FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas — Combined Arms Command and Fort Leavenworth Commanding General Lt. Gen. James Isenhower III met with service members and civilians assigned to CAC for an introductory town hall Dec. 5 at the Lewis and Clark Center. Isenhower, who took command in mid-November, shared his command philosophy during the town hall, and his remarks were followed by a question-and-answer session with in-person and online audiences.
Four things
Isenhower said his command/career philosophy boils down to essentially four things: treat people with dignity and respect; ask if each decision is legal, moral, ethical and safe; care enough to speak up; and prepare to fight.
“In the profession at large, we don't know when it's coming, but it will come again,” he said, recalling a study that found there were only about 16 years in history when there wasn’t a war. “It's a fundamentally human characteristic. It doesn't mean I endorse it, but we have to prepare these young men and women to be ready to fight. That's our obligation, so let's prepare to fight.
“Treat people with dignity and respect,” he reiterated. “When you make a decision, make sure it's legal, moral, ethical and safe — I got your back. Care enough to speak up. Intervene when you see something you know shouldn't be happening. And then lastly, let's all prepare to fight.”
Iterate rapidly
Isenhower used the phrase “iterate rapidly” to explain what needs to be done, essentially moving quickly from concept to implementation with increased speed, with experts weighing in to manage and embrace risk.
“I'm going to ask you to do things faster, find a more efficient way,” he said. “What I need is the feedback from the experts to say, ‘We can do that, but here's where there's risk.’ There might be a process that normally took us 30 days, and we realize with the increased digitization of our military and the capabilities we're enjoying right now that we can do it probably faster.”
Isenhower told the audience that he will always listen, and he said he encourages subordinates to try to change his mind when warranted.
“If I disagree with you, I will tell you. Ask somebody who's worked with me before, and I'm going to tell you why I'm not going down that course because I want you to know my rationale. I don't just listen to you and say, ‘Okay, thank you,’ and move out and go make a decision and don't come back at you, but I want that dialogue,” he said. “In my experience, dialoguing across a command is really important so that we make the best decisions together. Ultimately, as commander, it's my decision, and I'll be responsible — I should be responsible for it — but I need your input to make sure we're making the right decisions.”
Drive change
Isenhower said he will change something if he thinks it is wrong, but he won’t do so without asking for counsel.
“And right now, the counsel is you all and those who know the problem set better than I. So, I don't want you to think I'm going to come in and blow things up,” he said, noting that the Army and Department of War have been experiencing the turbulence of change, some at the prerogative of leaders without seemingly much analysis.
“Right now, I think many of you might agree with me that our country is going through significant change; our Department of War is going through significant change; the Department of Army is engaged on a massive transformation, unlike anything we've seen probably in about four and a half, five decades — and so I realize there can be change fatigue,” he said.
Isenhower said he has always endeavored to be a change agent, but not change that causes chaos. He stressed the importance for effective decisions made with haste, especially today as adversaries in Ukraine are combatting new techniques in a mere three weeks. He called the speed needed to adapt “eye-opening,” and said that need becomes even more relevant as AI is increasingly embraced worldwide.
Building trust
Isenhower assured the town hall attendees that he trusts them to make the right decisions.
“You're sitting in this room for a reason. You're in the position you're in for a reason,” he said. “And if we wait for permission to do things, we're more like the adversary that we're trying to train our men and women to destroy and call upon to do so. I don't want you to wait. I want to exercise discipline and initiative.”
CAC is currently experiencing considerable growth, from 8,000 to 58,000 in personnel and $.8 billion to $4 billion in budget, he said, and with a headquarters unlike any other in the Army, every soldier will be touched by it at some point in their career.
“We're going to affect not just 58,000 people, but their families, so now you're talking around 200,000, if not more. And then, potentially, the entire Army, 1.2 million, their families — you're probably talking 3 to 4 million. That's a terrific responsibility.”
In addition to effective and swift problem-solving, Isenhower said it is important to ask others what they need to help them succeed, and to embrace families and build trust.
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