December 16, 2020
How to build more resilient and innovative US special operations teams
The military is looking for the wrong solutions to support the force. Building resilient, ready, and innovative teams require leaders to release pressure on the force, not treat the fallout from it. This process starts in garrison, and it demands bold leadership. To support people, each leadership team in U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) must take a proactive whole-of-person approach. This requires culture change beyond current approaches, one that needs to focus on redefining mission objectives to better support personnel and reducing unnecessary requirements.
The military is looking for the wrong solutions to support the force.
The services broadly, and SOCOM specifically, tend to view pressure on the force as caused by external and environmental factors — like high operational tempo, deployment stressors, and injuries — and subsequently take siloed and reactive approaches to fix the fallout. That fallout manifests itself in suicide, substance abuse, sexual harassment and assault, and loss of talent. Currently implemented solutions show the services view high operational tempo, deployment stressors, and family tensions as the causal factors for these grim outcomes.
Read the full article from Task and Purpose.
More from CNAS
-
What Trump’s Pick for Secretary of Defense Could Mean for Inclusivity in the Military
Podcast
Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at CNAS joins to discuss the Trump administration nominee for secretary of defense....
By Dr. Kyleanne Hunter
-
To Improve Recruiting, Make Medical Standards Match Retention Ones
Commentary
Standards exist for a reason, but excluding people who could thrive in the military unnecessarily impairs readiness....
By Kareen Hart & Taren Sylvester
-
Sharper: Trump 2.0
Commentary
Donald Trump's return to the White House is widely expected to reshape America's global priorities. With personnel choices and policy agendas that mark a significant break fro...
By Charles Horn & Gwendolyn Nowaczyk
-
Episode 7: Kate Kuzminski, CNAS
Podcast
Kate Kuzminski is Deputy Director of Studies and Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). She is an expert on ...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
