INTRODUCTION
1. Leadership is logically an aspect of management challenge since it concern with the best use of valuable recourses and the human elements. Leadership form the core of ruling the state, its institution, and its armed forces. Once Winston Churchill held “To govern is to choose”. The proper challenges to military leadership lies in choosing from a number of potential and actual alternatives, an action programmed to solve a problem, to lead the problem under a given set of situation. The vital element of leadership consists in ordering and directing human behavior.
2. The challenge of leadership is a nebulous subjects and over the ages it has got many dimensions. Leadership is a human attribute essential for dealing with people grouped for specific purpose. However, actual leadership functions remain an art simply, because different people react differently under the same conditions. In a factory, manager deals with predictable numbers of events. It is not so in the battlefield where a commander deals with too many variables. In the realm of military leadership, therefore, the overwhelming trend has been to treat it as an art. James Stokes bury says “As long as we do not know exactly what makes men get out of a hole in the ground go forward in the face of death at a word from another man, then leadership will remain one of the highest and most elusive of qualities”. It will remain as an art and challenge.
3. The advent of nuclear and chemical weapons in the region and their expected use in any future conflict at tactical and higher levels has added another dimensions to the military leadership. The ever pressing demands of future military leadership has increased manifolds encompassing art of war, psychological dimension and managerial techniques. The future leaders are expected to be symbolic, charismatic and professionals to meet challenges of the future battlefield.
4. The likely leadership challenges identified by the researchers include defining objectives, planning, organising, controlling, co-coordinating, supervising and motivating. Development of virtues requires thorough and consistent grooming/ training. Psycho-socio, socio-economic environments have profound effect in shaping the character traits of the leader. The emphasis is given again on the capacity of the military leader to motivate and direct the group forward for achieving the objectives.
5. The subject is quite vast encompassing challenges to the leaders of innumerable fields e.g.; political, social, economic, military. However, in this paper I shall make an endeavor to focus only on the challenges for the military leadership in the context of Bangladesh. The paper with encompass historical evolution of military leadership, challenges of military leadership, how to meet the challenges and recommendations.
HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF MILITARY LEADERSHIP IN BANGLADESH
7. Military Leadership before War of Liberation. At the beginning of 20th century, in the then undivided Indian sub continent no remarkable Bengali leadership was witnessed, However in the movement/ revolt against British regime Bengalese played a vital role and known for their heroism. Some of the historical name like, Haji Shariatullah, Titumir, Master-da-Surjo sen, Netajee Suvash Bosh are known for their excellent leadership qualities. If we talk about military leadership virtually before 1971, military leadership traditions did not develop in the region that now forms Bangladesh. After the departure of the British in 1947, Bengalese were again subjected to discrimination of the worst kind by the Pakistanis. Bengali officers with leadership potential were systematically eliminated from the main stream of the armed forces of Pakistan. The Pakistanis found it to be convenient to perpetuate the British propaganda that the Bengalis were a non-martial race and kept them out of the military as far as possible. Officers like Major M.A Gani, General M A G Osmany who stood up against this discrimination were passed over or unceremoniously retired. This discrimination did not allow the Bengali leadership to develop to high level. However the chance to prove the worth of the Bengali soldiers came up during liberation war.
8. Military Leaders in The Liberation War. 1971 was Bangladesh’s ‘finest hour’ to display military leadership. Looking back to retrospect, It is amazing to see how they sometimes in total isolation took decisions that shaped the destiny of the nation. Despite lack of a very clear political directive, they during liberation war in the name of ‘Z’ force, ‘S’ force and ‘K’ force remains a subject of interest in leadership study in Bangladesh. The political control of the military is essential in a modern state, but in a guerrilla war, that was being fought in Bangladesh in 1971, tight political control of the military could not have been adequately maintained. Most field commanders, therefore tended to operate autonomously. They, being quite junior in rank, displayed enviable degree of leadership traits during the war of liberation.
