Response to “Reinvigorating the Army’s Approach to Command and Control Training for Mission Command (Part 3)” and “Do Large-Scale Combat Operations Require a New Type of Leader?”
(Military Review, September-October 2019)
Master Sgt. Karlen P. Morris, U.S. Army, Retired
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After reading the latest issue of the Military Review, I want to comment on something. The articles “Reinvigorating the Army’s Approach to Command and Control Training for Mission Command (Part 3)” and “Do Large-Scale Combat Operations Require a New Type of Leader?” seem to be missing something, the discussion about Maj. Gen. John S. Wood, commander of the 4th Armored Division.
Gen. Wood was referred to as the “American Rommel.” His troops loved him and from my twenty years of correspondence with Brig. Gen. Albin F. Irzyk, he was dumbfounded that leaders today do not know of Gen. Wood or study him. In a conversation with Gen. Irzyk, he told me this,
“Of all the leaders that I ever meet he is the greatest. He is the greatest not because of one reason or two reasons but for many reasons. First of all, he loved his troops and his troops loved him. Secondly, he was a fabulous trainer, he trained. On top of that, he was a superb tactician. What more or greater package could you have than that? How many great leaders can have only one or two elements but not all three? I spoke at a dedication of a building at Ft. Knox in 1991 and I started off by saying that there are hundreds and hundreds of books and millions of words written about leadership. You can throw them all away and study Gen. Wood. He had it! He is the greatest leader I have ever known and I will say this over and over again until the day I die. What is tragic is that so few know. Today there are numerous generals here and there that the general public knows about but relatively no one has heard about Gen. Wood. And the greatest irony of it all was he was relieved, a division commander relieved in combat. Here is a guy that did everything right, plus.”
Those few of us that were around in the late 1990s and early 2000s know of Gen. Wood and we know about Mission Type Orders. It’s old school to us. This all stems from the 4th Armored Division, its commander, Maj. Gen. John S. Wood, and the many officers of that combat division that filtered through the Army after WWII. I would love to see Military Review go back and look at Gen. Wood or reprint some articles which may cover him and his leadership style.
Correction to previous article
Correction to “Do Large-Scale Combat Operations Require
a New Type of Leader?”
(Military Review, September-October 2019)
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/English-Edition-Archives/September-October-2019/Gingrich-LSCO-Leader/
Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley was not in command of First Army on 16 December 1944. Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges was in command of First Army. Bradley commanded the 12th Army Group, which at that time was comprised of the First, Third, and the newly born Ninth Armies. Thanks to Lt. Col. John Perkowski, U.S. Army, retired.
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