The Relationship Between United States Army Leaders/Recruiters and Soldiers (Research Paper Sample)

Relationship between United States Army Leaders/Recruiters and soldiers
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Relationship between United States Army Leaders/Recruiters and soldiers
Organizational Background
The United States (US) military workplace is a unique environment that is grounded on the organizational structure, framework, and rules. The USA Department of Defense (DoD) has headquarters in the pentagon and is primarily recognized as the organizing body in charge of all the military departments and affairs across the USA. The DoD is headed by the Secretary of Defense who serves as the USA's president's chief advisor on issues related to defense. Another entity, the Department of Veterans Affairs, is separate from DoD and concentrates primarily on the veterans. The department of veterans’ affairs is a highly structured entity that governs recruitment, development, growth, and discharge of the soldiers. The US Army is one of the three core military departments, Army, Navy, and the Air Force. The US Army is comprised of two distinct components the active and the reserve components.
In the US Army workplace, both the characteristics of an individual and the military structure are vital in the recruitment and the development of the soldiers. Therefore, the US military culture is essentially a product of the social environment that is grounded in shared values, norms, mission, and vision. The US Army which was founded more than two centuries ago in June 14, 1775 mission statement asserts that the organization’s mission is to fight and win the USA's war by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders CITATION Mye18 \l 1033 (Myers, 2018). Apart from the mission statement that governs the activities of the soldiers, the core values in the US army are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. Indeed, the recent changes in the vision statement, which currently states that the army will be ready to deploy, fight, and win decisively against any adversary at any time anywhere, in a joint, multi-domain, high-intensity conflict while simultaneously deterring others and maintaining its ability to conduct irregular warfare illustrates the extensive dedication associated with the US Army workplace environment CITATION Mye18 \l 1033 (Myers, 2018). Grounded in the US Army mission, vision and core values, the paper investigates the relationship between the military leaders or recruiters and the soldiers. The article focuses on how they assist new recruiter integrate into the army, develop and how the US army is embracing technological advancements of the 21st century to recruit more members to the military.
Competency Assessment
Values Domain
Trans-disciplinary focus
Trans-disciplinary focus describes efforts of engaging perspectives from different disciplines or professions to advance knowledge and experience that transcends the individual views of each. The USA Army, like many other institutions, both private and the public across the globe, recognizes the importance of trans-disciplinary focus in efforts of sustainable development in the society. The US military work environment is currently a combination of various social and natural sciences that collaborate between and amongst themselves with the relevant societal groups in efforts of taking advantage of the idea of integrated research and development CITATION Tre19 \l 1033 (Trent, 2019). In the USA Army, integration is an iterative process that encompasses the dedication of all stakeholders from the leaders and the recruiters to the soldiers and the recruited. The USA Army is a combination of different disciples and professions that ensure effective development of weapons and recruitment from the development of weapons, to the training of the soldiers, to the delivery of service and the discharge from the army and integration into the society. A case in point is how the fields of psychology, information technology, and military science have collaborated over the past decades to ensure soldiers are trained to their full capacity. For instance, the simulations of different scenarios that can occur in the battlefield assist inadequate preparations. Undeniably, the collaboration of these particular fields has facilitated the effective integration of new recruiters into the USA army. Similarly, the schools of psychology, nursing, healthcare, and military science work in collaboration to ensure the veterans are effectively integrated into society upon retiring from the army. During the veteran job fair, it is immediately evident that different entities come together not only to employ the retired veterans but also to facilitated quality living.
Facilitation
Systems thinking
Systems thinking describe the ability to recognize the interrelationships of internal and external elements that affect an organization ability to work per their mission and achieve its vision in addition to incorporating system-level adaptations that aim to move an organization towards its goals. In the past two decades, the USA Army was embroiled in different missions in Iraq and Afghanistan that necessitated a deeper understanding of several facets related to delivering the purpose including the local social systems CITATION Tho19 \l 1033 (Thomas, 2019). Therefore, the Army leaders turned to systems thinking and design thinking in efforts of adequately preparing the soldiers. Systems’ thinking was immediately applied in training in defining problems and in the development of approaches to the strategic and operational challenges.
Additionally, although the USA military is particularly grounded on strict structures, in recent years, the leaders allow the input of the soldiers, therefore in no small extent supporting the development of their leadership style. Allowing the contribution of the soldiers in the army is particularly important since it appeals to the concepts of systems thinking while enabling leaders to monitor the growth and development of the soldiers CITATION Tre19 \l 1033 (Trent, 2019). Since system systems thinking emphasizes real-world problems and systems, the USA army has applied the technique to align mental models with the mission and goals of the organization and subsequently the society as a whole.
Talent Development
Talent development emphasizes the importance of an organizational climate that fosters and facilitates personal mastery by encouraging the actualization of the highest potential for growth, creativity, and reflective thinking among all the members of an organization. It is the responsibility of the recruiters to acknowledge the individual talent and work to cultivate it in each soldier throughout their careers. Talent describes the total of a soldier's unique abilities, experiences, and habits. Indeed, it is essential for the recruiters and subsequently leaders to recognize how a soldier's life experiences, personal and familial relationships, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, personality, education, and learning styles contribute to the individual soldier's raw talent and as such their role in the military CITATION Lau11 \l 1033 (Laurence, 2011). Owing to the sensitivity of the work environment that it is the army, it is essential for the recruiters and the leaders to invest in talent management, which facilitates the balancing of the needs of the soldiers and that of the army. Therefore, talent development, to no small extent facilitates proper placement in addition to empowering the employees. The emphasis on the unique capabilities of each soldier is the reason army leaders can mentor individual soldiers to adopt their leadership techniques. Talent management is not forced, generic or cyclical; instead, it is based upon getting to know and understand each soldier in addition to recognizing the needs of the US army CITATION Tin13 \l 1033 (Tinoco & Arnaud, 2013). Talent development encompasses lines of effort from the top-down and the bottom up, which facilitates the development of great leaders that recognize the mission, vision, and goals of the USA Army and how to achieve these objectives effectively.