Diversity Thursday

cohesion, not division, is where you find strength

There is a reason that for the couple of decades when you wander over to the Front Porch most Thursdays we are discussing the creeping danger of those who intentionally inject division, sectarianism, segregation, and other steps to heighten innate differences between individuals into our military.

History shows us that no nation, nor its military, has ever prospered by fostering internal division.

There is a reason that the finest traditions of our military in general, and our Navy in particular, have in its best lexicon phrases and emphasis on unity:

• Ship. Shipmate. Self.

• Unit cohesion.

• Good order and discipline.

• Band of Brothers.

• Standards.

• Crew.

• Unit.

• Even what we wear - uniform.

Anything else causes sub-optimal performance for any military unit. At peace, that causes morale, readiness, and retention issues - and no small bit of both intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict.

These DivThu discussions came to mind while listening to an outstanding podcast over the weekend where the host and his guest did not directly mention this ongoing conflict we see from MEPS to SCOTUS, but the threads connecting the two were unavoidable.

On your commute today or at your desk if you can, I ask you to listen to this podcast that first came out in 2022, hosted by John Amble and was brought back last weekend.

The guest was John Spencer, a retired infantry officer and Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI). The podcast discussed some of the lessons from his book Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connections in Modern War, a book where in part,

… Spencer delivers lessons learned about effective methods for building teams in a way that overcomes the distractions of home and the outside world, without reducing the benefits gained from connections to family.

The Modern War Institute Podcast continues to produce some of the best material out there. If you’re not subscribed, you’re missing out.

You can listen to the podcast here, or below.