This section of the book, especially the chapter about the wounding, shows a lot of leadership traits that McDonough has; some good and some bad. Just like in past chapters, he is showing good leadership skills by being on the patrols in the first place. However, one issue that I have with a leadership tactics comes up when they encounter the men that Sergeant Donne claims are VC. They are getting ready to fire upon the men and take them out, but McDonough steps in and stops them. While his intentions are noble, he was concerned for the young child and wanted to take prisoners, I think this would have been a time to listen to his NCO. This is the first time that McDonough has told us that he encountered any enemies on a patrol. Though he was concerned about the plan, his complete inexperience in the situation should have given more merit to Donne’s plan. While enacting McDonough’s plan, he was wounded by a mortar round. After this, however, I am amazed by his leadership ability. Even though he was just hit and he is very disoriented, he still started giving out orders to protect his men. He had them go into security, and also asked about if any other were wounded, caring about them also. Finally, he still made sure to give returning orders and leave a chain of command in place on the way out. Another chapter in this section (Chapter 9) names a lot of the members of McDonough’s platoon and he talks about their lives and what type of fighter they are. I think that this is very important, as it shows how important it is to McDonough to know his men, and it is obvious that he respects them too. It is this kind of empathy that is important to have when in charge.
This section of our reading really started to show the elements of leadership that Lieutenant McDonough portrayed during his time in Vietnam. The first two chapters came as a bit of a shock to me. I did not anticipate the main character to fall victim to a booby trap in one of his very first patrols. After the initial shock of this event, McDonough rallied himself and performed the necessary leadership tasks to preserve the lives of his unit, despite being wounded himself. In this instance, resilience and Military Bearing were overwhelmingly evident. He placed his men before himself and wanted to know whether they sustained any other casualties before accepting medical aid for his own wounds. McDonough was disheartened and forced away from his unit, but did his best to communicate with the other injured soldiers in the hospital and keep their heads up and attitudes positive, which is another core element of leadership. I liked how when McDonough returned to his platoon, he instituted strict measures to keep his platoon in line both in image and with regard to weapons and equipment. He made use of his squad leaders and platoon sergeant and extended his influence and innovated in a way that would keep his men both in line and safe, whether they knew it or not. The selection ends with McDonough describing some of his different men. They truly came from all walks of life, but there were signs that they were becoming a team that backed one another up, and that all starts with the Platoon Leader having the empathy to getting to know his men.
The most striking example of McDonough's leadership ability in these chapters is his resilience in the face of crippling wounds. He was hit badly and evacuated; he could have sought the easy way out and left his men. In fact, one of his squad leaders urged him to get out, but he knew he had a duty to fulfill.
McDonough also showed great confidence as a leader. Even though a mistake in the field led to his wounding, McDonough asserted himself and displayed confidence in his decisions as the leader of the platoon. It was a tough call not to fire on the old man and child, but he was right to claim it as his decision alone.
That he spent several chapters simply describing the people he worked with tells us that McDonough was an empathetic leader in the field. He obviously took time to learn not only about his men, but about the Vietnamese he defended. In that sense, he was also displaying interpersonal tact by developing his relations with the locals.
Finally, McDonough restated that great tenant of the Warrior Ethos, "I will never accept defeat," when he says in Chapter 8: "They would not kill me; they would not kill my men. We would kill them first."
One of the things that I greatly respect McDonough for in the beginning of this reading is his willingness to go against the decision of his more experienced comrades and not kill the Vietnamese people on the patrol. They may have been VC and they may not have been. That gray area presented him with a serious issue, but because of his confidence in himself and his moral compass he made the moral decision, which may have gotten him injured, but in the end what is going to affect you longer: an injury or the memory of the killing of potentially innocent people?
The other striking example for me of his leadership is the way that he deals with his injury. He goes through the process to recover and then gets right back out into the field to take back control of his platoon. His resilience is astounding, and after a slight slip up on his first patrol back he is back to good fighting wits. His resilience and military bearing, even in the face of such a bad environment and still being relatively new is a great example of leadership.
