Mission Driven Work
Vietnam War: lessons learnt
A lot was can be learnt by the United States military leadership and civilians concerning the Vietnam War. Most importantly, there was an underestimation of the nature of and the enemy in the war. The US leadership collectively failed to consider the historical context of the war because there was no proper consideration to Vietnam’s pervious consideration. For centuries the Japanese, the French and the Chinese have unsuccessfully tried to impose their rule over Indochina. This has made the Vietnamese to have a strong collective identity with its leadership characterized by strong resistance to foreign domination and strong national resolve. They have defeated the French at the Dien Bien Phu. The US conflict was just seen as a continuation of foreign invasion to Vietnam of 2000 years.
The strategy used by military leaders for defeating the Northern Vietnamese was not up to standard because they did not fully understand the nature of the war. The civilian leadership of the US failed to invoke the national will when the war was declared. This strategic vulnerability was then exploited by our enemy. As a cooperative worker at the armed forces I have to have the skills and strategies to properly plan any military mission of the US.
My skills.
I consider my self a strategic thinker, logistician and tactical planner. My Strategic thinking is accompanied by risk taking abilities, critical and creative thinking, executive flexibility, perspective self awareness, knowledge and silks, and metacognition.
Demonstration
My skills give me competitive advantage as a strategy leader. Perspective helps me function as a four-star where by I will not draw my intuitive sense of understanding and my own experience in understanding a situation. I am a good anticipator and ready to face any situation. As a four-star, I can not be shaped by issues but I rather shape them. In my anticipation I always have an intuitive judgment that I see the importance of each of my endeavor. So it is all about anticipation and shaping.
I am also a logician in the sense that I take serious in-depth thinking so as to create an intellectual framework in which my team has to operate upon. Imagining the future is what first hits my mind; which is an important aspect to any leader. I must communicate throughout any mission and my any of my intellectual change will be reflected on the physical changes; significant of action and mind transformation. I don’t however advocate for any random changes without reasons.
As a tactical planner, I am fully aware of my self which greatly improves my performance. It gives me the ability to accurately access and reflect on a situation and at the same time asses my own skills and ability in performing a specified job. In planning for any activity, I have to understand what influences my decisions through metacognition. This helps because I can better influence andcontrol my own thoughts in the process of planning.
Cooperation and support
There is need for global cooperation and public support which is the key to wining any war and most importantly on terrorism. Global cooperation means placing of spies to detect any clue to ill motives of an enemy. Second and most important support is the need for technological advancement and innovation which is crucial for the well being of the nation. This helps in rapid intelligence analysis and collection, protection of troops especially when there is lighter weight of body armor and for mitigating insurgent threats through airborne detection capabilities and those of roadside bombs. There is also need of rapid deployment of troops with adequate capabilities and effectively trained.
Military lessons from the course
Our misjudgment of political forces in Vietnam through viewing leaders of South Vietnam and the people through our own experience was wrong. For me to be an effective leader, I should be open indeed and place my self at the shoes of the opponent which will require me to be a logical thinker.
Through our military leaders underestimation of nationalism in Vietnam which motivated the Vietnams to die and to fight for their values and beliefs was also a big problem. Our judgment of foe and friends alike reflects our ignorance to peoples’ culture, politics and history. We were therefore not able to understand the habits of the leaders and the people personalities. As a leader therefore, I have to do my own personal research about the people to confront because this will help me in making any decision and judgment.
We failed for we did not have the military tactics of winning the minds and heart of people of a totally different culture. This therefore became a challenge that has taught us a lesson. I should not rely on such and aspect and expect to win. This means that we do not have a God-given right to shape every nation to fit into our choice. We should therefore recognize that neither our leaders nor our people are omnipresent.
Finally, we did not hold the principle of the US military which requires us to carry out such an endeavor in conjunction with multinational forces that are in full support by the international community. I should therefore consider this point to be very crucial as a leader.
Reference
Donelson, M.G (2006) an American Ordeal, Fifth Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall
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