The United States Army Officer Training has been a cornerstone of leadership training for our nation. A cornerstone that leaves little to doubt the ability of the U.S. Army to train America’s leader for the future. While we have experienced revelations that this leadership training of todays military is expanding its role to be more of a moral enforcer than a strong deterrent for those that would do America evil. One important aspect of the American Serviceman and Servicewoman is the ability to move, shoot and communicate; an aspect that it is hoped is not lost in the new indoctrination of the American Fighting Man.
Last week the world witnessed an attempted assassination of a former President of the United States. It failed by a mere few centimeters. For those that slept through their metric conversion class, 2.54 centimeters equals one inch. Due to an error of less than an inch by a would-be assassin, America was spared the confusion, the hate, the sadness, the theories and the further emotional drama that surrounds a political assassination. We have experienced a religious transformation of sorts as cries of Devine intervention rings around the world as we witness the closeness to Donald Trump’s skull to the potential death projectile and the fact that he made a sudden turn that saved the former president from certain death. Then it was disclosed that the shot from the anti-sniper team made a death shot to the would-be-assassin in what has been referred to as a one-in-a-million shot. Devine guidance, that is up to the reader to decide.
If the American Infantryman is to be successful on the battlefield it is not what pronoun is used that will provide that tactical edge, For the American Infantryman to be successful that person must be a member of a well oiled, well disciplined, highly trained and in extreme physical shape. This unique human that demands respect merely by his or her presence must have the tools to accomplish a mission. This individual must be able to move, shoot and communicate. This training and ability permeates through the civilian world of America’s corporate community though the shooting becomes the ability to act and make the right decision quickly.
Last week’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump discloses a major breakdown in the ability to move, shoot and communicate. The biggest breakdown we witnessed was the ability to communicate. The men and women on the ground had the individual ability to protect a former president. What wasn’t available was the planning and coordination that pulls a good plan together. This does not reside at the level of the man with the boots on the ground but is a deliverable provided by the leadership, the man in command. This plan must be developed, distributed to all members of the team and well understood by every member of the team. There must be a communication channel that all members of a security team should understand and use. This was a failure.
The would be assassin was seen prior to the shooting. He was photographed on the building he shot from minutes before he fired. When this observation was made, there should have been an immediate response. The president should have either never been on the stage or removed; prior to the shot being fired. Had this happened, a brave father would still be alive, two wounded would be home with their families and a would-be-assassin would be in custody providing valuable information to law enforcement agencies.
There is another communication failure. Information coming from the Secret Service, the agency responsible for the safety of key public officials, has slowly crawled out of the mouth of the Secret Service. Instead of the leader of the Secret Service calling a press conference to provide information to an American population while calming the fears of the citizenry, the leader instead hid in the background while confusion and finger pointing transpired.
Several times over the years I have closed an article by saying, sit back and enjoy the journey. It’s going to be interesting, Ten minutes ago, just as I was about to submit this article, it was announced that President Biden had dropped out of the race for the 2024 Presidential election. Sit back and enjoy the journey. It’s going to be interesting.
God Bless America, God Save the Ukraine and Pray for Israel.
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Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can …