Initiative-The Key Ingredient by CIYT William Scully lhi otlier day n.hilc 1 wns instt.uc- The Army is constraint oriented. At create the win. TLing an EOBC cli~ss,a .;tod,.nt was the con1pall.v commander level, success AirLi~ndBattle embodies the spirit of wrestling with many oftlie new tei.ms, is judged toomuch Ipaperson's ability the offense. It must havc leaders who acronyms, and jargon that he was to cope with a myriadofchucklists(i.c., can create the advantage even at times <-nooont<:~.ingHc was confi~sedahout a I(; rcparts; SOPS, readiness reports, when there is none. or toinitiate action term called "AirI.and Rattle." IIr sirid inventoryr and not enough with the in the absence of instruction. Jim that lic~~callydid not know what it \v:is ability to takc charge, create, and suc~ O'Leary was ultimately unsuccessful and asked me to r)xpl;rin it to hini. ccctl. The saddest part of all is that not hecause when the game got heated, Withl,ut going inti] the tactics in- enough attention is paid to the hottoin there =,as never enough time to check volvt?d.I said that Air1,and Battle drrc- line-mission accomplishment,. with the coach; and he didn't know trine rxtc:nded the niain batlle area to Instpad, the success factor is based what to do. incorpi~r:ltethe full scope of the battle- upon partial successes which are The stakes of the AirLand Battle ficlrl-fbraard, I-carward, and verti- chocked-off along the way. In this case, demand that our leaders are hettcr cally. Marc important. hoxevel: fkom the sum ofthe parts does not equal the than Jim O'Leary. The good news is llie human dilncnsion. it revel-sed Lhc whole. ARTEPs, FTXs, and even the that we have people who fit the bill.'l'he drfcnsirc posture rnenta1l.v to one fully NTC have hecolne a G-2game and not badnews is that the leadershipclimatc incorporating the spirit ofthe offense. I honest displays nf'ahility. Commanders does not allow them tu come into the to~,ka moment to digress and tell the enter Lhese exercises understanding spotlight. The leadershipclimate that class how I felt about this new doctrine what they must accomplish in order not will produce winners in the Airland and what must be done tomake it work. to lose-instpiid of focusing on all-out Battle is mission oriented, observes It is very importi~nlto nie that tile fightingto win' more than it directs, and rewards initja. r2irL:lnd Battle doctrine was dcvcloped. The Army as a whole must encourage tive on site. Thc di~ctrinegives soldiers the psvcho- more dynamic leaders-more self- A German general onceexplained to logic;ll advantage of initiative asso- starters. The AirLi~ndButtlc was not me how the German army trains its ciated with oSfensive operations. Mv n~adcfinthe Jini O'Leaq's (Jim's name armor 1eadel.s. The system works on a hclicfis snppol.ted hy thc agc-<,Idcry of has been changed to protect the inno- series of mission-type orders in which the (botball sportscaster ~hocon>- centlofthe world. the young leader is given the mission piailled that the defense \\.;IS on the Who is Jim O'Leary? Ht, is a kid who and must develop his own solution. The field all day. and thusit was incvitahle played high school sports with me. He general explained that "initiative" was L hat they wore down to defeat wris ncver cut from a squad, and he the key. The ohservers watched to The defense nu longer has to worry started on a few teams. The problem ensure that the young leader took ahout wenring down, and the. offcnse with Jim was also the thing that made action. Even if the action was doctrin- can h;ivc. n little fun focusing their him a success. Jim had "coach's eyes." ally unsound(this could he coached), it cfhrts in putting some points on the That's right, no matter what sport he was better than no action at all. A hoard. \C7e ~eriusthave leaders who \rill played, he al\vays sought the coach's shrug of the shoulders by the young