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A Weakness in DISA's Armor.
DISA-knee land. Tell me another one.
The problem is the potential for lack of initiative to quote a segment of their mission statement, "...bonds of integrity, trust, support, and teamwork...", it's the old navy seal problem: lack of personal initiative and therefore a
blatant inability to exploit unique opportunities as they present themselves in the confusion of the battlefield, or even the everyday
bureaucratic difficulties of a military in peace time.
There is the standard failure to recognize the balance between effective interdependence
and the reality that most engagements are successful in large part because of wise and effective initiative by the individual team members in the field who are the only ones in touch with the real situation as it presents itself.
The best players always have "a vernier attached to the rocket" that operates
outside of the command structure if in the sort of vacuum where there is an
absence thereof and that still allows to the individual to operate within
command
directives with integrity.
There is also the problem of those who hide behind the slogan of "the team", using it as an opportunity to advance themselves to positions of command they are actually incapable of handling,
thus placing weak links in the chain. This gives another side using and
encouraging personal initiative in individual personnel the advantage for a
victorious outcome. Additionally, the ability of individuals to continue
the mission despite inevitable lapses in such things as ethics and integrity on
the part of others plus an innate capability on the part of the individual in
the field to compensate quickly for breakdown of team co-operation for myriad
reasons, further boosts the odds of success on the side that supports such
capabilities for innovation on the part of the individual personnel of a unit.
It is easier to discourage one team than ten individuals. The founding
fathers recognized this when they set forth the concept of the minute man, an
ultimate concept, additionally, of homeland defense.
There is also a problem of the trained service personnel who have become "team dependant", when their military service is done, finding themselves in an
aggressive capitalistic self-dependent environment in the civilian world, apart
from the socialistic infrastructure of the military-style organization, with no backup. I cite the alarmingly high incidence of homelessness of former military
personnel in the San Diego area. Something is seriously wrong; the capacity to operate
when found alone seemingly broken somehow presumably by a flaw somewhere in the intensive training they were subjected to in the military.
It is a mistake for the individual to indulge in the false security of
inordinate levels of confidence in being a part of the whole.
Copyright (c) 2005 by Paul A. L. Hall. All rights reserved.
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