[JGarcia]

This may be a bit long, but I think its relevant to our topic on this thread and I think the article is really interesting. If I offended any of you with this lengthy article I will promptly delete these posts.

Infantry Online 04/15/03
Timely News for the Infantry Community

“The Ultimate Weapon”; Harnessing the combat multiplier of a Warrior Mindset

by MAJ Gregory Burbelo & DR. Nate Zinsser

The term “warrior ethos” is a concept cherished in the Infantry as our transforming doctrine and literature continues to reference the need to build and sustain this intangible component to war fighting readiness and success. The purpose of this article is to identify the major psychological components of this concept and recommend unique instructional training techniques to systematically harness and promote key elements of a warrior ethos, built through a comprehensive life-long, leader development process taught in the NCOES and OES systems. This article will summarize key points from larger blocks of formal instruction that are potentially available for training.

What is a warrior ethos?

According to FM 22-100, a warrior ethos refers to the attitudes and beliefs that characterize the American soldier. It is the will to win and ability to drive-on to complete the mission and thus persevere under the worst of conditions. Our Infantry knows this concept to be about mental toughness, courage, dedication, honor and a winning attitude. However, a void exists in the current Leader Development Process, as there are no specific tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for developing a trait deemed so critical to battlefield success. One of the reasons behind the difficulty of specifically training the warrior ethos is that it is a mindset consisting of both mental and emotional attributes which by definition are difficult to measure. Our doctrine clearly states what we must be, but does not particularly address how we get there.

Where does a warrior ethos really come from? Is it the chicken (Tough training) or the egg (mindset)?

Most leaders profess that a warrior ethos is built through tough, realistic and demanding training. Experience such as this is indeed a great teacher, but it has two serious limitations. First, experience is externally based, and that limits its usefulness as a source for development of a warrior ethos, due to the fact that this warrior ethos is an internal mindset for success and achievement. Additionally, although many soldiers and leaders undergo tough, realistic, and demanding training, some still outperform others on the battlefield. For example, if soldiers and leaders in the same platoon all receive the same, tough, and realistic training, why then do certain soldiers or leaders excel while exhibiting unusual levels of confidence and composure whereas other soldiers just meet the standards of performance or even fall below them? One can make an educated guess that certain soldiers possess more of a warrior ethos than others and that tough, realistic training does not necessarily guarantee the development of a warrior ethos. The bigger question we must then ask ourselves, is what are the determinates which make soldiers and leaders acquire a warrior ethos?

In answering this question, the field of Applied Sport Psychology offers promising techniques which can be applied to leader development training. This practical field of study is devoted to systematically training a championship or winning mindset of athletes, to enable them to achieve excellence. Applied Sport Psychology produces training protocols, particularly for Olympic and professional athletes, which methodically seek to enhance confidence despite setbacks, concentration amidst distractions and composure during times of stress. A championship mindset and a warrior ethos are strikingly similar. This connection between warrior and athlete is also firmly grounded as a recent Soldier Magazine article on The Best Ranger Competition described the competitors as “World Class Athletes.”

What can we learn from the field of Applied Sport Psychology to systematically train a warrior ethos?

The development of a warrior ethos starts with the understanding of the relationship between the mental and emotional attributes of the Leadership Framework and a warrior ethos. Confidence, composure, iniative, self-control and balance point to the very essence of an ethos. Standard physical, technical and tactical training builds competence but does not directly address the mental and emotional skills needed to demonstrate a warrior ethos. Surely, the physical practice aspect of training does produce a certain level of mental readiness, however professional trainers and coaches in athletics realize the need to specifically address the undeniable mental side of performance, thus providing athletes both physical, technical and mental skills to reach their full potential. This is exactly the training we need in our Infantry which would give soldiers the complete package of not only world-class- technical, tactical and physical training but also training which would ensure a mental edge. Below are six interrelated training methods and concepts that can be used to harness a warrior mindset. The non-standard incorporation of mental training requires an education phase (before training), application phase (during training) and assessment phase (after training). The sole purpose of Applied Warrior Psychology training would be to help the soldier/leader achieve his maximum potential through appropriate mental and emotional skills training.

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