take initiative and cnpitalize on the approvitl after every play. He ~vould leader helped choose another career for uff'ensive opportonities provided by the hack-pedal down the baskathall court him. :\irl,and Rattle. Ti) hirve leaders who looking at the bench to check the coach. For maximum effectiveness of our will demonstrate i~~itiativemeans we Hc would look in from the infield or forct: under the AirLand Battle doc- must dotuo tlrin~s. over at the sidelines. trine, the American Army must do First, our Armv must be ablr tu It is true that the coach felt some more to crcate an environment as ~,ecognizedynamic 1c:rtlers who h:~vc security in putting Jim on the playing described by that German general. The the ability to tukr, charge Second, tho fi~,ld,but you could never get the hig organization must sift out the Army must develop other leaders tot.ht* play f'l-om him. He never neated any "shoulder shruygers:' and it must point that they can employ this new real advantage because he lacked the ~vatch,develop, and reward those who doctrine. 'The ;insi\-er is to structure a assertivenessor the innovation to take /.oki,rhar-geThisclimatemust start in Icadership climate that \\-ill thrive on ch~irgeonhisownvolition. What he did initiative and innovative spirit. well was minimize the losses . not FEATURES 12 Brigade Slice Observations at NTC by MAJ Rohert G. McKeet~erand MAJ Robert L. Somrrs 16 Training Task Force Engineers COMMANDER/COMMANDANT by CPT Robert A. O'Brien 111 M(; Richard S. Kern 18 Engineer Matrix ASSISTANT COMMANDANT 1)y ILT Charles A. Radkr COI. [)onW Barber 20 18th Century Fortress Design Principles: Modern Point (:tIlEF OF STAFF, DEPLn' Obstacles INSl'AI.I.Kl'IO\ CO\l\lA\DER by MAJ Stc,oen H. Myer und MAJ Jeffirson J Irvin COI. I'eter D.Stearns 23 Daily LOGPAC Operations COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR 1132 CCPPaulA. Petzrick JI: 1: CSM Charles 'Xuckcr 24 The Final Exam in EOBC by CPTDunne A. Dyer nnrl MAJ David R. Bowen DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND DOCTRINE 27 Broken Heart International Airfield LTC Robert L. Keenan by I,TC Willialn D Brou:n and ILT Blnke Middleton. CHIEF OF PUBLICATIONS 28 The Will to had Stanley (korges hy MAJ Philip Benhnm and MAJ Charles Krrshazc 30 Engineer Construction Equipment Repairer: An MOS Under Change hy CW3 Melad Sniith JJ: MANAGING EDI-IUR 1I:l' Loois J. 1.rtu 32 External Air Transport Procedures for Bridge Erection DESIGN DIRECTOR Boat Tllom;ts Datjis 34 TOC Operations Revisited ASSISTANT EDITOR h.y LTCJohn W Bradvn Jr Alan VandrrMi,lrn 37 Engineer Command Update THANKS, LOU! 38 The Command Challenge: Preparing Officers for CVI Selection by CPTMicher~lA. La~tsirzg DEPARTMENTS On the Cover Inside Front Cover: A Pe~~sonnlViewpoint Soldiers of today continually trnin lo 2 Past in Review 10 School News b~colncthe effective leaders of tomorrow Teamwork. one of the many facets of leader- 3 Letters to the Editor 22 Engineer Problem ship. is itecessae as these enginecrr huatlr 4 News and Notes 26 Engineer Solution to connect a short ramp to an MGB during 8 Clear the Way 33 HotlineQ&A Oremtion Pontonier (1i.S. Army photo). 9 Bridge the Gap 40 Career Notes ESGIXEEH 8lSSX 0u46~1YHY1is un ;iuthorvn:d p~lirllc;~tl(maf fhv USArii~~Enyinrcr Cenlrr and Fort Belvm,: CZ.Uniers spceitici$ll stdtrd, m;%tcrijll ap[,i,;hl~ Inc Ihrvr,ln does nor necesser~lyrellect oii~c~alpolicy. thinking nor i,ndorsemcnt by any agency ofthe U.S. Am? The a.or.da he. him, or his arc used lo represent ),el-~onnelol'e~thersex All photogmphs contziincd herein i~eofliciui US. Arm? photographs unless otlier~r~ci.el.editrd. The use of'itixids fir prlntlng this ip~~l,licat#onnos appr.ilved 1)). Headquarters. Department of thc At.my, on July 22. 1981. Material herein nliiy be reprinted if clwdit is glaen to CNI;INEEK ;and 111 the iiittbul. 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