9. Military Leadership in Post Liberation War. Despite lack of experience of working in the higher command and staff position, services headquarters were established, provisional table of organizations and equipment (TO&E) were shaped, units were organized. Practically after independence the armed forces of the new nation had to be built from the scratch. The legacy that we inherited from Pakistan era was one bankruptcy. Not a single Armor, Engineers, Signals, Ordnance, Supply and Transport or Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Unit was in existence except some war ravaged cantonments and eleven poorly equipped infantry battalions. At the same time the Airforce had no combat aircraft nor did the Navy have any ship. In the absence of a strong foundation and background a painstaking process to rebuild the total infrastructure of Armed forces was initiated. It was a gigantic task and a huge challenge to the competency of our military leaders. But after the liberation war there was a big vacuum of leaders in the higher echelon of the Armed forces. But our military leaders rose to the occasion and performed commendable jobs. By the passage of time military leadership got stabilization. Today we have a steady progress of military leadership to be displayed from the internal environment to international arena. We are one of the largest contributors of the United Nations peace keeping operation around the globe. The armed forces are deployed within the country in a variety of duties round the year. The credit of the military forces in peace making in Chittagong Hill Tracts, participation in foreign mission, helping government machinery in internal security duty and other Armed forces achievements goes to the band of military leaders.
CHALLENGES OF MILITARY LEADERSHIP
10. General. From the earliest clashes of spear welding warriors to the computerized battles of the late twentieth century, the shape, conduct and sometimes the outcome of war have been intrinsically linked with technology. To trace the historical link of technology with war some researchers have divided the traceable human history into 3 distinct civilization Pre Modern, Modern and Post Modern while some other termed them as Age of tools, Age of Machines and Age of automation. In the age of tools adversaries used stone, axes and flint blades and slowly progressed to light chariots, bows and cavalry. In the age of machines came the use of mechanical time piece, printing machine, gunpowder, portable fire arms, guns, cannons, railway, automobile, telegraph and communication infrastructure. These bought changes to military organization, communication, mobilization and tactics. With new inventions like submarines and aircraft new dimensions of war added to warfare. In today’s war, with the extensive use of electromagnetic wave and satellite; space becoming the fifth dimension of warfare. With the increased use of electromagnetic wave, artificial intelligence, knowledge based weapon and robotics the conduct of future battle is likely to pose new challenges to armed forces. Most of the third World states inherently suffer from a number of vulnerabilities, these in combination with other factors produce threat to security. Some of these challenges may be identified as discussed in subsequent paragraphs:
11. Modern Battlefield Environment. Every war takes us aback with technological novelties. Decreased time, increased speed, longer range, maximum destruction to incapacitate enemy, easier handling system etc. are giving a much more sophisticated and modern shape to war materials every day. War machines which were produced yesterday are found inadequate to meet the need of tomorrow.
a. Development of Technology. Developed army has recently incorporated many armament in their war effort some of them are like ‘PIRANHA’ armored fighting vehicle which has the height adjustable system, hydro-pneumatic suspension and central tire inflation system which provides a facility to maneuver the vehicle easily and within a very short space. These have been further enriched by incorporating a machine called ASKARAD, which is a radar to detect mobile target, target classification, surveillance, intruder detection and for auto tracking of vehicle. Even many developed armored fighting vehicle has the capability to warn about the presence of mine ahead. Robotics mine sweeper has been invented to clear mine field without involving troops or human being. Laser aiming device can be effectively used to kill enemy by Special Forces. Those days have passed by when opposition forces in conflicts used to rely upon night time to cloak their activities but now, every modern army has its night vision equipment, thermal imaging origami intensifier devices, multiple use night observation system (MUNOS), thermal weapon sight (TWS) etc. These night vision equipment can help soldiers to see even in complete absence of light, through dust, sand and bad weather. Portable thermal camera (PTC-10) can take photographs through smoke, dust and in bad weather as well. NAVSTAR satellites have formed the global positioning system (GPS). Now, it is being used by Air force, Navy and Army as well. JSTARS can show the computer generated map overlay, targets and position of every elements. Synthetic aperture radar can search a wide area up to 5600 km in every 75 seconds and can detect a target with a resolution of 20 meters. Communication centers are no safer and can be detected by enemy; as a result, remote control transmitter and receiver is invented so that destruction of communication center cannot cause damage to human being. Above all electronically controlled weapons have brought a radical change in the modern warfare. It is also widely said that the soldiers of the future will use an exo-skeletal suit, or Soldier Integrated Protection Ensemble (SIPE). Which will provide NBC protection and be fitted with HUD, aiming system, NVG, radio, etc. His camouflage system will be able to change color according to the environment. The future airborne soldiers may use parasol, glide great distances and armed with accurate navigation devices to land within 10 meters of the target area. With genetic and bioengineering technique the idea of producing super human solider is under discussion. Who knows future soldier will be like batman or Spiderman or six million dollar man.
