The beginning of the Venezuelan military dates back to the time of the Spanish colony, when some criollos (children of Spaniards born in Venezuela) began to render their military service, for which they enlisted in the militias of Caracas, where the most profitable They were sent to the Motherland to better prepare themselves as Officers.
In this order of ideas, it is necessary to touch the cultural situation of the time, in order to better understand the total situation that framed the military activity in the Captaincy General of Venezuela:
- First: The cause considered real and accepted by the majority of contemporary historians of our emancipatory feat was that already ¨in the middle of the 18th century America felt in itself a strength that in Spain continued dormant and for that reason, for the global renewal that was taking place. he announced, the American Creole was better prepared than those peninsular - writers, politicians and officials - who, being his contemporaries, always seemed to be his grandparents ”(Augusto Mijares: El Libertador. Biblioteca Simón Bolívar, Edit. Cumbre, México, volume I, 1979), which promoted, among other causes, the will not to depend on the Crown. Second: The eminent Creole Miguel José Sanz, denounced before the City Council of Caracas ¨… vanity as the defect that transformed the ideas of parents and children about the training to be given to them.It is generally judged that there is no more science outside of that contained in the Nebrija Grammar, the Aristotelian philosophy, the Institutes of Justinian, the Philippica Curia, the Theology of Gont and that of Larraga and it is believed that knowing how to write memoirs, say masses is enough., wear Doctor's laces or wear priestly or monastic habits; that decency forbids working the land and orders contempt for the mechanical and useful arts. Out of sheer ostentation he wears the military uniform, French is mistranslated to affect Spanish; the title of lawyer is obtained to earn the daily sustenance, the priestly orders are received to acquire consideration and a vow of poverty is made in a convent precisely to get rid of it ”. (Augusto Mijares: El Libertador. Simón Bolívar Library, Edit. Summit, Mexico, volume I, 1979).In this section you can see a thought or feeling of displeasure with the peninsular society and its way of managing, where values and vision are no longer shared. Third: Much later in our history, given the need to professionalize the activity and in pursuit In order to increase the efficiency of the artillery (in the face of the latent threat of attack by pirates), the school of mathematics was created based in La Planicie, Caracas. In this School, in 1798, Second Lieutenant Simón Bolívar graduated. This school, in the long run, will become the Military School of Venezuela, a melting pot of the Army Officers proper that will be born much later. Fourth: So far we have talked about the colonial era in Venezuela. It is later,when the ¨General¨ Juan Vicente Gómez (Chief of pawns in the Mulera who accompanied Castro in his Restorative Revolution and who when he arrived in Caracas was already a ¨Coronel¨) founded the Venezuelan Armed Forces, pushed by the prevailing political circumstances at the time and due to the need to have an armed, trained, disciplined and qualified body that will guarantee stability and peace in the territory of the Venezuelan Nation.
Up to now we have gotten ourselves a lot of influence from Europe in the development of our society. For the training of the Armed Forces as such, they bring Prussian instructors, considered by far the most disciplined army in the world and Gómez's vision defined indiscipline as one of the most critical problems of his montonera. Thus begins a period of training and transformation of our ¨militaries¨, where to their traditional use of force (cruelty and / or simple abuse) we add technique, discipline and physical punishment, oriented to the formation of the soldier's character (Officers and Troop). This last consideration marked the image of the Venezuelan military, since there were many opportunities where, in the name of discipline or duty, authority and command were abused.
Gómez's successor, General Eleazar López Contreras, was responsible for advancing in the professionalization of the Armed Forces and at the same time promoting the beginning of their democratization. Thus began the General Staff Courses in the School of Chorrillo, Peru (also of Prussian descent) where the graduate with the highest grades, until very recently, was Major (Ej-Ven) Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez.
- Fifth:This fifth comment corresponds to the administration of General Pérez Jiménez (1950s), hated enemy of contemporary "democrats" and who has not been able to hide his work due to the aggrandizement of Venezuela. He rescued the Armed Forces "botiquineras" and introduced them to "military ethics", made them educated, technified, thinking, efficient and planning. He implemented the North American system of military leadership, moreover, much more ¨human¨ than the Prussian concept. The social sphere of the Military Officer improved a lot (the extraction of the Venezuelan Officer is still today, from any of the layers that make up our society) and to maintain this improvement, General Pérez Jiménez ordered the construction of the Military Circle of the Armed Forces, where the different Officers,In their different hierarchies and social settings, they began to meet and chat with their family and friends in an environment consistent with their profession and career. No more the neighborhood medicine cabinet and its accommodating waitresses.
WHAT IS THE MILITARY INSTITUTION IN VENEZUELA ?:
We cannot help but acknowledge the interference, for better or for worse, of the Venezuelan Armed Forces in all or in the vast majority of the country's historical processes. The fight against the political power of the Spanish in the Captaincy General of Venezuela, fratricidal by others, cemented the principles that still guide the Venezuelan military institution today. Under the control of the Liberator, doctrine, effort, morals, discipline and leadership were unified, values that in the long run allowed the victory over the royalist Generals (who were buried along with the Liberator and later rescued by General Juan Vicente Gómez).
