LEADERSHIP AND THE PROFESSION OF ARMS

 THE JOURNALS

Maj. Dolly Hutagalung–IDAF, Flight 13, ACSC – AY24

 Day 1. Experience As a Leader & Day 8. Power, Status, and Influence

Prompt: Write a short account of a moment from your leadership experience. What were you doing, where did you add value, and what does that snapshot say about you as a leader generally?

I am an Indonesian Air Force pilot officer, deployed in Squadron number 7 from 2010 until 2022 (power). As a helicopter pilot, I should be professional with my flight skills to achieve the qualification stages from Co-pilot to functional test pilot (status). Besides focusing on my job as a pilot, I also have a responsibility to take care of the airmen in my unit. I let my airmen during training, operation, and maintenance squadron affairs (influence).

I have some tenets (influence) that I always try to show to my airmen during my leadership time. First is to walk the talk, which means what you are doing is like what you are talking about. Never give an order if you have never done that, except for a job that is associated with a different profession. You need to give your trust to your airmen. Secondly, the leader has to be seen. At least give time to show up to your airmen to show that you engage directly during the job, even if you cannot stay until the job finishes.

Moreover, if you cannot give everything to your members (lack of power), at least give a good example comprehensively (influence). As a leader, your members will imitate you, or at least your behavior will become an example to the next generation in your unit, even above. Lastly, after you give all of that, you need to trust your members but keep verifying periodically. As a leader, your job is to bring your unit to achieve the end related to Air Force goals as a big organization.

As Indonesian Armed Forces soldiers (power), we have some fundamental core values: Soldiers Oath, 8 Obligation Stance of the Indonesian Armed Forces, & 11 Principles of TNI Leadership. We repeat together during every official ceremony. 

Day 2. Ethics and the Leader

Prompt: An intuitive (without conscious reasoning/instinctively) moral judgment (evaluation of behavior as good or bad, correct or wrong) you made in your personal or professional life and reflect upon how and why you came to that judgment.

            When I was a cadet in the Indonesian Air Force Academy (IDAFA), we had an academic year of three years, with value demands of an achievement index of 1-4 points every six months, and we needed a minimum of 2 points accumulated per year to promote to the next grade. Some cadets need help to get this point because our demand is academic, good character, and physical fitness. And the environment during cadet education was callous.

            Interestingly, we focus more on graduating together than competing to become number one. Because our goal was to become Air Force officers together to serve the nation and earn some money, the smart cadets in the academic side will be paired with average/lower during study time so that they can help each other. We do not want to leave one man behind.

            Academic examinations in my academy at the time were relatively easy. The lecturer always gave clues about what questions would be tested, and sometimes they just changed the number. Or sometimes also open a book. But, even if it looked easy, sometimes this condition becomes excessive when the average, even lower cadet also has lazy traits.

            At the time, I helped my pairing cadet. However, on exam day, he got sick, so after I finished the examination, I went directly to the hospital and gave him the examination papers. To make a story short, finally, he got an accumulation achievement index of 2.01 and could continue to the next grade (almost grounded, basically.

 

Day 3. Personality

Prompt: Write about when you relied on your values to help make a tough decision. Alternatively, write about your reaction to your results in one of the personality preference assessments.

            Once per year, every aircrew in my air force should go to a medical examination, or “Medex,” and one of the materials is a psychology test. Like a standard psychology test, for this one, we did that on the computer, and we answered or chose some of the questions. This test takes around 1 hour; after that, we will get feedback from the expert.

            Interestingly, from my feedback, I did well in almost all criteria, except for one thing: “Rigidity” My score is very low, and I did not expect this. For the first years, I still think that it was just a coincidence; maybe at the time, my performance was not going well, but unfortunately, it happened three years consecutively. Then, I started thinking weirdly about this “rigidity.”

The expert told me that rigidity is related to how I obey the rules in my duty and social activity and the flexibility in my actions (correct me if I am wrong). The lower the score means, the less rigid I am, and it means that I less obey rules like SOP during flight or every day in my duty and how I interact with my airmen. I feel weird because, as I know, I always try to obey the rules as much as I can. Every week I repeat the flying procedure, routine, and emergency procedure. As an officer in my unit, we give an example to our members to obey the rules. How come my rigidity was low?

