For those of you who are not career military, I’d like to explain a bit of the military mentality, if there really is such a thing.
Military organizations thrive on problem-solving. All professional education in the military have some form of problem resolution aspect in the curriculum. It can be classroom discussion of an issue and procedures for resolving all aspects. It takes the form of “what-if” and encourages discussion.
Another type is wrapped in gaming, whether it be a war game, athletic activity such as Flickerball (where knowing the rules and using them to advantage can win the game), or scenario progression. Sometime this takes the form of analyzing a survival situation where the group debates relative utility of various objects and their potential uses.
One used at Air Force schools is the Leadership Reaction Course. A series of stations provide obstacles to be overcome using pieces of rope or boards. The team has to develop a plan and determine how the tools can be used. Often, props are provided which would be of no help at all. The group uses collective imagination to develop a solution.
The primary thing all these have in common is that nobody is to blame for the predicament. There is a problem, and it must be solved. Period.
This is something I had a difficult time with when I retired from the Air Force. As soon as I pointed out a problem, people began looking around wondering who I was blaming. The focus was on who caused the problem rather than defining the problem so it could be resolved. I was accused of “being negative.”
In the military, if someone says, “That’s not right,” the response is, “How do we fix it?”
Military personnel understand this. Journalists do not. Well, some do. Dr Bob Arnot is one who does.
Many journalists and their bosses back home want the “exciting story” or the “investigative angle.” This is contrary to what the military wants. We’re not interested in digging up more problems to solve, we already have plenty, thank you. The most frustrating thing is that if I find a problem, I fix it. Journalists don’t.
Neither do GIs want to be the object of false praise. Most are accustomed to a “good job” when they’ve done something pretty special. But they view most of what they do, including heroic things, as what they do for a living. No praise required.
This is something Arnot and the embedded journalists understood.
Maj. Clark Taylor e-mailed NYTV from Baghdad to state that Dr. Arnot “highlighted what is really happening over here ?. He generally reported positive things because, generally, that is what is happening. Of course there are occasional bad things ? and he reported those as well. The fact was, he reported what he saw?which generally was positive.”
That is all the military asks–report fairly, good and bad. We know there will be some of both. But if you see a problem, let us know so we can fix it.