Fundamentally, the military institution has its own symbols, manifested in language, clothing, ceremonies, discipline and character that make it a unique social segment within the Venezuelan nation.
Thirdly, we have in mind an exclusive technological underworld, defined, because the members of this institution are the only ones in Venezuela, authorized to handle all of the state's war material, which makes the specialization of its personnel essential for the correct operation of the heterogeneous equipment with which the Armed Forces have been equipped.
Fourthly ¨… what is related to status, where each link represents an internal power that assigns its Commanders a responsibility for people, materials and situations, absolutely institutional. (The Military as Leader. Division General Iván Darío Jiménez Sánchez, Ministry of Defense, Caracas, 1993).
Fifthly, we achieve with ¨the military socialization¨, through which the teaching and learning processes are achieved, where the values, norms and doctrine of military life are transmitted and internalized. (Doctrine for us the military is how we do things, collected in texts such as manuals, directives and regulations, officialized and standardized. Its main characteristic is that they should not be rigid and should be susceptible to change for the better). Likewise, the specific knowledge that defines the job (position or appointment of responsibility) is passed from generation to generation according to the degrees (the degrees in the civil environment known as Hierarchy. In our environment Hierarchy defines the rank for NCOs and the Grade defines the rank for the Officers.Ex:A noncommissioned officer ranges from the hierarchy of Third Technical Sergeant to that of Master Supervisor and an Officer ranges from the Grade of Second Lieutenant to the Grade of Major General) and to a division of labor product of specialized organizations.
Another aspect, the sixth that defines our Armed Forces is that precisely because of the reality of the historical, political and social evolution of our nation, we have evolved in an organizational, technological and operational way to adapt to the military modernity of the present and at the same time be aware of the immense institutional responsibilities assigned by the State for its employment in Time of Peace (The conquest of the South, support for national institutions such as Universities, Governments, support for indigenous communities, custody of our immense border, otherwise desolate, inhabited almost exclusively by our indigenous people and our soldiers with their Officers and NCOs).
Unfortunately, our political leadership lacks sufficient consistency and persistence to determine and accurately define the National Policies that mark the direction of the Nation and its institutions.
As a seventh, the renewal of the control panels has the purpose of keeping us updated with the organizational and technological changes (entrance to the replacement generations) which merits and justifies the selection of the personnel who will exercise command at different levels.
The long institutional tradition of the Armed Forces, taking especially the doctrinal contribution of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, generated an integration process to create in the Venezuelan community a professional sector of the arms race, with a strong sense of belonging experienced by its participants, whose collectivity is sometimes emotional, vocational and sometimes traditional. The Armed Forces, as a human group, are an aggregate of Venezuelan society; Any citizen can enter them, without distinction of race, creeds or socioeconomic status. This situation has favored the integration of the Armed Forces into the national community.
THE LEGITIMACY OF LEADERSHIP AND COMMAND IN THE VENEZUELAN ARMED FORCES:
It is evident that questions have been raised regarding the dynamics of the psychosocial aspects of the military organization, such as the following: Authority, leadership, legitimacy, obedience, domination, prestige and leadership, in its broadest sense. It is also difficult to understand the reason why individuals participate actively or passively in the processes of direction, control, guidance or the way of behaving, thinking or feeling of the members of the Armed Forces and their human relationships.
Beyond the principles of social integration, the institutional character of the Armed Forces stands out, where its members are governed by special laws and regulations . The domain relationship is eminently legal and obedience is based on the formal recognition of the orders and rules that are issued. In this sense, subordination is understood as the conscious acceptance and mental disposition to obey the commands received. Subordination creates a reciprocal relationship of command and obedience in an organization that is very well structured and governed by legal systems, a system of sanctions and rational rewards that guarantee the continuity and legitimacy of the relationship of domination (in the purest presence of the bureaucratic model).
It is necessary to remember that strict adherence to this system can generate an impersonal social relationship, due to the formalistic spirit of the bureaucratic organization and that when applying the full weight of the letter of the regulations and provisions, subjective, human or affective that often characterize the communion between men and the supreme interests of the Military Institution. It has been a constant concern of the Ministry of Defense as an institution, not as a Minister's guideline, to take into account the man as an individual, as a living being, with feelings, needs, sufferings and aspirations, as well as a work element and that, in In part, it is the reason for the existence of one of the best social welfare organizations in Venezuelan society, which, and it is worth the clarification, is fully supported by discounts from the salary of the members of the Armed Forces, without contributions from the National Executive.
ETHICS AND MILITARY MORALS:
Jean Beachler defines ethics as "The conscious and individual elaboration of good and evil and as the attempt to adapt one's behavior to certain principles". It is worth saying that ethics has to do with the establishment, by society, of norms to coexist and as the behavior of society varies over time, we can say that ethics is variable.
