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
-
Hegseth Brings the Culture War to Combat
Commentary
The fundamental challenge of military leadership lies in creating cohesive teams that can work together in an environment of mortal risk and, when called upon to do so, use le...
By Dr. Jason Dempsey
-
Hegseth Says Trump Boosted Military Recruiting. It’s Been Improving for over a Year
Podcast
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says military recruiting has shot up since the Trump administration's return. In fact, it's been improving for at least a year, with big jumps i...
By Taren Sylvester
-
Pete Hegseth’s Views About Women and Military Standards
Podcast
In recent weeks, Hegseth walked back comments made while promoting his book, where he said women did not belong in ground combat units. Without citing specific examples, he co...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
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
