We Don't Want YOU, Uncle Sam
A Mindful Miscellany, #25
Mindful: Attentive, Aware, Conscious, Thoughtful, Alert.
Miscellany: A collection of various items, parts, or ingredients, especially one composed of diverse literary works.
Welcome to A Mindful Miscellany, a newsletter dedicated to finding Signal in the Turbulent Twenties.
For my final tour in the military, I’ve been serving an assistant professor of Naval Science, teaching classes to Midshipmen Fourth Class (Freshman) at a university. It’s been a rewarding tour, facilitating the next generation as they begin their service to the nation.1 So I was glad to pick up this book, by Matthew Weiss, a young Marine Corps officer, discussing the recruiting challenges the military is facing at present.
Let’s start with the initial take that some will have to this book. Shut up and row, new guy. You don’t know what you’re talking about, Weiss. That sort of response is baked into a hierarchical culture like the military in certain corners. But the military not a monolithic place, and there are many leaders who look for ground truth wherever they can find it. They have to, because to do otherwise is to court failure and defeat—mortal outcomes on the battlefield. Marines themselves advocate a concept called the “Directed Telescope2”, in which senior leaders speak directly to junior members, at times crossing through levels in the chain of command in a search for ground truth. “Always listen to the guy on the ground” is a maxim of former Delta Force Commander Pete Blaber. Those closest to an issue, particularly a wicked one like military recruiting, will have valuable insights into how to address it.
Author Matthew Weiss is a Marine Corps junior officer with an MBA and experience in the corporate world prior to joining the military. As a member of Gen Z, that cohort born roughly between 1997 and 2012, he has a “deckplate level” understanding of the recruiting crisis that senior civilian and military policymakers in the beltway do not.
Weiss puts forth twenty-one issues and recommendations in short, easily digestible chapters. I view these recommendations as conversation starters. He’s putting something out there, whether you agree with it or not. You can peruse a brief chapter summary and recommendations on his book site here.
Let me begin with what I hope is a non-controversial assertion: Older generations have accumulated hard won experience, while younger ones question assumptions with fresh eyes. Both perspectives are required to navigate reality effectively.
Broadly, Weiss touches on concerns such as the need for meaning, connection, and individual flourishing. While these are not unique to Gen Z, they are important to address as we go about recruiting efforts. He recommends the creation of a “Triple M Initiative”— military meaning mentorship. This would take the form of Gen Z military members speaking one-on-one with prospective recruits, as well as military community specific chat groups. These would provide prospective recruits a venue to learn about military life authentically and prepare them for niche job fields (such as cyber or special operations). Breaking a large organization like the military down into specific sub-communities will help recruiting by showing candidates they can jump into a smaller pool and excel, rather than be lost in a large, faceless group.
He advocates bringing a “warrior spirit” back to gym class— teaching self defense techniques rather than a sport with little utility in the real world. Badminton, for example.3 Weiss discusses bringing the military’s policies on marijuana more in line with American society, where social acceptance and legalization is growing. He recommends adopting a “HER” framework to increase the portion of women in the force: Honoring gender differences, Eradicating sexual assault, and Relaxing female specific social constraints. Weiss discusses the changes to the medical system which make recruiting more difficult today— electronic records of every minor childhood issue that are disqualifying candidates who would have been accepted in earlier years. He suggests using social media influencers where they can be properly vetted and aligned with military goals to reach Gen Z audiences.
Some of his prescribed solutions will run into challenges. Weiss wants shorter enlistment options, such as 1-2 year committments, and remote work options. These may not be feasible for most military jobs given the long trainup time prior to even entering the job field, and the hands-on nature of the work. He wants to do more to get politics out of military. A worthy goal, but in our hyper-polarized environment, challenging to execute. We need to look no further than the abortion issue for servicemembers. Unfortunately, the military is a vibrant front in the culture wars for politicians of both parties. Keeping politics out of the military will continue to be a messy affair. He discusses Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which will invoke reflexive scorn from some. It is difficult to parse out the important goals of these initiatives from the religious-like fervor they invoke in many. The military needs to figure out a way to thread the needle on this without the associated dogma and baggage from the culture wars.
Ultimately, Gen Z wants the same thing all humans want. They want a sense of purpose— that their work is making a tangible positive difference on the world, in the service of something greater than themselves. They want connection— to other humans, to build human capital in authentic networks. And they want individual flourishing— a life and calling that helps them become their best self. Service in the military fits within the broader need for a national service movement to provide a common experience base for our citizenry. In a concise book, Matthew Weiss articulates many issues of concern to this rising group of Americans. Understanding their perspective will help keep our military healthy— and able to meet the challenges of the moment.
* My students are not children— they are preparing for a tour where they may risk life and limb in defense of the nation. I don’t want to minimize that.
I should note that this review is my own opinion and not that of the Navy or Department of Defense.
https://irp.fas.org/doddir/usmc/mcdp6/ch3.htm
Key Quote: “We also recognize that commanders will likely be unaware of the need for certain information, so we must ensure that truly critical, time-sensitive information is pushed directly to them without delay, even if it means skipping intermediate echelons of command. Echelon-skipping does not mean, however, that intermediate echelons are left uninformed. After critical information has passed directly between the primarily concerned echelons, both those echelons should inform intermediates by normal channels. Additionally, since no system can effectively anticipate all information needs, commanders must have available directed telescopes by which they can satisfy their own information needs quickly. It is important, however, that the directed telescope not interfere (or be perceived to interfere) with the normal functioning of the chain of command: the perception of spying or intruding on the province of subordinate commanders can damage the vital trust between senior and subordinate.”
Badminton people, please don’t come after me on this one.
My final tour before leaving the Marine Corps was as an Officer Selection Officer. What I often think back on was how a nonlinear, asymmetric, complex environment like recruiting college kids was thought to be conquerable with linear, symmetric and complicated systematic approaches. Like a “one size fits all” approach to recruiting that “always works if you’re religious about it.”
In other words it wasn’t People, Ideas and Things in that order.
Thank you, Adam. Two thoughts.
1. I seek out GenZers because I want to be influenced in my thinking by them. Almost a year ago, I spent an evening in a Zoom call with a group of Swiss university students. Our conversation is distilled down to three ideas that I find is representative of the generation. 1- Disappointment in the way the world works. 2- Fear about the future. 3- A desire to understand purpose. Our time together came because in my conversation with their leader, I asked if they had access to mentors. She said no.
2. In my consulting work with organizations, I have found the need for the "directed telescope". What I discovered is that there exists in an almost invisible manner what I call "a persistent, residual culture of values that persists because it resides in the relationships of the people." In military terms, my buddy in the foxhole next to me, out-ranks the CEO that doesn't know I exist. The key for executive leaders is to recognize the immediate environment of every member of the team as their experience of the company or unit.
Good stuff.