The ethics and morals are intrinsic to the man, the personal values are in the spirit and are formed according to the society in which we live. This gives them shape and body, through cultural expressions, including religion and other symbols and values, which will be expressed by man in his behavior.
On Morals (moral as we understand it as military, military moral) José Ingenieros said: ¨ The man who treasures these forces acquires moral value, a right feeling of duty that conditions his dignity. He thinks as he should, says how he feels, acts as he wants. He does not pursue rewards, nor misadventures scare him away, he receives contrast with serenity and victory with prudence. He accepts responsibility for his own mistakes and refuses his complicity in the mistakes of others. Only Moral Courage can sustain those who impede (offer, wear out)life for his country or for his doctrine, ascending to heroism. Nothing resembles them less than the occasional recklessness of the Matamoros or the Praetorian who accept sterile risks for vanity or allowance. An hour of episodic bravery does not equal the courage of Socrates, of Christ, of Spinoza; constant convergence of thought and action, neatness of condemnation in the face of the insane superstitions of the past.¨ In short and tight summary, Moral Militar isThe inner force that drives the body when it can no longer move by itself, is the pure will (not for purity, but only will) that drives us to fulfill the Mission, when exhaustion made any other mortal impossible, Without that inner strength, continue in your effort. Moral is also that halo that surrounds the capable, proven, efficient, willful military and that as such is recognized by superiors and subordinates, generating respect and ascendancy (moral ascendancy).
The Military Leader leads thinking beings who know very well the realities of today's society, intelligent men who have the will and disposition to use their free will, men capable of acting and thinking like him (the Leader), perhaps with less experience and Perhaps with less knowledge, but men at last, capable and with absolute control of the "personal I". It is important then that the Leader takes care of his personal improvement, with the study of history, philosophy, war, classical literature and thought in general , to have professional ascendancy before his subordinates. On this, it is good to say, most of the authors and great leaders of humanity agree.
¨Kant taught that reasoning demands from us an impartial treatment with our neighbors, or rather, with our neighbors that we should not see ourselves as an exception to the rule, because we must have someone to follow, rules and laws to comply with; likewise, he affirms that reason demands that we treat people with dignity and without manipulation. According to Kant, a Commander who demands loyalty from his subordinates, must take the function of evaluating them with responsibility and a high sense of justice, must treat them with dignity and respect and act under the moral principles in which we have been educated ¨. (The Military as Leader, Major General (Av) Iván Darío Jiménez Sánchez, Ministry of Defense).
So we have to ethics: It is the science of customs, part of the philosophy that deals with morality and the obligations of man.
While morality is defined: ¨Moral, as an adjective, referring to morality as science and conduct, considered something spiritual, abstract; concerning the perception or assessment of understanding and consciousness. Pertaining to the internal jurisdiction, as opposed to coercive. In its substantive aspect, morality constitutes nothing less than the science of good in general, the set of rules of conduct that mutual coexistence establishes between men, the science of social customs, in addition, the set of the powers of the spirit.
The resistance, the confidence in the Chiefs or in the principles or ideals, the faith in the triumph of something. In war, the desire and the conviction of victory. In defeat, the certainty of immediate revenge, after the analysis of mistakes, the overcoming of weaknesses and the internal confession of guilt.¨
In this attempt to explain what is Military Morals and Ethics, I want to add that the Example (give the example) is a characteristic that every military man should exhibit and practice naturally and in order to better illustrate what I want to convey, transcribe article 5 of the Regulation of Disciplinary Punishments No. 6 (which dates from the mid-1940s):
¨Any military man, whatever his rank, class or job, must be cultured in his treatment, neat in his bearing, respectful with the superior, attentive to the subordinate, severe in discipline, exact in duty and irreproachable in his conduct ¨.
These are the characteristics that every subordinate admires and feels impelled to follow, to internalize, when he observes them in a hierarchical superior and makes this hierarchical superior a charismatic leader who drags his staff towards the fulfillment of the assigned mission, regardless of penalties, deficiencies or difficulties. Following the "Boss" and trying to do it "like him" becomes the goal of his subordinates, faced with an accepted mission.
I wish to transcribe now, the Code of Ethics of the National Armed Forces that although we have read, heard or seen on some occasion that it has been transgressed by a High Official, we must be aware that this transgressor does not represent the mass of the Armed Forces and that Normally, the complainants are from the same Armed Forces, as stated in the following…
CODE OF ETHICS:
- I will be responsible, at all times, for my acts or omissions that I incur directly or as a result of my functions. I will study hard to achieve military training, as well as better citizenship education. I will be fair and impartial in dealing with my subordinates and will not order them to do anything that violates their dignity and moral integrity. I will be honest in all acts of my professional and private life. I will contribute to the improvement and development of the National Armed Forces. I will not pass judgments, nor will I execute actions that disparage his prestige and majesty. I will comply and enforce discipline, subordination, and accuracy in military duty. I will permanently profess, practice and teach the doctrine of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, Father of the Nation. The truth will be the permanent guide of all the actions of my life. I will love God, my country and my family; they will be my supreme values, I will dedicate my efforts and fight for them to the death if necessary. I will be a permanent defender of our Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and of the Constitution and the Laws of the Republic.
