From experience to youth

Ian Elliot of the Kingston Whig-Standard - and one of the guys on the Afghan trip with me - got a chance to hear Col Ian Hope passing along nuggets of his experience to the next generation of leaders at RMC.

Some will zero in on Hope's advice to the cadets that they need to lead from the front. In my experience, that's not the real issue for young men and women in the combat arms - they naturally want to lead from the front, since fitness and enthusiasm are the only unique advantages their youth gives them.

The issue would be how we're training them, since the focus until this point has been upon teaching them patience and reining in that desire to be the first man over the wall. It will be a delicate balancing act. But there's no question that we have the seasoned officer and NCM cadre to teach that balance, and make sure we get it right.

There are some other interesting quotes in the article, but I found this one particularly on point:

"It was never satisfactory to kill Taliban or capture Taliban: the psychological diminishment of the enemy is crucial," he said.

After a battle, his troops would broadcast calls over loudspeakers calling the Taliban cowards for leaving the fight. They would meet with local citizens to illustrate their control of the space. The gesture was completely understood by the Afghans themselves, a people who are no strangers to warfare and displays of power -and Afghanistan is a war, not a peacekeeping exercise.

"We would stay on the battlefield - they left, we stayed," said Hope.

What a fascinating tidbit of information, showing how the battle group integrated psychological operations into their plan. And also showing that right from the beginning, the CF has understood that the real battle is for the hearts and minds of the average Pashtun.

So much, once again, for the myth of the warmongering, unlettered grunt.