1.
The Battle of Ia Drang was thefirst major battle between the UnitedStates Army and the North Vietnamese Army-NVA (People’s Army of Vietnam-PAVN). It comprised two main engagements. The first involved the 1stBattalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment and supporting units, and took placeNovember 14–16, 1965 at LZ X-Ray, located at the eastern foot of the Chu Pongmassif in the central highlands of Vietnam. 2. The second engagement involved the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regimentplus supporting units, and took place on November 17 at LZ Albany, farthernorth in the Ia Drang Valley.
It is notable for being the first largescale helicopter air assault and also the first use of B-52strategic bombers in a tactical support role. AIM 3. The aim ofthis paper is to study the leadership traits of Harold G.Moore and to exploithis positive and negative leadership traits as a lesson to be learnt and usetheir ideas in recent modern-day air warfare and conflict. SCOPE 4.
The scope ofthis paper will cover the following a. LeaderBackground.b. ChosenPrinciple of his Leadership Style.c.
PositiveTraits.d. NegativeTraits.e. LessonLearnt in Relation to the Principles Chosen.f.
Conclusiong. Recommendationh. Bibliography HAROLD G.MOORE BACKGROUND 5.
Lt Gen Harold G.Moore was born on 13 February1922 at Bardstown, Kentucky. Hecommissioned as a second lieutenant at WestPoint in 1945.
He involved in Korean War 1954 and Vietnam War 1965.He is bestknown for his leadership in the first major battle between the US and thePeople’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN). Moore and his late wife, Julia Compton Moore,have 5 children. Moore selected Infantry as his branch and joined the 187thAirborne Regiment in Sendai, Japan. In June 1952, Captain Mooredeployed to Korea.
Over the course of the next 14 months, he would command arifle company and heavy mortar company in the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7thInfantry Division, and seeing action in some of Korea’s fiercest battles ofattrition on Pork Chop Hill, T-Bone, Alligator Jaws and Charlie Outpost. After two years at West Point, he attended the Naval Postgraduate School andlater worked in the Pentagon in the Air Mobility Division, part of the Chief ofResearch and Development, in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff forOperations and Plans. Kinnard would be LTC Moore’s Division Commander inVietnam five years later and would shape Moore’s command style. In June1964, LTC Moore received a by-name request from the newly promoted BrigadierGeneral Harry W. O. Kinnard, commanding general, 11th Air Assault Division(Test), to serve as a battalion commander. Following retirement from active duty in 1977, heworked as the Executive Vice President of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort inColorado. In 1981, working with his co-author, Joe Galloway, he turned hisattention to the research that underpinned their 1992 New York TimesBestselling book on the Ia Drang battles, We Were Soldiers Once… and Young.
In2002, the book was the basis of the acclaimed movie, We Were Soldiers, whereMel Gibson portrayed Hal. After being devastated by the loss of his wife,Julie, in 2004, Hal withdrew from public life but worked with Joe Galloway toproduce the 2008 sequel to the first book; We are Soldiers Still: A JourneyBack to the Battlefields of VietnamHe passed away at his homein Auburn, AL on February 10, 2017. CHOSEN PRINCIPLE OF HAROLD G.
MOORE 6. Leadership principlesare guidelines that have tested and proven over the years by successful leader.In our research, we found that Harold G.Moore have principle on Brad Sugars 10principles of leadership.a. Know yourself and seek self improvementb. Be technically proficientc.
Seek responsibility and take responsibility for youractiond. Make sound and timely decisione. Set the example f. Know your people and look out for their well beingg. Keep your people informed h.
Develop a sense of accountability, ownership andresponsibility in your peoplei. Ensure tasks areunderstood, supervised and accomplished j. Train your people asa team 7. To determine thequality of Harold G.
Moore leadership, the principle that guided into hisactions must be analyzed in order to be guide for other leaders in performingtheir duties. Harold G.Moore was military general who required of leadershipskill at high levels. When each of these areas has been assessed individually,it will then be possible to draw conclusions about the quality of HaroldG.Moore leadership and how it either assisted or hindered the accomplishment ofhis mission. It will also be possible to determine if his exercise ofleadership has any applicability to the problem faced by leaders today and inthe future. Harold G.Moore has adopted various principles in his leadership asa leader but we will examine two principles that most outstanding in him.
Thechosen principle is as discussed below. SEEK RESPONSIBILITY AND TAKERESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTION1. Seeking responsibility andtake responsibility for the actions are very important leadership traits for aleader to possess. A true leaderseeks responsibility and takes pride in his actions and backs them up. Relatedwith Harold G.Moore, we can see some of his responsibility on his communicationwithin his troops, example of “I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home alive.