I will now comment on some of these ethical principles, trying to get more and more into the issue of the Military Manager and negotiation:
- Article 3. I will be fair and impartial in dealing with my subordinates and I will not order them to do something that violates their dignity and moral integrity.
Respect for human dignity must be the focal point that guides the treatment of personnel. Because we are worthy, we can demand honor, integrity, loyalty and in general, the observance of the characteristic values of military life.
The Officer must privilege justice. His attention must be equal in both small and big things. When the former are neglected, as they are considered irrelevant, they can lead to greater damage and a distorted perception of their equity.
- Article 6. I will comply with and enforce discipline, subordination and accuracy in military duty.
Such aspects distinguish us as a military organization. The Officer has the inescapable duty to reinforce them and to lead an upright life that shows an example. Permissiveness, paternalism and acquiescence in the face of the breaking of the norms, under no circumstances may be justified; they constitute an erosive factor of the foundations of the Institution and should not be practiced, that is why the military cannot pass up faults or transgressions to the norms, since this action is detrimental to their credibility, authority and trust.
- Article 9. I will love God, my country and my family: They will be my supreme values, I will dedicate my best efforts to them and I will fight for them to the death, if necessary.
Whoever loves God (whatever the conception of him is) is (ideally) surrounded by truth and light. His Being is an inexhaustible source of life, wisdom and happiness. His Omnipotence gives us the necessary strength to face the responsibilities and obligations characteristic of our existence. God provides us with the faith, hope, and peace of mind we need to endure.
The Love for the Homeland that in each one of us embodies its immortality and its glory, inherited from our original heroes, forms the driving force behind the maximum sacrifice for its survival. She summons, concentrates our feelings, affections and beliefs, materializes our spirit of national identity.
The Family: The Circle of the Home; our first loves, the most sincere and disinterested; there our identity begins and it is where all the emotions and situations of trust, love, solidarity, loyalty come together; It is where the motive for our efforts and the desire for success are concentrated; it is where we learn to live and seek happiness. Who wouldn't die or kill for their family?
No, the Venezuelan military are not trained to die for our Homeland and Family, but so that their enemies die for theirs (As General Patton said during World War II, when he took charge of the 10th US Army in Europe) . But we are convinced that in case of need, we will fight for their respect and survival far beyond our strength, in the conviction that those I have on the sides, in front and behind, are sharing the same feeling of dedication, dedication, professionalism and capacity for sacrifice.
The Code of Ethics (and its comments) and the following thought are taken, as much of this work, from the book ¨The Military as Leader¨, by Major General (Av) Iván Darío Jiménez Sánchez, who in turn quotes José Admiral:
¨ As soon as the man wears a uniform and even more when he girdles the professional's sword, he makes a commitment to maintain military honor that is far from the suspicious and boastful of the duelist. There is a higher and more philosophical idea in military honor than the simple satisfaction of honor and, many times, of self-love… Military honor demands more than a suicidal soldier and a martyr to act, to fight, to win. Military honor is not appeased by sterile wishes, nor by sterile sacrifices; it imposes, even beyond the impossible: Whoever cowers, it pushes forward; the dying man, he pushes him to fight¨.
We are talking then, of people with a high concept of morals and ethics who follow, for the most part, a Code of Ethics accepted by all of us and who cannot defend those values on the one hand and on the other, offend them ( at least with impunity) .
THE MILITARY AS A LEADER AND AS A MANAGER ARE THERE DIFFERENCES ?:
In the National Armed Forces, it is a doctrine, an accepted and shared concept that the Leader must have peculiar characteristics, according to the obligations that his job imposes on him. On the other hand, we agree with the opinion that the Leader is exceptionally born and that the common thing is that it is done with training and education, both based on principles that the individual must possess and that are generally acquired during our first years of life, in our home or with our experience in life. A Leader directs, (in our military environment today we say Command, which separates it from the previous concept of Command) or guides an activity and / or a group.
General (Ex) Martín García Villasmil tried to define the Leader in the following way:
¨The Leader is one capable of inspiring, motivating and impressing individuals, due to their own personal characteristics, the confidence they inspire, the way they achieve their objectives, the ability to act and express themselves and the faith they generate in the others. Therefore, it is seconded in its provisions, it is followed, it is imitated. The Leader is a Teacher who is followed spontaneously.
The Leader must have the ability to understand and know. According to the ¨Manual de Don de Mando¨ of the Superior School of the Venezuelan Air Force:
¨A controlled and unbridled imagination, accompanied by good sense, intuition and reflective agility, as well as a proper sense of appreciation and alert mind, are the essential characteristics of adequate and trained intelligence that every military commander must possess. The Leader must develop his intelligence and maintain an open-minded attitude towards new ideas and concepts, analyzing them and seeking their application to the realities of the military organization ”.
