Yesteryear

Mr Army; A Final Rant.

Having been forced to sit next to Mr. Army due to a lack of seating at lunch, I wondered if the drivel that he constantly spews would ever come to a point.

The conversation went as such. "I don't understand why companies aren't run like the army. I mean the army is much better at adapting itself, it is well structured, everyone is evaluated according to the same standards and everything is properly structured."

[long deep breaths, think calming thoughts, that's it, focus ... SNAP!] UMM, Excuse me?!? Ummm, no, no, No, NO, and NO! Yes the army does have its merits. Yes there are some aspects that might work well in the public sector, but as a whole it is bound to fail.

Granted that some people who are slated into managerial positions have absolutely no business being there, but the army's way is not infallible either. There are a few desk officers and career army people who have no business commanding troops and yet they have been promoted to that level because they knew the right people and made the right impression or were the only ones left standing.

As for it being a corps that is willing and ready to adapt to any situation on demand, well how about we review some of the facts. Hmm?!?

Lets start with a bit of history, for centuries, and I mean centuries warfare was fought in one way and pretty much one way only. [No I am not discounting the variations that occurred due to terrain or due to marauding masses] The two armies would march towards a battlefield, set up camp, send emissaries and if the conditions were deemed inappropriate or the emissary happened to be returned without his head then war was fought with the soldiers all lined up in nice neat rows, almost face to face. The victor was the one who was left with the most men standing or the one who gained control of the others camp. This method was utilized well into the 19th century, during many a war, including The Civil War, the Boer War, The War of Independence to an extent and many, many others.

A glimmer of change from the usual marching of troops into battlefield came during the First World War in the form of the digging of trenches. These, however, proved to be death traps and though many young men died in their grasp the army never saw fit to adapt and try something different.

Yes I know that this is a rather oversimplified account/view of warfare, but this is what I believe the gist of how things happened [granted I may be dead wrong], aside to go into any detail would require a whole Blog onto itself.

So lets sum up shall we? We have over a couple of hundred years of war being fought in exactly the same manner with very little in the way of progression. When the army finally comes up with a new idea, it proves to be fraught with danger and yet even though the casualties the army continues to employ the use of trenches with dogged determination, not much adaptability there. Perhaps we should look at the Army from a social standpoint?!?

The army's acceptance of Women, Homosexuality, Any Person of Ethnic Origin other then what is considered to be the 'norm'. Need I say More?

It is my opinion that the Army as an entity has always been slow to accept anything that is new, or that does not fit in with what is deemed appropriate and will only change its ways under duress with much kicking and screaming.

This does not mean however, that all the people with in it are of the same nearsighted dogmatic nature. I know that there are many adaptive capable people, who are open minded and willing to try other methods of accomplishing things if the current method proves to be outdated, dangerous or unsuccessful.

Unfortunately, you Mr. Army are too stubborn, nearsighted and too indoctrinated into the army way to see anything other then its glories. As much as I can see some of its merits I still do not think that the army way should be the world/business way. If you ever find yourself questioning why I say this I would suggest rereading the above, or better yet go to a library, a bookstore, anywhere where you can find books and read. There are many good books out there written about the military, its structure, tactics and history. Please I implore you, read before next you speak.

Posted by munin at September 24, 2002 10:00 PM