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Intrepidity and Character Development within the Army Profession

How many Army soldiers, particularly leaders, who just read the title of this article, 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 in earlier periods. Second, 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, as we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, where it is found there is not, nor will there be, any peer to the American Army in particular battles. To refresh our understanding, the summary of action of 28 June 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, 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. So the issue we speak of in this article is the soldier's fighting spirit, his or her individual spirituality or character, and the Army's ability to understand it and to develop it in its soldiers and leaders. This is not a new subject for the Army. Many older soldiers will remember that for the post-World War II generation for example, General George Marshall spoke matter-of-factly about the common understanding within the U.S. Army: The soldiers' heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul are everything. Unless the soldier's soul sustains him, he cannot be relied on and he will fail himself, his commander, and his country in the end. It is not enough to fight. It is the spirit that wins the victory. Marshall and his colleagues in uniform were not the only Americans who understood and were comfortable to speak openly and publicly about the importance of the individual spirituality of our soldiers. At the new WWII Memorial on the Mall, Washington, D.C. is inscribed: They had no right to win. Yet they did, and in doing so they changed the course of a war...even against the greatest of odds, there is something in the human spirit-a magic blend of skill, faith, and valor-that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory. The American public understands and, appropriately, has memorialized the role of the human spirit in mortal combat. Turning to the Army profession, then, how does it understand and talk about the spirituality of individual soldiers and its influence on their behavior, particularly in combat? The Army's approach centers on the Warrior Ethos, which has been promulgated as a four-sentence portion of the Soldier's Creed: "I will always place the mission first. …