What the Command Gift Manual says very clearly expresses that the Military Leader (the Commander of any military unit) must listen, be permeable to ideas different from his own, of course, analyzing them (according to the complementary information available, contrasted with the Mission) and achieving applicability.
No other person other than his subordinate personnel will be able to know, particularly, what that military unit is carrying out and therefore, no other person who is not a subordinate of that commander, in that specific military unit, may suggest a new idea or course of action or contrast with the idea or course of action devised by the commander.
On the other hand, the National Armed Forces, in their daily bustle, are imbued in administrative processes, exercised through managerial actions (according to what is customary by scholars of the subject) in conjunction with leadership actions, which has led to the National Armed Forces to the need to develop Leaders to command their military units (military and civilian personnel) with the capacity to attend the logical administrative processes of the daily dynamics, both activities characterized by the use of high technology and specialization.
The General of the North American Air Force Bennie Davis, in an article published in the magazine of the University of the Air, comments:
¨The current Officer must possess additional qualities to those already traditionally known (loyalty, courage, etc.) defining these qualities as a mixture of leadership, management and professionalism¨. (The Military as Leader, Major General (Av) Iván Darío Jiménez Sánchez).
In Venezuela, the daily dynamics and all the years of experience have made us agree with these thoughts and we have come to the conclusion that we must dispense with the dichotomy that separates Leaders from Managers. For us, this separation contributes to confuse and make the conceptualization of the Military Leader or Manager more difficult. Management is fundamental for all Officers, regardless of their specialty, since during the time of Peace and in preparation for combat, effectiveness and success are achieved by operating with confidence margins (reducing uncertainty with information and approaching subordinates) with the assurance of a degree ofadequate training and participation in joint and integrated work, where each member of the unit must know their task and be able to fulfill it.
Already away for more than sixty (60) years from our beginning with the Prussian army, the Military Commander, considering in particular that of the Venezuelan Air Force today, has incorporated into his knowledge and way of being, the characteristics of Leader and of Manager, as they are known and explained (separately) by the different texts that deal with the subject. When the human element is analyzed, personal motivation, the understanding of their needs, the full exercise of the management function requires a high quality, which is based on the series of principles and theories of behavior, in such a way that the commitment that means the fulfillment of the assigned Mission can be achieved, through voluntary acceptance.(Maj. Gen. (Av) Iván Jiménez Sánchez, The Military as Leader). It demands then, Leadership, in order to obtain from this resource the commitment for the maximum contribution of its capacities and efficient performance. To think that a military man is only an infantryman, gunner, shipboard, pilot or logistician, is perhaps overly minimizing his capacity and general training. Perhaps it is to restrict the possibility of locating him in those areas where negotiation capacity is demanded, of particular qualities to represent the organization, to demand from his subordinates the fulfillment of high risk tasks and institutional commitment and today, the military have successfully occupied various private positions and in the public administration, a success that is achieved by the existence in each of these men a healthy symbiosis between the leader and the manager, since organizations, even more so the military organization,they require the conjunction of these two intellectual qualities.
¨Military Leaders must have well-developed skills to establish good human relationships with their subordinates and be able to influence them to achieve the objectives, but they must also be able to use the resources at their disposal, effectively, therefore that the conceptual separation of Manager and Leader is useless, sterile and counterproductive ” (according to the point of view of the Venezuelan Air Force and its personnel) . ¨Good management without leadership guarantees order and stability, but does not provide innovative direction or foresee the future; leadership without management, in turn, brings enthusiasm and mystique to the organization, but does not guarantee the appropriate knowledge for the proper handling of problems and situations.(Doctor Alberto Krygier, Organizing President of the Congress Management 88, in his opening speech).
The objective, in relation to the human factor, is to achieve and maintain a "satisfactory and satisfied" work team. If we select the right man (by merit and competence) for the right position, we get the job done. By keeping you motivated and meeting your needs, we will satisfy you. (The Military as Leader, Major General Iván Jiménez Sánchez).
PRINCIPLES OF THE GIFT OF COMMAND:
I do not want to miss the opportunity to present and perhaps comment on the twelve Principles of the Gift of Command, something like our supreme commandments that, internalized by all of us, make up part of our way of being, of our personality. According to the Manual of the Superior School of the Venezuelan Air Force, by Don de Mando it is understood:
"The art of imposing our will on others in such a way as to obtain obedience, trust, respect and loyal cooperation".
What are the Gift of Command Principles? Below I transcribe them:
KNOW YOUR WORK:
The Chief must be a student of military affairs, as well as those of the civil field, in order to possess a wide field of knowledge and experiences that give him mastery of the methods and procedures of the organization, administration and instruction of his personnel.; knowledge of the job is broadly related to your clear understanding of Human Relations. You must know very well the duties, responsibilities and problems of your subordinates, in order to help them with a friendly advice on time. Most importantly, the Boss must master his specialty and embellish that knowledge with a rich and broad general culture.