This section of the book, especially the chapter about the wounding, shows a lot of leadership traits that McDonough has; some good and some bad. Just like in past chapters, he is showing good leadership skills by being on the patrols in the first place. However, one issue that I have with a leadership tactics comes up when they encounter the men that Sergeant Donne claims are VC. They are getting ready to fire upon the men and take them out, but McDonough steps in and stops them. While his intentions are noble, he was concerned for the young child and wanted to take prisoners, I think this would have been a time to listen to his NCO. This is the first time that McDonough has told us that he encountered any enemies on a patrol. Though he was concerned about the plan, his complete inexperience in the situation should have given more merit to Donne’s plan. While enacting McDonough’s plan, he was wounded by a mortar round. After this, however, I am amazed by his leadership ability. Even though he was just hit and he is very disoriented, he still started giving out orders to protect his men. He had them go into security, and also asked about if any other were wounded, caring about them also. Finally, he still made sure to give returning orders and leave a chain of command in place on the way out. Another chapter in this section (Chapter 9) names a lot of the members of McDonough’s platoon and he talks about their lives and what type of fighter they are. I think that this is very important, as it shows how important it is to McDonough to know his men, and it is obvious that he respects them too. It is this kind of empathy that is important to have when in charge.
ReplyDeleteThis section of our reading really started to show the elements of leadership that Lieutenant McDonough portrayed during his time in Vietnam. The first two chapters came as a bit of a shock to me. I did not anticipate the main character to fall victim to a booby trap in one of his very first patrols. After the initial shock of this event, McDonough rallied himself and performed the necessary leadership tasks to preserve the lives of his unit, despite being wounded himself. In this instance, resilience and Military Bearing were overwhelmingly evident. He placed his men before himself and wanted to know whether they sustained any other casualties before accepting medical aid for his own wounds. McDonough was disheartened and forced away from his unit, but did his best to communicate with the other injured soldiers in the hospital and keep their heads up and attitudes positive, which is another core element of leadership. I liked how when McDonough returned to his platoon, he instituted strict measures to keep his platoon in line both in image and with regard to weapons and equipment. He made use of his squad leaders and platoon sergeant and extended his influence and innovated in a way that would keep his men both in line and safe, whether they knew it or not. The selection ends with McDonough describing some of his different men. They truly came from all walks of life, but there were signs that they were becoming a team that backed one another up, and that all starts with the Platoon Leader having the empathy to getting to know his men.
ReplyDeleteThe most striking example of McDonough's leadership ability in these chapters is his resilience in the face of crippling wounds. He was hit badly and evacuated; he could have sought the easy way out and left his men. In fact, one of his squad leaders urged him to get out, but he knew he had a duty to fulfill.
ReplyDeleteMcDonough also showed great confidence as a leader. Even though a mistake in the field led to his wounding, McDonough asserted himself and displayed confidence in his decisions as the leader of the platoon. It was a tough call not to fire on the old man and child, but he was right to claim it as his decision alone.
That he spent several chapters simply describing the people he worked with tells us that McDonough was an empathetic leader in the field. He obviously took time to learn not only about his men, but about the Vietnamese he defended. In that sense, he was also displaying interpersonal tact by developing his relations with the locals.
Finally, McDonough restated that great tenant of the Warrior Ethos, "I will never accept defeat," when he says in Chapter 8: "They would not kill me; they would not kill my men. We would kill them first."
One of the things that I greatly respect McDonough for in the beginning of this reading is his willingness to go against the decision of his more experienced comrades and not kill the Vietnamese people on the patrol. They may have been VC and they may not have been. That gray area presented him with a serious issue, but because of his confidence in himself and his moral compass he made the moral decision, which may have gotten him injured, but in the end what is going to affect you longer: an injury or the memory of the killing of potentially innocent people?
ReplyDeleteThe other striking example for me of his leadership is the way that he deals with his injury. He goes through the process to recover and then gets right back out into the field to take back control of his platoon. His resilience is astounding, and after a slight slip up on his first patrol back he is back to good fighting wits. His resilience and military bearing, even in the face of such a bad environment and still being relatively new is a great example of leadership.