Friday, January 22, 2010

Praxis: Small Unit Leadership



"Platoons seal the fate of armies." -- S.L.A. Marshall.


So it says on the cover of Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach by COL Dandridge M. Malone. And Marshall was right, in the era of attrition warfare. But we are now in the era of advanced maneuver warfare, some call it "4th Generation Warfare." John Robb calls it "open source insurgency."

In such a battlespace as we, the defenders of the Founders' Republic, find ourselves facing today, we must revise Marshall's dictum. For in truth, if the anti-constitutional forces now in charge of the country and its numerous federal police agencies decide, through deliberate criminality or stupid misadventure, to spark another American civil war, it will rather be a thousand fire teams that seal the fate of the Republic -- to its restoration, or, if we fail, to its destruction.

On such a battlefield, every Three Percenter must be a leader. This small volume of COL Dandridge's, written in 1983 when the Cold War still looked like it would end in T-72S crashing through the Fulda Gap and atomic fire, wears well as a primer for small unit leaders.

After Absolved is sent off to the publisher, we will be promoting a course of instruction on small unit organization and leadership. Our vision is to take a weekend (much like Appleseed) and train small unit leaders. I will have more on this later. But for now, get a copy of this basic primer and begin to think in terms of applying it to your immediate area of operations.

Mike
III

15 comments:

B said...

What I have found interesting as I move ever forward in the business world, the principles of small unit leadership that were first introduced to me through my now well-worn copy of the Ranger Handbook, and were then subsequently beaten into me in my youth, still apply. I suspect these skills will continue to serve me as life unfolds and unforeseen futures take shape. Now, I understand that I must also take the step towards passing on the skills I have learned and applied -- put me down to give you a hand if you need help with your 'leaderseed' adventure.

B
III

Anonymous said...

Can I post other books? With links to them in pdf?

Anonymous said...

SO when can we start pre-ordering the book?
emdfl

Chaplain Tim said...

"After Absolved is sent off to the publisher,"
Any estimate off when that might occur?

Tom Austin said...

We were issued this book in ROTC many years ago. The section on how to ask questions is still useful, 20 years later.

Anonymous said...

I've heard rumors about radical frustrated Absolved fans threatening to use his teachings and reach out and touch the somewhat slothful author as a means of motivating him. One group argued for knee-capping but then since he can't walk worth beans anyway that wasn't seen as being worth much. Another more voracious group simply wanted to go with head shots but they were quickly put in their place as everyone knows that would present an unacceptable risk of injury to innocent bystanders due to the very high probability of ricochets. Right now the debate seems to be centered over choosing between a BB gun or pellet gun attack on his keister, which most agree will probably suffice to get his attention being so close to where his intellect resides. However, if he can't stand or sit the question is how is he going to manage to pound away on those computer keys? If some reader knows where we could get hold of an old Stryker frame then we could just strap him in and swing him around one way to reach the keyboard and around the other to do his duty when needed, and when he gets cranky, why you just spin him around a few times to give him a new perspective on life. Sounds good to me - and who knows it might even work...

jaaAf (just an anonymous Absolved fan)

III more than them said...

The way things are done changes, but the DOers remain the same.

People, as a whole, don't change. That's why we were warned to be "ever vigilant".

Unknown said...

I would recommend serious students of leadership not only read the military field manuals and related materials about small unit leadership but also books such as Brian Mullally's book The Unforgiving Minute that describes the weaknesses in the process of developing military leaders.

The principles of leadership can be learned from books -perhaps, but true leadership comes from within the character of the leader. Many are called but few are leaders.

Walter
III

Don't believe this? Look at the "leaders" in the military; Generals Casey, et al.


Don't believe this? Look at the "leaders" in the military; Generals Casey, et al.

Anonymous said...

Threeper small unit leader training!

Where do I sign up??

-Dan
danieljalmond2004@gmail.com
404-788-9735

MamaLiberty said...

Never read the book, but I have many years experience in both team effort and leadership as a nurse.

The first requirement is absolute self responsibility - as in every other aspect of our lives. Next is a thorough and honest knowledge of EVERYTHING you expect from your followers. You must understand it and know how to do it. You can't really teach/lead what you don't know.

And last, but not least, is complete integrity. You must always be truthful to your team mates and followers - and brutally honest with yourself.

Ignorance, passing the buck and lies ultimately kill more people than bullets.

cmblake6 said...

Wake UP!: http://cmblake6.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/follow-along-now-ill-get-there-in-juuust-a-minute/

Anonymous said...

To the 3%,

It gives me great encouragement to know that there are people like you who are actively preparing to rise to the occasion should the time come. I pray to God every night that it doesn't.

I am a civillian with no military experience of any kind. Let me make it perfectly clear that we love those who serve the people when the call goes out, but we ADORE those who plan ahead.

You have my support. I just hope we never have to meet in battle.

Anonymous said...

http://www.amu.apus.edu/academic/schedule/course/MILS120

This University seems to have a number of courses. Some appear to be available online. It is a good site to look at as see all the courses offered, some for credit, some you can just take.

aughtsix said...

Thank you, Taylor H. I pray that there are many more like you.

As to a leadership course, I'm all in.

Jon

III

Unknown said...

What a great idea! As a member of the un-organized militia it would be a great start for helping us get more organized.