b. Nuclear Environment. The Sub-continent has gone nuclear with both India and Pakistan showing their nuclear strength. This has added a new and serious dimension to our challenges and strategy.
c. Impact of Modern Warfare on Our Tactics. The relentless progress of mankind causes continual change in weapons and that demands a continual change in the manner of fighting. With the development of military science and technology, the modern war has taken a new shape and form; therefore the connection and inter-dependence between the weapon and tactics have been continuously reviewed and changed. The art and implementation of tactics in military operation determined by the time, place and technology of weapons used in battles. An army having Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and Electronic weapons and long range means of their delivery to targets can now strike the enemy over the entire depth of his disposition without using the combat power of combined arms formations and units. Tactics and weapons are interrelated to attain a purposeful goal. Thereby, change in one will bring change in other. In the recent Gulf war, we observed a different tactics followed by US army to annihilate Iraqi forces. US army did not carry out any maneuver over land, rather they utilized their long range missiles and fighter aircrafts and mostly the electronic warfare to incapacitate the Iraqi force. Virtually, US army and allied force won the war without following the tactics we follow till today. In the present context of war any enemy will attempt to destroy the back bone of the country before launching a formal attack on troops. Attackers will destroy industries, military and other national important headquarters and installations with a view to incapacitate us; thereby attackers will seize initiative and will break our ability and strength to fight. Modern warfare compels our force to be self-sufficient and to enjoy a more freedom of action. For instance, United States has introduced entomic Infantry divisions where each division has been divided in five battle groups. The overall man strength has been lowered but the fighting ability has been increased. This small group concept is one of the most significant consequences of modern warfare. They will carry their own ration and will get the back-up from own logistics which will be equally mobile and capable. Soon may have to review up the concept of soldiers occupying a trench and giving a fight with 7.62 mm rifle. Enemy’s precision in registering and bombing a target will not allow us to carry out trench war which began in the battle of Khandak during prophets time. Moreover, satellite system can show every position of our deployment to the enemy. Rather, static defense should now be changed to mobile.
d. Impact on leadership. The changed tactical scenario will have definite impact on future leadership since tactics is the business of military leaders. The leader will face a great challenge to adopt themselves in this types of fluid battlefield environment. They will encounter numerous indifferent situations and will have to adjust themselves being highly flexible and innovative in thinking and execution.
12. Management Aspect. With the development of science and technology logistic tail of the army has been increasing day-by-day including information technology. Developed armies are introducing new management techniques to match with the development. Management in the Army is necessary to deal with theories, concepts, and techniques for forecasting, planning, directing, coordinating and controlling human. It may encompass physical (weapons, equipment, material and finance) and informational resources for achieving aims of national security through operations on land/sea/air and being prepared for all these at all times by creating the infrastructure for waging a war through training, logistics and intelligence.