KNOW YOURSELF AND WORRY ABOUT YOUR IMPROVEMENT:
Objective introspection is a healthy discipline for self-knowledge. The knowledge of the defects is the first step to be better and this includes being open to criticism or advice from superiors and subordinates. After this knowledge, comes the effort to overcome those weak areas of our knowledge or personality that strongly influence my position as Chief.
KNOW YOUR MEN AND CARE ABOUT THEIR WELL-BEING:
Observation and personal contact help in an irreplaceable way to understand the differences of the human resource under command and to predict their behavior in different circumstances, particularly under pressure. This knowledge enables the commander to assign tasks to the right man, as well as to anticipate the needs of this man in carrying out those tasks. This contributes greatly to the generation of mutual trust, respect and cooperation.
KEEP YOUR MEN INFORMED:
The best way to achieve effective collaboration and profitable initiatives from your subordinates is by trying to get them to reach an exact understanding of their duties and / or mission and the greater the knowledge, the better the result. The performer is much more effective when he understands his mission, the situation and the objective of the task that has been assigned to him. Information motivates men and enables them to exercise greater initiative in whatever situation may arise . Information drives away rumors.
FROM THE EXAMPLE:
Do yourself what you expect of your men. These, in an instinctive way, make the behavior of their bosses the pattern of theirs. By example, you will be able to set standards for your unit and earn the spontaneous respect and subordination of your men. This is one of the most important principles, because if the boss has destroyed the mutual respect that should exist between him and his subordinates, there will be little opportunity for him to exercise his Gift of Command.
MAKE SURE THE TASK HAS BEEN UNDERSTOOD, SUPERVISED AND COMPLETED:
Few tasks are properly fulfilled, if clear and precise orders have not been given. It is not enough just to deliver the orders, the boss must make sure that their orders have been understood. Once the direction has been indicated, the boss must accomplish the difficult task of supervising. You must use good judgment to avoid too much or too little supervision. It should interfere only when necessary, due to considerable errors. If supervision is not performed efficiently, you run the risk of constraining the subordinate and causing him to lose confidence.
TRAIN YOUR MEN TO WORK AS A TEAM:
Teamwork is the key to successful operations. Therefore, it is the duty of every leader to develop teamwork. Starting at the lowest steps and working your way up to the upper units; This will allow for efficient and successful operation of your unit.
- MAKE RIGHT AND TIMELY DECISIONS:
Decision-making skills are based on the boss's ability to think in a logical and orderly way. It requires a full understanding of the situation and sufficient intellectual support to enable you to recognize and evaluate all aspects of the circumstances you face. An alert boss practices and makes objective observations of all new or changing situations. It is thus prepared to react quickly and efficiently when circumstances require it.
SEEK RESPONSIBILITIES AND DEVELOP A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY AMONG YOUR SUBORDINATES:
With the pursuit of responsibilities, the boss is trained in his profession and develops his potential ability. You must quickly take the initiative in the absence of instructions from superiority. Through proper delegation of authority, the boss develops a sense of responsibility in his subordinates. You should encourage initiative in them, and although they often need supervision, you should not interfere except when necessary.
- USE YOUR COMMAND ACCORDING TO YOUR CAPABILITIES:
The objectives assigned to him will be achieved if the efficiency and morale of the unit are developed and maintained and if the boss knows the capabilities and limitations of his unit. Judicious practice in goal setting will stimulate confidence and skill development in the unit. Sometimes certain situations can cause the boss to demand more of his men than they can normally give. Efficiency and morale will not be lost unless that practice becomes a common course.
- BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE UNIT:
The commander of a unit is responsible for everything the unit does or does not do. It is important that the boss strives to ensure that his unit does things in an “acceptable” way, but he should always take responsibility for them even when they don't go well. If the boss fails to assume this responsibility, his position and ascendancy with his men will be affected and the chances of the successful accomplishment of the mission will be reduced.
- BE FIRM, BUT FAIR:
Usually in the service, the individual expects to be treated in a firm way. Firmness in no way means tyrannical treatment for subordinates. As a firm standard, there must be fairness and fairness. Such a procedure is very effective in dealing with subordinates, but demands a lot of common sense and good judgment on the part of the boss. Biases and the tendency to form a “favorite cut” should be avoided.
IS THERE NEGOTIATION OR NOT ?:
Yes, it is true, I have spread out in a tangle of concepts, of quotations, of almost verbatim copying of large paragraphs of books (most of them cited) that touch on the subject and I have not yet entered into the full reason for this work. I intend now, with all the argumentation raised as antecedent, to begin the exposition of the core part of the work. What has been written so far, forms the theoretical framework from which I start to begin to expose How does the Military Manager conduct in his career?
I feel great pressure in the mission to make people understand who we are, to go on to explain how we see the relationship with our superiors and subordinates in an appropriate way, breaking the existing mental schemes that are so ingrained in our compatriots. It is like arguing that what the Japanese soldiers of World War II and particularly the pilots did with their Kamikaze attacks (which ended with the death of the pilot directing his plane against the target and crashing, to ensure its destruction) was not considered. suicide for them and that we accept their definition of the act. Obviously for us what is committed by the Japanese is suicide, but it is suicide by playing with our rules, principles and customs. To understand Japanese action, we must get involved in its mentality and culture and what I want is that the reader has become involved with our mentality and culture.
