Leadership in the military is a concept that has widely been used and considers the interaction between the subordinates and the army leader in their organization. It includes responsibility, authority, and chain of command as essential elements. It aims at supporting the productivity and effectiveness of the leader by offering security service. Leadership encourages sympathy towards the needs of the colleagues taking into account other issues from different perceptions and thinking. According to Finney, leadership being the least expensive is a highly valued resource possessed by the military. Failure to develop effective leaders can have a huge impact at the institutional and personal level. Leadership is critical to the success of all military efforts. It shapes the culture of the organization in a manner that directly affects the outcome and performance of units and the people. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the similarities and differences between combat and Garrison leadership. (Ellerman, 2016).
Combat leadership
Military commanders in the battlefield are faced with a myriad of issues that call for strong leadership skills. A leader's decision can be the making or breaking point for any unit on the battlefield. A leader needs to make informed tactical decisions when faced with a situation that requires an immediate response. The commander is faced with different choices like where to locate a camp when to attack, the arrangement of the defense lines when to call for reinforcement or to withdraw. Being able to make such decisions promptly will determine whether the unit succeeds or not (Ellerman, 2016; Ozlen & Zukic, 2013).
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With the start of the twentieth century, emerging challenges like increased terrorism activities have forced militaries to rethink their combat strategies. The focus has shifted to making armies smaller, lighter and quicker to their operations. With the changes in their mode of transactions army commanders face new challenges that require strong leadership capabilities. As the commanding officer of a unit in combat, it is paramount to maintain a dedicated group that is united, motivated and focused Leaders require additional training to enhance their knowledge about leadership in the fighting environments enabling them to deal with the emerging challenges (Ellerman, 2016; Ozlen & Zukic, 2013).
Garrison leadership
In a garrison, soldiers still demand good order and standards of conduct. Leaders have to instill the traditions while honing the tactical skills and staying sharp. All soldiers are required to be all rounded and respect the traditions of leadership in the garrison. Leaders, therefore, must understand their soldiers, history of the units, and the distinctions of the personnel (Mattson, 2013).
Troops in the garrison are faced by unique issues including; alcohol abuse, domestic violence, family issues, crimes, suicide, a felony, drug use, high-risk behavior, financial issues, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Leaders should understand these matters and how they might affect their performance. It is the responsibility of commanders to build competent leaders who will be useful in a deployed environment. Garrisons should train and prepare soldiers for combat. It instills the army culture and elaborates the traditions. It also reinforces them on the structured self-development enabling them to develop strong skills and that can make them successful in combat. It is only in garrisons that one can learn about each soldier and identify their abilities for future engagements (Mattson, 2013).
Comparison
Combat and garrison environments require leaders who know how to lead with adequate levels of competency and skill set, with a strong commitment to success and commanding high levels of trust from soldiers. Leadership styles including transactional, adaptive, authentic, transformative and shared leadership are applicable in different settings. Similarly, the leaders' factors including physical, mental, spiritual, selfless service, efficacy, and identity have been recognized to determine the outcome of a decision, and their success is imminent when all factors are integrated (Ellerman, 2016; Mattson, 2013; Ozlen & Zukic, 2013).
Leaders both in combat and garrison need to be trained to be able to eliminate stress, especially for combat officers, to cultivate a sense of cohesion, coherence and esprit de corps in their respective units. With training, leaders can respond to questions of morality, legitimacy, and rightness. They need to be able to facilitate respect, mutuality and the achievement of a common goal in their units. Leaders in the military irrespective of whether they are in combat or garrison will affect how organizational factors like training, leadership, communication, resource allocation and rapid response are achieved (Ellerman, 2016; Mattson, 2013; Ozlen & Zukic, 2013).
Conclusion
The similarities and differences of military leadership in combat and the garrisons depend on several factors that are unique to each situation. There is no defined leadership style applicable in all combat or the garrison, and success in one area can lead to a total failure in the other. In the majority of the situations, the success of a leader depends on their ability to make the right decision and how they understand the soldiers. The success of every leader in combat and garrison also depends on their capacity to integrate their factors and their leadership style. Lastly, there is no combat or garrison command, and it all depends on the context and situation and how best the leader reacts to them. In short leadership in the military is leadership irrespective of the context (Ozlen & Zukic, 2013).
References
. Commanders handbook for unit leader development . (2007). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army.
Ellerman, D. Drita, (2016). Effective Combat Leadership: How do Individual, Social, and Organizational Factors in the U.S. Army Reserve Cultivate Effective Women's Leadership in Dangerous Contexts?" Dissertations & Theses. 266
Mattson, j. (2013). Leading soldiers in Garrisons . Nco journal .
Ozlen, M. K., & Zukic, A. (2013). A Descriptive Study on the Military Leadership. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences,3 (7). doi:10.6007/ijarbss/v3-i7/102