13. Socio- Economic Conditions. The social structure has undergone a great revolution over a period of time. Now a day the officers are not from the landlord aristocracy and the soldiers from the peasant stocks. Social backgrounds of the officer and men have largely merged in Bangladesh today. Both are usually from the middle or lower middle class. If we talk about the status it is not unusual to see a brother or a son as an officer and another brother or the father as an enlisted man. This shows the nature of our social homogeneity, and we are proud of it. Differences in educational level have also been narrowed. Today the soldiers are not class eight pass rather some of them join the service with educational qualification at par with their leaders. These all together, poses great challenges for the leaders of this century. Mere giving order may not be sufficient to lead the under command in today’s military environment, he need to be sufficiently knowledgeable and capable.
14. Materialistic View. In a world where money determines power and position of a member in a society, materialism becomes irresistible. High ideals of honored profession of dedication do not appeal him much. The potential leaders of today are not immune from the lure of materialism. When formation of ideals is redesigned with materialistic outlook, development of leadership quality is restrained. Leader is not all together a different species above temptations and nursing a different value system. There are moments when material considerations will come conflict with his military values.
15. Political Influence. The political environment has great implications in the making of military leaders. The military is traditionally nonpolitical and non-partisan. Political leanings of a military leader are not in conformity with the desired state. During the last two decades there were several incidents and trends that adversely affected military professionalism. Of these the military’s involvement in the national politics had the most traumatic effect. Subordination of military to the political machinery is an essential tendency of modern nation states and a fundamental principal of democracy. Unfortunately, this principal is repeatedly been violated in Bangladesh. The country had experienced a series of coups and counter coups, much bloodshed and direct involvement of military leaders in politics, which is not conducive for the development of sound leadership. Military involvement in politics and civil administration was particularly damaging for military professionalism in Bangladesh. Corruption, nepotism, lack of respect for civil laws are some of these ills. Repeated martial laws, and the military- bureaucratic alliance that developed in the process, created a wedge between he people and the armed forces. On the other hand politicizing the armed forces and utilizing for the vested interest also resulted into adverse effects. The leaders of tomorrow will thus, have a challenging task to remain professional within the political bounds.
16. Deterioration of Moral Values and Ethics. As a fall out from the military’s involvement in politics, our military character and traditions had sustained great stress. On the other hand our society witnessed erosion of morale values and lowering of ethical standards. Although we in the military lead an encapsulated life, cannot totally isolate ourselves from the society. Young men joining the military are the products of the society and are found to reflect the norms of the society in their attitudes and lifestyles. In our society today, it is becoming difficult to uphold the virtues and it has become a challenge to military leaders to cope with the unfriendly environment.
17. Fast Changing Aim and Objective. The officers are expected to lead men in war. For the Bangladesh Military, besides the primary role of fighting a war and staying prepared for it, there is an important role in peacetime. Army with its excellent infrastructure and potential leader will not be kept idle inside cantonments; rather political leadership will always opt for their maximum utilization. In a country like ours, army being a trained and disciplined body will be an effective organization in fight against poverty, disease, disaster and hunger which threatens our existence as a nation. Army is also frequently called for In aid of civil power. Our leaders with hardly any formal training in such type of eventuality do face difficulties to lead their men.
18. Attitude towards Military. Social attitude of our people towards military as a profession had never been favourable. Social scientists will have many reasons to put forward for this. But interestingly, today more and more people are knocking the doors of the military. It would not be proper to assume that they do it as their age-old attitude, and there has been a sudden surge of love for the profession. The facts are altogether different and altogether unpalatable. The first and foremost of these is people view it as just a job or an employment contrary to the traditional belief of military as a profession. It is not merely a job but a good job by our own social standards. Military holds security and status-the two most cherished things of our society. This changed outlook of a military leader is detrimental to his profession. The professional leader is one who takes army as a way of life. But today’s leaders are reluctant to a life-long commitment of self-denial and self-sacrifice. In the making of our present leaders, this changed outlook constitutes a major hurdle.
