ARMY DOCTRINE AND THE PHYSICAL DOMAIN REQUIREMENTS OF STRATEGIC LEADERS
Abstract
The Armys doctrine, history and culture consistently highlights and venerates the physical attributes of warrior athletes, especially those who lead the men and women of the greatest land force in history. As the Information Age over-takes the legacy of influences of the Industrial Age, technological advancements are influencing perceptions of a need to focus training and improvement efforts on cognitive capabilities while subordinating the roles of the physical and social attributes of the human dimension. The Army's 2015 strategy on the Human Dimension signals a shift in how the Army views the relationship of the three components of the Human Dimension. The Army's Human Dimension is consistently comprised of three attributes within Army leadership doctrine. Character, Presence, and Intellect are contextually used to define the three components. Presence is fitness, bearing, attitude, and resilience. Character is values and morals with Intellect being cognitive skills. The overall intent of this paper is to generate needed discussion and healthy debate on the effect of creating a triad, versus the current trinity, with the three components of the human dimension for Army leader development as individuals move through a career from direct to strategic leadership. Using a qualitative approach, the author argues the negative implications of changing the ideology of the relationship of the components of the human dimension outweigh the potential additive effect. The paper then reviews the continuity and interconnectedness of Army doctrine on the physical domain of the human dimension of leadership revealing potential for competitive friction between two goals relating to the physical and cognitive domain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 06, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1037979
Entities
People
- Kevin A. Comfort
Organizations
- Air War College