But this Iswear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I willbe the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to set off, and Iwill leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. Sohelp me God.” (Hal Moore). SET EXAMPLE1.
The most importantprinciple for next-generation leader is to lead by example. Leaders are notthere to tell people what to do, but to show them how and why to perform thespecific task. The core idea of leadership is the ability to inspire people andin order to do that you can’t just bark orders. If you want people to buy intoyour vision, then you need to show them why the vision is worth working forwith your action and behavior. What we can relate with Harold G.Moore aboutthis principle is his contribution during his service at 82ndAirborne Division. He joined Airborne test Section, a special unit testingexperimental parachutes.
During training, he volunteershimself to become a jump tested experimental parachute and other airborne gear.With that event, he become an example to others. TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE AS TEAM1. Team is somehow the mostimportant resource for each leader. Embraced your team and devote your energyto care about its unity each and every day.
As long as your team splendidnothing can stay on your way to success. Make sure that all people in your teamconsider themselves as members of a strong unified family. For the HaroldG.Moore, he treat his subordinate like a family even during training or warespecially with his Sgt Major Basil L Plumley. His friendly behaviors have madetheir people as team without care about his level of rank. 8. As conclusion, from the 3 ofBrad Sugars principle that we had choose, by using Be, Know Do model (BKD) of leadership, Harold G.
Moore wasfulfill the requirement to become an excellent leader. The character and competence the BE and theKNOW underlie everything a leader done. BEHarold G.Moore demonstrateshis character through his behavior. One of his responsibility as a leader is toteach values to his men. Harold G.Moore always talk about honor, loyalty andselfless service to motivate their men before go to battlefield.
He alsoteaches their men of the value thru the action and example such as: a. “From that visit I took away onelesson: Death is the price you pay for underestimating this tenacious enemy.” ? Harold G. Moore, We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young: Ia Drang-TheBattle That Changed the War in Vietnam b. “War is absolutely the last card any nationalleader should play, and only when every other alternative has been exhausted.
If the hand was being played by an old soldier, a war veteran, I can assure youhe would guard that war card to the bitter end and play it reluctantly and withthe fear and trepidation of experience.” ? Harold G. Moore, We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to theBattlefields of Vietnam KNOWA leader must have a certain level ofknowledge to be competent. That knowledge is spread across four skill domainsthat is interpersonal skill, conceptual skill, technical skill and tacticalskill. Related to Harold G.
Moore, he have all the skill by example for theinterpersonal skill he always be with the man along the daily work and alsotraining part. He very closely to the subordinates to give a way for them tofeel free with him and he try to understand the way of subordinates. The 2ndis conceptual skill to understand and apply the doctrine to the subordinates.Before Vietnam war, he studied about the enemy and situation first then brieflyto the man. The 3rd is technical skill is how to use the asset or equipment.He also studied about capacity of the helicopter that use for the war. The lastthing is about tactical skill that shown how he facing trouble situation thatis in a tough time and criticalsituation he think a kind of go into a sort of a (unintelligible) zone (ph) andblank out all the horrible brutality which is going on around him, being awareof it nevertheless but realizing that was a commander he responsible forpreserving as many American lives as he can and killing as many enemy as hecan.Now, in the smoke and the dust, whichlimits visibility and the terrible heat – that compounds the situation.
The menscreaming and yelling, giving orders in three languages – English, Spanish,Vietnamese; wounded men screaming for medics and for their mother, about to diehe never found it difficult to keep. Once, he was eight seconds from hittingthe ground, but he knew he make it in on my reserve if he could get it open. Henever really been concerned when he been tough situations.
DOTrain soldier know what theysupposed to do, but under stress their instinct might tell them to do somethingdifference. The exhausted, hungry, cold, wet, disorientated and frightenedsoldier is more likely to do wrong thing stop moving, lie down, retreat then wantnot under kind of stress. This is when the leader must step in when thing arefalling apart, when they seems to be no hope and get the job done. Related toHarold G.
Moore he face the hard situation during Vietnam War. He didn’t get anysleep along the battle. For the first day of the battle, there are only two ofhis companies were on the ground and need to face out of 1000 People of VietnamArmy Nations who were wanted to kill his company. No men were to cover theircompany from rear. However, after the third company was landed, he uses hisability on the decision making to defense their troop in three lines andsurprise the enemy.
, POSITIVE TRAITS 9. When analyzing thecharacter traits of a leader it is important to assess both positive and negativetraits to ensure that lessons can be learned from both examples. This analysiscan be used to educate the grow subordinates into future leader. Harold G.Mooreshowed numerous exemplary leadership traits, most of them are positive traitsfit for a leader and even the negative traits discuss later have a positiveside to them. Some of positive traits that Harold G.Moore possessed were asfollows: a. Courage – Lt.