HOW TO MEET THESE CHALLENGES
29. Limited Measures To Cope With Modern Warfare. Encyclopedia Britannica says that the evolution of tactics is continuous. Formalism and traditionalism in most armies resist the evolution of tactics. The search for new tactical method becomes a matter of discovering the best way to tone the effectiveness of modern weapon and to hit its weak points, with a view to minimize its power of destruction. There are three important phases in this process of adopting new tactics: Collection, formulation and dissemination. Our tactics lag far behind the technology adopted by our neighboring countries and other developed countries. Some of the proposed means to outline a procedure for the development of our tactics, can be the followings:
a. Foremost measure should be to get rid of traditional and habitual thought. Inertia of conservatives is the greatest barrier on the way to tactical development of warfare.
b. Almost in every developed country they have their research study institutions or a research and development branch. But we do not have an effective organization of this nature. Most of the old books and pamphlets that we follow have become obsolete in the presence of new weapons. For example in AHQ and in some Institutions, we do have R & D sec. But we hardly find any tangible outcome. Similarly, every year projects study being carried out by the formations only to be presented in AHQ and apparently neither for research nor for implementation.
c. A comparative study between our present tactics and effectiveness of modern weapon system may reveal our actual position. Experimental exercise may be carried out to find out the weak and obsolete parts of our tactics. War game using computer technology may help us in this regard. We should also acquire working knowledge on the modern technology and modern weapon to fight it.
d. Civil-military joint venture is one of the most important aspect for carrying out a progressive, systematic and analytical study on tactics and doctrine. Army should maintain a close liaison with civil research institute. Professional and intellectual of both civil and military should play an active role and the civil research institute should work shoulder to shoulder with army. Military officer should be allowed to project their views and ideas and should be encouraged to hold free discussion on the subject. Stimulating thoughts must be welcomed and put on table for discussion. Any implementation must be checked back by continuous feedback. Symposiums may be held to bring out productive thought and tactical propositions. Research result must be recorded and manuals of tactics must be published. Only then we can achieve a tactics of greater precision.
e. Own strength, manpower, intelligence should be used to develop our defence system. Besides foreign support, we should also start developing our own arms and equipment in the available factories with our resources.
20. Higher Educations and Management Training. In view of the development in management concept; sophistication in command, control and communication as well as weapon systems, it is imperative for us to acquire sufficient knowledge on these fields. Due to resource constraints we have limited practical access to the developed war technology. Of late, higher education has been encouraged and limited avenues have been opened. We feel this is not enough to fulfill the future requirements of higher education for officers. A more dynamic approach towards this end is thus essential. A defense institute may be established, where officers may have the opportunity to undertake higher education on few selected subjects of science, social science and technology. Intake of civilian students and children of defense services personnel may make such an institute cost effective. Similarly, measures also need to be undertaken to educate and train the junior leaders.
21. Effective Organized Training. John Adair says “Leadership is learnt principally by experience and practice”. Ideas and principles can help to prepare people for leadership role. The appropriate institutional assessment identifies what should be mastered through operational assignment or self-development. The instruction and organized training can improve the leadership development technique and can induce definite skill, knowledge, attitude at all levels.
22. Professional Development. To meet the challenge of the future, it is necessary to develop leaders who understand and are able to exploit the potential of present and future army doctrine. It should be ensured that the army fulfils its vital roles in the national security in an ever changing world. This demands leader who:
- Exemplify the highest professional and ethical standards.
b. Display technical and tactical, combined arms proficiency while exploiting the full potential of advanced technology.
c. Communicate effectively while simulating confidence, enthusiasm and trust.
d. Act decisively under pressure.
e. Provide purpose, direction, motivation and vision to subordinates.
