Soldier And Leader Engagement Conceptual Overview

Soldier and Leader Engagement Conceptual Overview

Introduction. Chaplains in the area of operations maintain very clear reasons for conducting Soldier and Leader Engagements. UMTs conduct research prior to each engagement and link each engagement with higher HQ lines of effort (LOE), Joint Campaign Plan, OPORD 10-1.4, command information requirements, and stability operations doctrine. Its focus is conflict analysis and resolution.

Purpose. The Command Chaplain functions in its traditional roles as it exercises professional military religious leadership for the Commander. At the same time the Chaplain provides advisory capabilities to meet the needs of the combatant command in Unified Land Ops, and is performing new tasks of religious advisement through key SLE w/political-religious leaders and through nuanced analysis of the religious factors (physical, human and ideological) impacting the operational and strategic environments. SLE promotes positive effects while providing advisory atmospheric and analysis service support.

Discussion. The Chaplain fosters a personal relationship with each religious leader. Contacts continue to meet with us because the chaplain is particularly trusted and identified as professional military religious leader. Engaging religious leaders is a niche capability providing the commander with nuanced religious impact analysis.

Soldier and Leader Engagement is respectful interaction with religious and cultural leaders that are operationally relevant to the efforts of stability operations in areas of persistent conflict. The Chaplain promotes positive gestures of reconciliation and address underlying issues of religious needs while providing religious analysis to anticipate, avoid and abate emerging threats to stability and security. The Chaplain (exercising an advisory function) is capable of executing engagements with religious-political leaders in Unified Land operations to the end of supporting and contributing to a just and sustainable peace in a safe and secure environment.

SLE is one of the combatant command's atmospheric instruments for Unified Land operations utilized by the chaplain to attract transformative processes of conflict resolution through meetings with political-religious leaders as a way to recognize the interests and essential human needs of groups in conflict. Soldier and leader engagement is a strategic component of conflict transformation as it contributes to the instruments of strategic power: diplomatic power through meetings with local and national political-religious leaders; contributes to informational power through operationally relevant religious assessments and conflict analyses. Conceived as conflict resolution strategy and aimed at promoting civil stability, Soldier and leader engagement is both complex and challenging.

Conclusion: The Commander is interested in acquiring information about the drivers of conflict that threaten stability in (specific location). The inclusion of marginalized groups, such as women, orphans and religious minorities, who are victimized or excluded from the political process and the benefits of the majority, is essential to gain a comprehensive view of the operational environment. The stories of particular religious leaders are remarkable and demonstrate the power of the narrative, which affects the listener and impacts the operational environment. Inclusivity of minority and marginalized groups is essential to stability. Soldier and leader engagement provides such an avenue and serves as a type of listening post.