Gen. Harold G.Moore whose fortitude saved most of hisoutnumbered battalion in 1965 in the first major battle between American andNorth Vietnamese troop. He was phenomenal man of great strength and character,courageous and like a father to his troops who got most of his boys. On thefirst day of battle at LZ X-Ray, the helicopter only can drop 80 of Moore’s 429men at a time, once every 35 minutes. The PAVN had 2000 veteran soldiers onground and 6000 more were just half-day’s march away.
However, as a courageousleader, he able to manage their troops into the battle. Furthermore, hisattitude that make him to be the first person also shows of his courage value. He volunteers himself to become a jump tested experimentalparachute and other airborne gear. On his first jump, however, the parachutehung on the tail of C-46 aircraft. He was dragged, twisting and trailing behindthe plane, at 110 miles per hour, 1500 feet above drop zone. b.
INSPIRATION: He delivered on avow that endeared him to his troops: “I’ll always be the first person on thebattlefield, my boots will be the first boots on it, and I’ll be the lastperson off. I’ll never leave a body.” other times the examplewas making sure that the lower enlisted Soldiers at first. c. RESPONSIBILITY: He will not leavetheir men. Three months earlier at Fort Benning, Ga., he had promised his menthat none would be left behind on a jungle battlefield.
Later, helicopters wereso full of dead and wounded men that blood drained out of the cracks in thefuselages.Julie Moore change policy to notify the family. d. MOTIVATED LEADER: The day beforebattalion was departing for Vietnam, He held a dress formation on the paradeground with families of his troops attending. He addressed the group with aspeech. e. SERVICE BEFORE SELF: He didn’t get anysleep along the battle. He also never thought about his wife and five kids backin America.
NEGATIVETRAITS10. A true military leader, to put into writinghis negative traits really pushed this research deep to find any if there are.The only traits that would make Harold G. Moore less than perfect was only thebased on our research. The 3 negative traits that Harold G.Moore is asfollowed: a. Unreliable –Harold G. Moore gave bad impression of his president to their man.
He thinksthat his president is well spoken without known of the reality. “Troops inbattle don’t fight for what some president says on TV,”. Moore said. “Theydon’t fight for mom, the flag or the apple pie, they fight for one another,they fight to stay alive and they become brother for life.
” b. Taking A Risk to Complete A Task- Harold G Moore always take a risk tobecome first. For example, when he with the 82nd Airborne Divisionhe joined the Airborne Test Section a special unit testing experimentalparachutes. His main chute hung up with at the tail of C-34 aircraft with speed110 nm/h at 1500 feet above ground level, however he able to cut off his mainparachute and safely landed at landing zone using a backup chute. c. Overconfident- Harold G. Moore are overconfident withhimself that he has a good knowledge in academic, professional army officertrained in all the army school and been through battle in Korea War as infantrycompany commander of two infantry companies.
He never did any bargaining withGod. LESSONLEARNT 1. Primarily, ourbiggest lesson learnt that very significant to be emphasis is seek responsibilityand take responsibility for any action that we do it. As a leader we must givea fully responses toward our job and always be responsibility toward our men.Not only by given task and leave it. Harold G.Moore was command his battalionvery well with his responsibility. In the battlefield, if we lost, don’t blameour subordinate.
But blame yourself for not training them properly or givingpoop instruction. 2. Besides having a goodresponsibility, you also need to be a good example for your subordinate. Thiscould be prevail during the battle of Ia Drang when Harold G.Moore become thefirst person who step off from the helicopter to the battlefield and follows byhis company.
For set example is not only to be used for the war. It also needto be used for daily time. As an officer, we need to show our good attitude andwork to our men. So, it will give a good impression toward our organization. 3. In order to win abattle, we need to train our people as a team.
In other words, quality as ateam will give significant impact on the outcome. During the battle of IaDrang, Harold G.Moore company with 190 men was meet of 1000 North Vietnamese army.However, their team were sustain in fierce battle for 45 minutes before get supportfrom artillery and air support.
As we can see, quality is more important than quantity.A good team is come from our people. The quality of people is come from how we trainthem and treat with respect. CONCLUSIONIn conclusion, this essayhas reviewed Harold G.
Moore providing an analysis of his behavior against the leadershipprinciple while he served as a commander of 1st Battalion, 7 Calvary.He can be describes as a charismatic leader. He had clear vision and knowledge ofthe path for execute his strategy so he is the one who be the inspiration and moraletoward their men to achieve the mission.
