Sof And Surrogates Summary
In the “SOF and Surrogates” article, presented by The Strategy Bridge, Dr. Baker discusses the ethical responsibility SOF operators have when working with surrogate forces by means of UW and FID operations. Dr. Baker reminds us that as SOF, we must assess our relationships when conducting these operations and decide if they are ethically permissible. Further, we should weigh the risk associated with training our surrogates against accomplishing our military objectives.
For me, this article stresses two responsibilities leaders have when working through surrogates: the importance of accurately reporting the sentiments and intentions of our surrogates, and the importance of leaning on existing relationships to help stress the importance ethical decision making and the LLW.
We have an incredibly important responsibility to our leadership to ensure we are sending up accurate information to allow our leaders to make the most informed decisions possible. When …show more content…
working with surrogates, this rings especially true. Properly reporting what our surrogates do, and intend to do, provides metrics on what efforts are working and what efforts we can do without. It also allows our leaders to identify what partners are not working in line with US interests.
As a SOF soldier and leader, I find the most important task I can perform is that of leaning on the relationships I have built to impress upon my counterparts the importance of ethical decision making.
Whether we have HRV or a feasibility assessment conducted for our partners, we must all ensure we are always doing what is right when working through surrogates and push them to do the same. With that, I believe we all understand the changing dynamics of the environments in which we find ourselves. We understand that our partners need reminding of what the “right thing” is and we ensure that LLW training is ever present when engaging with our counterparts. As our partners develop and run into an uncertain future, these lessons must remain a constant. The buy in we utilize to impress these values into our surrogates comes from the strong relationships we build. Building these relationships is the responsibility of every SF soldier. Without these strong relationships, our efforts and lessons fall on deaf
ears.
As SOF we work in uncertain environments, oftentimes with forces whose customs and values are much different than our own. In these environments we encounter many points of friction and must use our own moral compass to make decisions. We must keep our leaders informed of these friction points instead of reporting what we think our leaders wish to hear. We must also do what Special Forces soldiers do best and continue to build strong relationships with our partners, because through these relationships is how we ensure the LLW and ethical decisions resonate now and into the future.
-Mr. Davila
For me, this article stresses two responsibilities leaders have when working through surrogates: the importance of accurately reporting the sentiments and intentions of our surrogates, and the importance of leaning on existing relationships to help stress the importance ethical decision making and the LLW.
We have an incredibly important responsibility to our leadership to ensure we are sending up accurate information to allow our leaders to make the most informed decisions possible. When …show more content…
working with surrogates, this rings especially true. Properly reporting what our surrogates do, and intend to do, provides metrics on what efforts are working and what efforts we can do without. It also allows our leaders to identify what partners are not working in line with US interests.
As a SOF soldier and leader, I find the most important task I can perform is that of leaning on the relationships I have built to impress upon my counterparts the importance of ethical decision making.
Whether we have HRV or a feasibility assessment conducted for our partners, we must all ensure we are always doing what is right when working through surrogates and push them to do the same. With that, I believe we all understand the changing dynamics of the environments in which we find ourselves. We understand that our partners need reminding of what the “right thing” is and we ensure that LLW training is ever present when engaging with our counterparts. As our partners develop and run into an uncertain future, these lessons must remain a constant. The buy in we utilize to impress these values into our surrogates comes from the strong relationships we build. Building these relationships is the responsibility of every SF soldier. Without these strong relationships, our efforts and lessons fall on deaf
ears.
As SOF we work in uncertain environments, oftentimes with forces whose customs and values are much different than our own. In these environments we encounter many points of friction and must use our own moral compass to make decisions. We must keep our leaders informed of these friction points instead of reporting what we think our leaders wish to hear. We must also do what Special Forces soldiers do best and continue to build strong relationships with our partners, because through these relationships is how we ensure the LLW and ethical decisions resonate now and into the future.
-Mr. Davila