Developing and Maintaining the Warrior Ethos in Engineer Units
Abstract
This article is aimed at helping company commanders and platoon leaders develop the Warrior Ethos in their units. It is based on things that worked for the 91st Engineer Battalion and ultimately led to the successful completion of a 14-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Because of the way the battalion trained and the level of training reached, the brigade combat team commander had the confidence to let the unit fight as a task force in Baghdad. None of this happened overnight though; development of the Warrior Ethos began early and continued throughout the deployment. As an Army, we talk about the Warrior Ethos or Warrior Spirit and how important it is for Soldiers and units to have this mindset to make them successful in combat. The Warrior Spirit takes on particular importance as units prepare to deploy and focus their training on the missions they anticipate once deployed. Units that don t make the development of a Warrior Spirit their priority are less likely to be successful in combat. Development of this ethos comes from discipline and training and is a continuous process, even when deployed. Units that develop and sustain a warrior mentality will find that their Soldiers are much more prepared mentally, physically, and emotionally to handle the rigors of continuous combat.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA596552
Entities
People
- Christopher W. Martin
Organizations
- United States Army Engineer School