Kevin Sudbeck - For His Son - Charles
"When one is deprived of ones liberty, one is right in blaming not so much the man who puts the shackles on as the one who had the power to prevent him, but did not use it." — Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War)
When my son asked me to do this scholarship essay on his behalf, the obvious audience for this essay would be the scholarship committee. However, I will take the opportunity to make my son the primary audience for this essay and the scholarship committee will be the secondary audience. My son has shown an interest in serving his country following college, and I would like to take the opportunity to shape his expectations and thinking upon future military service. I hope to distill my three combat tours and 25 years of military experience into three central themes for him to consider: effort, education and empathy.
A central lesson the military has taught me is that with effort, all things are possible. The task will get done, with the appropriate amount of effort. It may not be completed in an eloquent manner, but the task will be completed. I have learned that effort plus education and talent equals performance. All are not granted the same levels of talent, but no one is limited in the ability to exert effort. The only limiting factor in exerting effort is oneself. Remove that mental barrier and all things are possible.
"A nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its laws made by cowards and its wars fought by fools." — Thucydides
All my higher education has been provided by the military. A Navy ROTC scholarship provided me the opportunity to earn a degree in Chemistry and attendance at the Naval Postgraduate School allowed me to earn a Masters in Business Administration. My undergraduate degree provided me a greater technical understanding of the natural world and my graduate degree provided me an in-depth understanding of organization's and an individual's motivations and interests. Both these educational opportunities shaped my ability to examine complicated problems and provided solutions which are more eloquent in nature. These educational opportunities have increased my ability to perceive how the world works and have enriched my ability to work more efficiently and effectively within this world.
Even in the politically benign environment of the military, understanding the politics of the military, our country and the world allows one to work in harmony with our country's political leaders. The military is just one tool of our nation's diplomatic policy, and an understanding of that role aids in these efforts. In my last 8 years in the military, I have worked extensively with many allies. This required a greater understanding of how our country fits into the world and a cultural sensitivity that I did realize would be required upon my commissioning. Without my graduate education, I would have been a blundering fool.
"War is evil, but it is often the lesser evil." George Orwell. Whether it is political, military or religious philosophy, to understand the underlying philosophy of an adversary or an ally enables one to understand their motivations and subsequent decision making. This understanding allows one to develop courses of action to work in harmony with our allies, to leverage this knowledge against our adversaries or to persuade the undecided towards a more rational decision. Conflict is a human activity, one which has to be dealt with and managed.
"The intellectual identification of the thoughts, feelings, or state of another person; capacity to understand another person's point of view or the result of such understanding." - (en.wiktionary.org/wiki/empathy)
This is not only empathy for the adversary, but empathy for those patriotic men and women who volunteer to serve their country. A leader does not treat those under his charge in a subservient manner, but a leader promotes an environment of mutual understanding, congruent thinking and synergistic action to achieve the nation's desired goals.
Wisdom is a deep understanding of people, things, events or situations, empowering the ability to choose or act to consistently produce the optimum results with a minimum of time and energy. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(psychological)) Wisdom and perspective come from education and experience. These abstract components are as vital to the modern military officer as is the concrete components of military service, such as the rifle and the radio.
Generally speaking, people are guided by their self-interest, and understanding this within the framework of their culture enhances the achievement of a non-violent outcome to our nation's foreign policy. These outcomes are also dependent on the rationality of the state actor in question. An in-depth understanding of a nation and their culture does not necessarily protect against irrational state actors, but can achieve much with rational state actors. These irrational actors will necessitate a violent action to produce a positive outcome if necessary, in order to protect the citizens against violence. Education of these abstract issues provides a competitive advantage to those who forgo a greater understanding of a nation's culture.
As we have seen in Iraq and parts of Afghanistan; professional, respectful and empathic treatment of our adversaries persuaded them to become our allies, resulting in a positive result with minimal use of force. A full understanding of our adversary's perspective and interests accomplished what force could not. I could not have contributed to this productive outcome without the education I received as paid for by my nation. My education was funded by the taxpayers, and without it I would not have been able to contribute to their safety and well-being without it. My education has provided me the ability to not only understand these abstract ideals, but the ability to express them in a manner to produce a positive result in the long run.
"For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill." Sun Tzu
