COMMENTARY>>Leading from the past

By Lt. Col. Charles Brown
62nd Airlift Squadron commander

As professional Airmen we all know it is our responsibility to accomplish our professional development through either developed curriculum or while involved in the numerous leadership programs the Air Force sends us through during the course of our careers. But what about our individual responsibility to learn from those who came before us? As a young Airman I found that I was too busy in my day-to-day activities to spend my evenings, or free-time on the weekend, reading anything other than the sports page in the local paper, or possibly a John Grisham novel whose works was already out in movie format and whose endings I already knew.

However, as I went along in my career, I found myself in certain situations that I was having trouble finding the answers to.

Though I had done my professional development via correspondence, the thing I was looking for was, “What have others done in similar situations?” It was at this point that I began to read literature written from a fellow warrior’s perspective on a variety of professional situations. Whether it was an extreme situation such as “Black Hawk Down” where special forces were forced to do battle in a manner to which it could be argued they were not prepared for, to a very strategic perspective such as Tom Clancy and Retired Gen. Charles Horner’s “Every Man a Tiger,” where one man and a small team of his peers were charged with developing the air campaign that would lead the way to victory in Operation Desert Storm. I began to see there are no real new problems, just new ways in which to solve them in an ever-evolving technological and global environment.

As a new commander, I find myself reaching as far back as Thucydides writing of the Spartan battle with the Persians, to the Civil War where Confederate leaders executed a flawed battle plan at Gettysburg in an effort to expedite an end to the war. The words of those who have taken the time to share their successes and failures, laid the foundation for the lessons learned available today.

The chief of staff of the Air Force believes so strongly in this concept that he takes the time to share his preferred reading list.

This list is not in any way used to try and take away individuals free time in an extreme operations tempo Air Force wide. It’s his way of taking care of his fellow Airmen, and sharing the works from which he was able to pull valuable lessons that prepared him to make decisions on difficult problems he has, and may encounter.

In today’s battle against insurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq readings from Gen. Norton Schwartz’s list such as Jeffrey Record’s “Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win,” or Max Boot’s [“The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power,” provide insight from the enemy’s perspective as to how and why they continue to fight.] From a fellow warrior’s perspective, Sean Naylor’s “Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda,” shows combat leadership being tested under extreme stress and duress.

It’s never too late to begin learning from those who came before us. In today’s high ops tempo and continuously changing environment, finding out after you are forced to deal with a difficult situation that similar problems existed and have been dealt with successfully is too late. Take the time to seek insight from those who came before us, and don’t be afraid to lead from the past.