Building Rapport: QMN028
Martial Mental Models: The Quartermaster, Monday, 3 June
(Today’s report is a 4 minute read)
BLUF: Green Berets rarely have open authority and have to get what they need from the relationships they create with indigenous leaders. The Special Forces Advisor Guide (Training Circular 31-73) says that the best way to measure rapport is in the ability to motivate a partner nation leader to take an action - and that advisors can motivate their counterparts using four different methods: advising, setting the example, compromise, and coercion.
Brady here. Yes it’s true - while my team was out training our partner force in shooting, movement techniques, driving, first aid and how to use a radio, I was sitting in an office nearby drinking tea and chatting about cricket or soccer. I laughed at jokes, I shared lunch, and engaged in whiteboard planning. While my team members did all the things you expect Green Berets to do in the hot Central Asian sun, I sat in the shade. As unglamorous as it may sound what I was doing with our indigenous leaders is just as important as the actual military training and coaching itself. I was building and maintaining rapport with our partner force leaders. We talked about sports, politics, life and even the work at hand- how to defeat antigovernment insurgents in their area. My aim was to motivate them to receive more training for more troops, and then incrementally scale up their internal security operations. But in order to do that they had to trust me and be open to receiving my suggestions.
Establishing and maintaining rapport is a key capability for Green Berets when training and advising foreign militaries or guerrilla forces. The truth is that Green Berets rarely have open authority in the areas they're working, and thus have to get what they need from the relationships they create with the indigenous leaders they're supporting. The Special Forces Advisor Guide (Training Circular 31-73) says that the best way to measure rapport is in the ability to motivate a partner nation leader to take an action - and that advisors can motivate their counterparts using four different methods: advising, setting the example, compromise, and coercion. I'll summarize how and why each should be used:
- Advising: The most common of all methods, advising requires a level of demonstrated competence in the subject matter. The partner nation counterpart has to believe that his advisor has the right level of knowledge and skill, and that his recommendations will be sound. Most places where Green Berets work this isn't an issue- American SOF proficiency in general is well established before the team even gets there.
- Setting The Example: Also a natural fit for American forces, going in first and asking the partner nation counterpart to follow is another method to motivate. Often the situations where Green Berets are building rapport are in combat, so the level of risk involved can be elevated and it might take another means of mitigating or accepting risk to prove that a specific course of action is the right one.
- Compromise: Cultures view compromise differently - some expect negotiations from the start of a working relationship and others only in extreme situations. Whether or not it's openly stated, most parties working together are compromising in some way, however minor.
- Coercion: Usually used as a last resort, a threat to end the relationship may be the only way to motivate action in an extreme situation. As this method can cause damage to the relationship, the SF Advisors Guide recommends this only in a life or death situation.
I've used all of the first three methods of motivating a partner force in security operations with differing levels of success - one thing this list doesn't explain is that events outside of your partner force have a major effect on what your counterparts can do. Logistical limitations like the availability of ammunition to political sentiments in country and outside have all thwarted a lot of my plans - but core goals were always achieved, which included training hundreds of troops to defeat our common enemy. Drinking tea and talking sports helped get a lot of it done.(BJM)
THIS ISN’T WHAT UW LOOKS LIKE: Russian Group Offered Paramilitary Training to U.S. Neo-Nazis (3 min) Sounds more like a motorcycle gang emailed some basement dwelling airsofters...and that's it. “The Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a St. Petersburg-based group, contacted organizers of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., and suggested members of American white nationalist groups travel to Russia for a paramilitary training course called Partisan, according to U.S. officials.” (BJM)
ZAPPING WORKING MEMORY: Scientists Reverse Memory Loss With Electrical Pulses Delivered to Brain (2 min) “The researchers asked two groups of young (20 - 29 years old) and old (60 - 76 years old) people to participate in a working memory task while having their brain activity recorded with an electroencephalograph (EEG). The older group performed more poorly on the task than the younger group. The older participants then received 25 minutes of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation administered through the scalp. Following this, they were again asked to complete a working memory task. The researchers found that the older group started performing as well as the younger group and the effects lasted up to 50 minutes. Moreover, the worst performers showed the most improvement.” (KSA)
Remarks Complete. Nothing Follows.
KS Anthony (KSA) & Brady Moore (BJM)