Today was a good day. A large part of my work is talking with people to figure out what they think their organization is doing exceptionally unique or is highly effective. Or, on the flip side, what they are really challenged with. I try to get different perspectives. This is pretty similar to what I did as a consultant -- you are never the expert. But, a good consultant talks to the experts and is good at pulling lessons learned and conclusions out of them, gets lots of data points, finds patterns, and then tells the story.
So, today I started right the day by interviewing the commanding general of the division that was leaving sector. I learned that during a rotation (heck, almost any time), getting time with a general who is commanding a division or corps is very difficult unless you are commanding a subordinate unit. The Army is pretty good at taking care of the units' needs, or at least listening to the commanders, in this environment. But, if you want time with them, the golden moment is after they have turned over the reins of control to their replacements, but have not yet signed over legal authority. This is known in politics as the lame duck. Suddenly, generals have time to spend lots of time in the chow hall, go on leisurely runs, shop online, and talk with guys like me.
But lame ducks are great in my circumstances where I am asking them to reflect on what they've done and what they might do differently or advice they'd offer. I had gotten the appt without too much difficulty (again timing, but also because senior officers generally genuinely want to help the Army learn). Also, maybe because I showed him Volume I of the book of interviews that were published.
Anyhow, we did the interview in a huge room, but side by side in easy chairs. I was a little nervous -- unlike some of my fellow cadets when I was in ROTC, I was never one who paid much attention to the "old dudes" who were active or retired flag officers. They just simply had no relevance to me. So, I wasn't quite sure how much they'd be like normal people. So, I just introduced myself and my mission, asked him if he understood the process and had gotten the read-ahead questions, and if it was okay to record him.
The interview itself was 12 standard, relatively open-ended questions, from "how well were your troops prepared when you arrived?" to "what one lesson of generalship would you pass on to your replacement?" It actually is really quite interesting to read how a lot of different leaders respond to the same questions and see what they say in common. For instance, a universal response to "what are the largest issues facing combat troops today?" is OPTEMPO. Optempo stands for "operations tempo" or how fast and how often sh*t happens compared to the down or recovery time units get. Units tend to go through cycles -- generally, you rotate between getting a mission, training up for it, deploying, redeploying, taking downtime (block leave), recovering/renewing equipment, then it repeats. With the toll of fighting two wars, declining recruitment, people getting out, and the recent surge into Afghanistan (and in Iraq last in 2007), this cycle has gotten more and more accelerated to the point where soldiers were getting deployed sometimes 3 times within 5 years. The impact on marriages, family lives, and soldiers is pretty undeniable.
The MG had nothing ground-shattering, but in one hour we covered a lot of ground and I had a chance to ask him what advice he had for me on what I could look at that would be high value. I expected him to point me towards a specific topic area, but instead, he told me, "Go ask the battalion and company commanders how well Division is supporting them." What he meant is that a 28 year company commander who owns a small town and surrounding area may request unmanned aerial reconnaissance (UAV) support but never get it. Meanwhile, he hears a report from the Division commander that all their intelligence and surveillance needs are getting met and they don't need anymore assets. At best, he continues asking for it and accepts the disconnect. At worst, he writes off division and only relies on what he has at hand. The general's point was that at his high level, he doesn't always get low level feedback, but that at mine, being quite a few rank notches below him and with time to spend with these units, I may. So, I'll take that to heart and hope to start spending a week at a time rotating between different companies out in sector to see what they have to say.
I came back and was able to write up the interview pretty quickly without referring to the audio. Send it off to him and am done. Over my 6-month rotation, I am expected to do two commander interviews. I've knocked out one and have the second scheduled for the end of the week. Good times...
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