23. Personality Development
a. Knowledge of Religion. The leaders with Islamic virtues do not care for status, wealth and higher ranks but consider their duty as an ‘Ibadat’ (obligatory task). Leaders to grow Islamic virtues to lead their men from front and should have strong faith on Allah. There is a need to develop such Islamic character traits as religion envisages the building of character that is universally applicable.
b. Character Building. Men to follow their leaders whom they know to be fair in his dealings, selfless and sincere to the cause. Character building thus ranks foremost in our profession for none but those with a strong character can withstand the test of time. Character traits of military leaders must be nurtured, groomed and attached the greatest importance throughout their professional life.
c. Setting the Example. When we talk about role models, we are talking about people in real life that others can follow and emulate. Unfortunately in Bangladesh, we could not always set the right example. Leaders in Bangladesh do not often practice what they preach. Setting the right example is a very important quality of a leader. When an officer means, “Do not do what I do, do what I say, “he is setting a bad example. He might coerce obedience, but will neither inspire, nor motivate his subordinates. In turn-out and discipline, in caring for the people, in the dispensation of justice and in physical and morale courage, a leader has to set high standards which others would strive to match. The officers by all means should be able to dominate in all fields of the profession.
24. Self-Development. Development is always self-development. Everything begins with attitude. Leaders of the 21st century should be natural starters and self-developers. Our formal education system has limits to what it can accomplish. The leaders of today must expand his knowledge base, using the army courses, civil education, reading books etc. The self-development culture within the Army needs to be strengthened in execution. The focus here remains on gaining vicarious knowledge through ‘battle command environment’ self-study. Much emphasis needs to remain on history but with more attention on battle command decisions. Officers should study the innovative choices made by victorious commanders who made intuitive estimates in fluid, uncertain environments or who fought successfully using new technologies. Whether we study military history or technology, there is always room for more carefully directed self-development. This leader development pillar should remain each individual’s responsibility, but it needs more directions from those in charge of leader development.
25. Ethical Climate. A man in uniform may be defined by a set of ethical rules. To improve this all tiers of leadership need to contribute to effect changes in their own spheres of influence. Especially when the cultural degradation prevails, leaders of the 21st century should:
a. Ignore the conformists and encourage the creative minds.
b. Trust the leader who has displayed ethical values in difficult occasions.
26. Minimizing Social Disparity. The worries of socio-economic uncertainty and social disparity with other officials of the country should not pre-occupy the military leaders, which may affect their professionalism. During the long active career an officer gives his youth and vitality to profession. He does not enjoy many of his fundamental rights and privileges, his civilian counterpart enjoys. Rather he remains prepared to make supreme sacrifice for the nation. So they should be well looked after of their logical needs. Some steps to meet up his financial and social needs may contribute to overcome this problem. An organized and long term planning on the matter may be under taken at national level.
27. Balancing Between Politics and Professionalism. We cannot over rule the fact that a leader is also a human being. He may have his own liking disliking, leaning towards some ideology or beliefs. But he must be able to weigh and balance between the beliefs and professionalism, keeping the national interest at the top. He must be free from all prejudice like ambition, personal gain, promotion, posting etc. A leader keeping him-self abreast about the happenings around him can take the right decision. He must remember that he is the leader of man and will be followed by his under command. A wrong decision by leader may put the whole country into crisis. They need to know the complex mechanism of statecraft, the ability to analyse and evaluate both national and international issues, ability to understand the ethos of the people – all these will be concerns for the 21st century leadership. Our leadership training should be recast taking all these into considerations.
28. Better Human Relationship. There is an increasing need of a change in the officer-men relationship within our forces. Although, we do not expect fraternisation between ranks, the social gap between the two can always be narrowed. This is the age of democracy and social equality. Paternalistic style of leadership will not meet the demand of the time. Greater leader-follower interaction and feedback in operations and exercises, and in meetings and discussions, should be encouraged. Simultaneously, the social barriers should be lowered. Democratic traditions and institutions should replace colonial legacies. Coercive leadership must give way to more inspiring and professional leadership.