In his letter to General José Antonio Páez, dated April 19, 1820, the Liberator Simón Bolívar wrote:
¨ (…) The one who governs a large family has to go through everything, whether it is pleasant or not. You should not be uncomfortable because they tell you the opinion of others, they tell me every day and I do not bother, because the one in charge must hear even the harshest truths and after hearing, must take advantage of them to correct the evils that errors produce. All moralists and philosophers advise princes to consult their prudent vassals and to follow their advice.
How much more reason will it not be essential to do so in a democratic government? (…) ¨.
This message from the Liberator to General Páez (and the Liberator, for us the military, is our great light, our guide, without fanaticism) gives me a perfect introduction to the exposition of what we call ¨The Meeting of the General Staff¨ (which defines the mechanics to follow at all organizational levels of each military unit of the Venezuelan Air Force, to analyze a problem and its consequent decision-making). In the first instance, we have the concept that what any Officer does or does not do has repercussions in one way or another on the Organization, as well as its problems. That is why the individual is important to the Air Force and is given the importance it has under the premise that as long as the individual is well, the organization will be well.
All the problems, projects, contingencies and routine or emerging responsibilities of the Venezuelan Air Force, at any of its organizational levels, are dealt with in what is called ¨The General Staff Meeting¨ or ¨Plana Mayor¨ (depending on the organizational level in question; the Venezuelan Air Force has its Air General Staff (which is in charge of drawing up development plans and war and / or contingency plans) and its four major Commands: The Air Operations Command, the Air Operations Command of Air Defense Operations, the Personnel Command and the Logistics Command, which have in their organization a General Staff that is in charge of analyzing problems, preparing plans, preparing studies and evaluating situations, among other activities.We can define the General Staff of the Force or the great Commands,as a multidisciplinary body for the study, analysis, planning and evaluation of the problems of the Organization and those related to the national reality, as well as development plans and the visualization of the future (if possible) that in some way touch or influence your Mission.
At the lowest levels of the Organization, up to the Squadron level, the Squadron Commander and his Staff (substitute for the General Staff, made up of low-ranking specialists (Section Chiefs) from the ranks of Second Lieutenant to Captain, with Sub -Officers who have responsibility and mastery in the subject to be discussed) meet monthly to schedule the activities of the following month and every week, for the weekly readjustment of the monthly schedule, all referring to the annual plan that they have already developed. When I refer to the General Staff, I also include the General Staff, as a general reference for doing things, differing mostly in the level and extent of the problem to be treated, but the operation and treatment of the problem being very similar.
Actually, much of what is discussed in the General Staff (or Staff) meetings is a vital transition stage between the choice of the most promising hypotheses generated by one or more General Staff Officers and the final decision by the General Staff. commander . But this is not an eminently authoritarian process, since the Officers who present the solution hypotheses have carried out a Study of the General Staff, where they have analyzed the problem or situation from various points of view: Operations, Intelligence, Personnel and Logistics, to at the time they have called specialists in various subjects for specific advice (if necessary), which makes their opinion valuable, worthy of being listened to carefully, of being analyzed and why not, of being applied.
One of the characteristics of the General Staff Officer is the Coordination Capacity and we understand coordination as: "The act of achieving agreement, understanding or positive help in the development of plans and their respective execution". And it also contains ¨The need to avoid misunderstandings, rumors, duplication of effort and other undesirable effects of poor coordination¨. The cooperation is considered one of the basic principles of war and coordination represents the means to achieve such cooperation.
Generally, coordination is intended for four purposes:
- Determine to what extent operations influence or are influenced by outside activities. Establish communication with other (external) units to: (a) inform or obtain information; (b) promote understanding of a common purpose; (c) reach an agreement when necessary and (d) obtain positive help when necessary. Solve conflict situations. Maintain satisfactory relationships to facilitate future coordination.
According to what we can see in the transcript of the Air Staff Officer Manual, fostering the understanding of a common purpose, reaching an agreement, solving conflictive situations and maintaining satisfactory relationships can only be achieved by applying negotiation.
But an agreement is not always reached in the first instance and disagreements often arise in substance, in the form and even in the proposed solution hypothesis and in such cases, the solution of the Venezuelan Air Force is quite similar to what I transcribe to continuation (extracted from the Manual of the Air Staff Officer - MOEMA, of the year 1964, in its volume I, chapter X, page 335):
¨ Disagree:
- (1) If any coordinator does not agree with the way in which the communication was written, they will personally discuss the reasons for their discrepancy with the person in charge of the office of origin and will make recommendations for it to be reviewed. The office of origin can rewrite the communication in the recommended way and restart the coordination procedures. However, if the dispute persists, both parties will inform the Vice-Commander for resolution.
