 10th Mountain Division and led two company fire support teams, three battalion fire support elements, and a howitzer platoon. He also served for five months on the southwest border mission in support of the Department of Homeland Security as a battle captain, planner, and liaison officer to Border Patrol Special Coordination Center. He then served as a military intelligence officer in the 82nd Airborne Division and as an advisor in the 2nd Security Forces Assistance Brigade. He is an avid reader, a lifelong hiker and outdoorsman, and the founder of “From This Hilltop” – an Instagram page and blog devoted to history, literature, and leadership. J.H. Edmonds enjoys nothing more than deepening his faith and spending time with his family.