29. Recasting the Force Objective. The officers are expected to lead men in war. For the Bangladesh military, besides the primary role of fighting a war and staying prepared for it, there is a very important role in peacetime, i.e. participating in socio-economic development. The armed forces are a trained and disciplined body and a very effective organisation in our fight against poverty, disease and hunger. While preparing to fight against external enemies, we cannot ignore the enemies within; those are real and threatening for our very existence as a nation. Disease and lack of development can be referred here. Involvement of the armed forces in the development activities has so far been adhoc and transitory. We need to involve the armed forces on a long-term basis and give them an achievable target. But first we need to get a political consensus on this issue. How best the military could be involved in the nation building is a political decision that must be taken at the highest political level. If given a go ahead, the military leaders will then have to reorient their focus from purely military issues to those involving health, economy, education etc. Their proficiency should then be judged not only on how well they manoeuvre the troops in exercises, but also the contributions they make and the successes they achieve in our development efforts. The military training and leadership development programmes need to be recast to suit the changing requirements of the nation. Right now, our nation engaged in establishing a democratic society and providing better quality of life for its people. Our military should be an active partner in this national effort.
RECOMMENDATIONS
30. Institutional Leadership Training. Our leadership doctrine should draw its strength from the national ideology. The training institutions must put serious, scientific effort to teach and develop values, which are essential attributes of dedicated leadership in 21st century.
31. Preference of Command Assignments. In many armies command excellence takes precedence over staff performances, in our army it is other way round. The attitude needs to be reversed.
32. The Training Doctrine. Within the framework of a army doctrine a comprehensive training doctrine should be formulated. This doctrine must foresee the future environment and issue directives to train and meet the requirements. For example, with our neighbor having nuclear capability, the principle of concentration may be disastrous in a nuclear environment. Hence if dispersion is accepted as one of the principle of war then the Army has to be given enough mobility to be concentrated at the point of decision at right time.
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33. Media Coverage. The need for proper media coverage during peace and war should be given proper weightage. Since during such time ISPR release might create bottleneck on the press release regarding any information as such provision of getting help of other news media’s should be given due consideration. Establishment of a media cell at each formation level will enable us to give out our point of view when it is necessary.
34. Principles of War. As we are already in 21st century with our neighbor having nuclear capability. The principle of concentration may be disastrous in nuclear environment. Hence if dispersion is accepted as one of the principle of war then the Army has to be given enough mobility to be concentrated at the point of decision at right time.
CONCLUSION
35. Leadership is a human phenomenon and it covers the entire spectrum of human activities and relationship between the leader and the led. This lays down great degree of responsibility on both senior and junior leaders who should be capable of meeting the challenges of modern battlefield that will be highly fluid, swift and destruction oriented. It will thus increase the ever-pressing demands on future military leadership. Hence the future leaders are expected to be symbolic and thorough professionals to meet the 21st century challenges. This means that junior and senior leaders alike will have to share the responsibility of building an effective war-fighting organization. Their likely functions include planning, organizing, controlling, co-ordination, supervising and motivating the soldier. Development of these virtues requires thorough and consistent training and grooming.
36. In today’s materialistic world the prevailing socio-economic environments also have immense effect on the attitudes of the leader and the soldiers. More over today’s battlefield requirements have changed to a great extent as compared to the past century. The social structure has also undergone a great revolution over a period of time and extent. These all has brought a materialistic approach, combined with career consciousness in a leader, which is likely to aggravate in the future.
37. The peculiar future battlefield of high intensity, fluidity, lethality, over extended frontage which has never been witnessed by leaders and the led combine with the potent enemy nuclear threat, require a competent leader of men in 21st century. These factors will have major impact on the responsibilities of the leaders towards equipping and training of their men in uniform.
38. Leaders in Islam do not care for status, ambitions of wealth, higher ranks but consider his duty as a supreme responsibility. These ethical values and Islamic character traits should be cultured in 21st century concept of leadership.
39. The leader himself has to be a man of character, professionally competent and disciplined to make him trustworthy and dependable. Courage, charisma, self-reliance, self-confidence, affection, concern for the sub-ordinates are the essential values for the military leader of 21st century. As it is said, “Leadership is much more an art, a belief, a condition of the heart than a set of things to do. The visible signs of artful leadership are expressed ultimately in its application and execution”. All these are the challenges for which the military leaders of 21st century must prepare to develop the factors of training, education, ethical norms, character building and host of all military traits determine the out come of future war.
Rokan's Journal 