- (2) The documents drafted for the second time as a result of the actions taken in subparagraph (1) above, will be COORDINATED AGAIN, with all interested staff elements. The original coordination and the file sheet will be attached to the new coordination and respective file sheet and the whole set will be sent in exactly the same way as the first time. An observation will be placed on the original coordination sheet, indicating the changes made (for example, modified paragraphs 4 and 8, etc.)...
Another paragraph:
… There are plenty of informal meetings to be held, and attention should be paid to anyone who has a helpful idea. Informal meetings will result in better coordination than that provided by a lot of papers. However, if you rely solely on informal coordination, it is very difficult to establish responsibilities and simply outline the steps to take.
¨1.- General Staff Meetings:
At least once a week, in these meetings a systematic and orderly procedure is followed to review the work carried out by the different members of the General Staff and to discuss new problems. It is a rule to invite subordinate staff of the General Staff when a matter that they know thoroughly is discussed. The General Staff meetings are generally directed by the Commander or his Chief of Staff. (The names in capital letters were placed by me, following the custom of today, from now on they will be in lower case as in the original text).
I cannot help but copy verbatim other than the manual in reference that deals specifically with CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS OF STAFF:
¨ A conference is the gathering of a small group of individuals whose purpose is to find answers to a question, solutions to a problem, or clarify differences of opinion (underlined by me). A conference is the pooling of knowledge and experience of a group of individuals, through the discussion of a problem in which they have a common interest.
For the conference to be truly successful, each of its members must take part in the discussion, must contribute their knowledge of the matter, and must help solve the problem. In fact, much of the conference's value stems from this reciprocal exchange and pooling of knowledge, experience, and opinions.
Perhaps the most important advantage of the conference lies in its voluntary acceptance of group participation and the fact that the decisions and conclusions are those of that same group. At a conference, each individual has the opportunity to express their opinions and participate in the decision of how to act. Consequently, each one accepts the solution, when in fact they could reject it if it were proposed by a strange person. When an individual is involved in deciding what to do, they are more likely to give their full effort and attention than to simply be told what to do.
A commander can summon his staff, or a staff officer can gather his subordinates for various purposes. Not all meetings are conferences in the full sense of the word. We use the term conference here to cover those meetings in which the group discussion method is used to fulfill any of the following purposes:
- Information gathering Presentation of information Problem solving Formulation of a decision Approval of the decision
Our main interest lies in problem solving and decision making. A conference whose purpose is to solve a problem or make a decision can be defined as that conference in which the members of a small group, under responsible leadership, systematically try to reach a general agreement on a problem posed, resorting to the technique of conversation and logical reasoning¨.
This text, copied from the aforementioned Air Force Manual, is in itself revealing (as an answer) of the reason for this work and I must clarify that this manual dates from 1964. Since then it has undergone multiple modifications and improvements, so that today the The manual is quite different in its content and in its form, but the spirit of free participation is maintained, respect for all opinions and the achievement of a solution by consensus, all of the above within the rules of military discipline that is strict in its background, as it should be, but flexible in your daily, professional practice.Contracts are necessary, despite the fact that goodwill overwhelms us when starting a business relationship, because at the time that the good relationship goes sour (for whatever reason) what is written in the contract (originally accepted willingly) becomes an obligation for the one who tries to evade its fulfillment. I cannot deny the possibility that some officer, or non-commissioned officer, at some point exceeds his subordinates and imposes deals that are not consistent with what I have tried to explain so far, but actually occurring, they constitute an exception to the norm and custom, exposing that person, to the punishment that the Regulation of Disciplinary Punishments No. 6 defines (if the nature of the action committed by that superior is defined as Military Fault) or by the Organic Law of the Armed Forces (if the action exercised by that superior against subordinates is considered a crime)
I have tried to expose as clearly as possible the reality of the treatment of problems within the Venezuelan Air Force, without committing infidences regarding the current way in which we treat our situations and solution of problems, which is the same as saying that it must remain in knowledge only of the personnel who are authorized to do so and any possibility that allows potential enemies to know about us should be denied, according to what Tzung Tzu (Chinese philosopher of war) said:
¨If you know the enemy and yourself, you do not have to fear the result of a hundred battles. If you don't know yourself, but you know the enemy, for every victory you will suffer a defeat. If neither of them is known, he will always be beaten. ¨
With this comment I do not pretend to seem mysterious or important, it is only a behavior learned and understood, while practiced in the course of 27 and a half years of career (plus the four of the School) where with a mentality appropriate to combat and its Situations (that are not warlike) I cannot help but (in an environment alien to the Armed Forces) try to avoid giving more information than is necessary for understanding the subject in question. For this I apologize and request your understanding. I have used an old text, in disuse for many years (the Manual of the Air Staff Officer) that allowed me two things:Copying verbatim pieces (which can be compared with the original without security problems) that are key for the fulfillment of academic objectives and at the same time have a foundation or bibliographic reference accessible for consultation that allows me to fulfill the objective of the work.
The Military Technical Lexicon Compilation.
The Military Technical Lexicon Compilation.
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