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Intrepidity . . . .

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  • Intrepidity . . . .

    Stumbled across this over at SSI. Good article.

    INTREPIDITY . . . .
    AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE ARMY PROFESSION
    By
    Don M. Snider, Ph.D.
    Visiting Professor, SSI

    How many Army soldiers, particularly Leaders, who just read the title of this
    opinion piece, knew the meaning of the first word; how many brought to their reading an accurate understanding of the term? More importantly, how many Army Leaders could place a true meaning of the word into the context of the Army as a unique profession producing, for the security of the American people, fighting forces for effective land combat? Where does intrepidity fit in what the Army produces and how does the profession develop such a thing?

    I ask this question for two reasons. First, I ask it because it is a subject little
    understood and little discussed in public discourses today within American society. Extended cultural wars will do that. This means that most members of Generation Y being accessed into the Army, whether to be Soldiers or Leaders, know little of it. And that means the developmental tasks for the Army are much greater than before. Secondly, I ask this question because, without a right understanding of intrepidity and a capability to develop it within its Generation Y Soldiers, the Army has little chance of being an effective fighting force. In contrast, where it is found there is not, nor will there be, any peer to the American Army as a fighting force.

    To refresh our understanding, the summary of action of June 28, 2005, Operation REDWING, Afghanistan, describes the battlefield deeds of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy: “By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and inspirational devotion to his men in the face of certain death, Lieutenant Murphy was able to relay the position of his unit, an act that ultimately led to the rescue of [Hospital Corpsman 2d Class] Luttrell and the recovery of the remains of the three who were killed in the battle.” As the Medal of Honor citation makes clear, Lieutenant Murphy was able to choose, in the face of certain death, to expose himself in open terrain for better communications in the chance that his teammates might be reinforced and
    rescued. He was able to do that because within his “fighting spirit” he had developed intrepidity—“a resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance,” according to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

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