The Importance to Educate Or Train Leaders Army

The main point of this essay is that the Army should educate and train leaders to prepare for the challenges ahead. To form a well-balanced leader for the Army, there is a need for qualities from both education and training. Training is important for leaders to pass on past knowledge and better understanding over a wide variety of subjects and make them proficient in the task assigned to them. More education helps to understand information and gives practical wisdom for on and off the battlefield. Both education and training are equally important and help make a more balanced leader.

The importance of training for a good leader is to make them competent in their abilities to do the tasks assigned to them, and learn from past experiences. Without this level of competence, a leader will not be able to fulfil their role. In the Army, there is no need for a leader who cannot accomplish their own basic tasks. Lt. Gen. Peggee recently came out with an important article discussing training. Lt. Gen. Peggee explained that training and constant practice is how missions are done. Constant training and practice is how the Army as a whole works to become ready for anything, which is major priority for the Army. All soldiers, regardless of rank and level, must be prepared and ready to accomplish the mission at hand. Whatever the mission, leaders must be ready to fulfil their duty to be an effective leader. Readiness through training exceeds outside the box of training and developing. Training also extends to learning to do the task better than previously done from past experience. Superior ranking, or superior experienced Soldiers are the members who make up most of these training environments. The superior ranking Soldiers pass on knowledge that is beneficial for the junior Soldier to practice and understand. This knowledge helps to make themselves better and more effective leaders by learning from the past.

Education is another important tool in creating a good leader as education increases the leader’s wisdom and understanding as a whole. To be an effective leader, education helps to understand a large variety of different scenarios. Morgan-Owen, a reporter for the War on the Rocks, recently wrote an article that expressed how important education is needed for future operations within the Army. Morgan-Owen goes on to express how education is needed to combat unknown factors due to technology and cultural differences. As stated, having uncertainties in combat or in large scale scenarios is not what any leader wants to face when challenged, or they risk failing their mission. Education is how we combat the uncertainties. A broad education helps reduce unknown factors that all leaders face in their career. Having uncertainties can be the difference between a successful mission and a mission that ends in failure.

Combining both education and training is how the Army achieves leaders who are prepared for the challenges they face. The importance of all Soldiers being well-educated cannot go understated, as Soldiers are the main asset of the Army. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III expressed recently how it is not the weapons, tanks, or helicopters that are important for missions. It is, in fact, the Soldiers who are the greatest asset that the Army has. The Army needs their best asset to perform at its best. In order to accomplish this goal, Soldiers need to be proficient in all aspects, whether that be training or education. To excel is to combine the both education and training together and use all assets to become even better. A Soldier who is well trained and educated will have the best information to work from. Education will bring about wisdom and understanding that is not possible in a training environment. Training can put into practice the wisdom and past experience to make the Soldier preform at their best. Training opens the Soldier to more conflicts that will demand more wisdom on the Soldier behalf, which they can fall back to their education. This endless loop is a helpful way to prepare for the conflicts ahead that any leader may face.

In conclusion, the Army needs capable leaders who are well rounded in both education and training. Training is important due to the practice and learned knowledge form past experiences. Education is important for its overall broad scope and wisdom that it brings to the table. Together, education and training rounds the skill of the leader to be the best that they can be. The best tool that the Army has is its personnel. The Soldiers who follow are why a great leader needs to go out of their way to better themselves. It is not just for the good of themselves, but for the good of their fellow Soldiers and the mission.

Works Cited

• Morgan-Owen, D. (2018, July 25). Approaching a Fork in the Road: Professional Education and Military Learning. Retrieved from War on the Rocks: https://warontherocks.com/2018/07/approaching-a-fork-in-the-road-professional-education-and-military-learning/Piggee, L. G. (2017, February 28). The next evolution of Army training. Retrieved from U.S. Army:
• https://www.army.mil/article/182946/the_next_evolution_of_army_trainingVergun, D. (2012, October 24). Austin says 'Soldiers Army's greatest asset'. Retrieved from Army.mil: https://www.army.mil/article/89816/austin_says_soldiers_armys_greatest_asset