However, the expert explained that the more senior you are, the higher your position, which means a higher potential for underestimating the rules or SOP. It was like a warning for me; I take the positive side as a reminder and self-introspection.

On the other hand, a lower rigidity score means I am more flexible. The more senior you are, the more airmen under your wing, as your junior or your members. It means you will interact with more people and need this flexibility trait. Interestingly, you cannot become rigid and flexible at the same time together at a higher level. It is like a reverse lever. If you increase the rigidity, your flexibility will decrease, and vice versa. The best thing we can do is keep its balance or use it as needed.

After getting the explanation, I became more aware. It is better to know yourself from the expert and try to accept those with wisdom and prudence.

 

Day 5. Ethical Challenges

Journal Prompt: Write about the moral dimension of a hard decision you have made or witnessed.

At the time, I was a first lieutenant in Squadron Number 7 Force’s operational helicopter squadrons. And my qualification was still an EC120B Colibri copilot. One of the responsibilities of an Indonesian Air Force helicopter pilot is to perform standby SAR operations at air bases that have fighter squadrons. Because my squadron has 4 airbases to back up, crew rotation for this operation is frequent, up to six times per year in different locations.

At one point, I had a senior copilot whose wife was ready to give birth, but his role required him to do standby SAR duties distant from the home base. I was still a bachelor then, and my position was at home base. As a result, I volunteered to take over my senior's responsibilities so that he could attend his child's birth.

But our commander had a different opinion. He believes that while carrying out the assignment, it must be completed. We can't argue because we're subordinates. Then, we attempted to consult with the deputy commander but received the same response. We feel some difficult conversation on there. We are completely aware that our commander is idealistic and firm. But unfortunately, he finds it challenging to accept proposals from his subordinates.

Even though I am still a bachelor, I can understand my seniors' disappointment, but as soldiers, we are trained to obey our superiors. In my mind, I keep asking, even though this is still a peaceful time, and it takes 2 hours for an airline to come home, why is it not permitted for my senior to accompany my wife to give birth, even though his wife does not give birth every month? I mean, it is an essential moment in life.

My senior, however, had a different opinion; he resolved to leave his area of duty to attend his wife's birth. He told me that he had received permission from the airbase commander where he was posted, even though our squadron commander did not provide permission; for him, the family was irreplaceable, whereas the squadron could always replace himself. After the birth went smoothly, he was summoned by the squadron directly and given a military disciplinary punishment for disobeying the leader's orders.

Moral of the story:

A soldier who values his family is up against a commander who values his work. Although other options are available, rigid military communication (difficult conversation) and relationships between superiors and subordinates prevent the mission from running correctly.

 

Day 7. Communication

Prompt: Write about a difficult conversation you have experienced. Alternatively, take one of your previous journal entries and try to rewrite it in half the words. Give the same original passage to ChatGPT to condense. Compare the results.

Chat GPT said: (condense)

The story revolves around a conflict between a soldier valuing family and a commander prioritizing work. The soldier, a copilot, volunteered to cover for a senior copilot who needed to attend his wife's childbirth. The commander refused due to strict adherence to duty. The senior copilot left anyway, faced disciplinary action, and strained relations. The story reflects clashes between personal values and organizational priorities within a rigid hierarchy, emphasizing the importance of empathy and communication in leadership.

 

Day 6. Emotional Intelligent

Prompt: Write about a time you had difficulty regulating your emotions. What was the result? Reflecting upon it, do you have a different understanding of that time? What would you do differently if you felt that way in the future?

After graduating from pilot school, I joined the unit with fellow officers in 2010. Life as a junior officer in the unit is full of seniors and even more members in the air squadron units. We have a lot of job demands from seniors and great expectations from members as newly graduated officers from the Air Force school. This puts us under pressure because we want to give our best performance.

The duties assigned by seniors are typically large and must be finished quickly; thus, we must be able to lead and direct people. However, occasionally the young airmen lack discipline, resulting in the failure to fulfill responsibilities, and as a result, we, the young officers, are the ones who face punishment from our superiors.

We refused to accept that our bosses had physically punished us, so we lectured and punished our members who had previously lacked discipline with appropriate punishment. However, we frequently become emotionally stressed because we believe that this duty will be performed effectively if only the young members are loyal to our directions.

This was repeated multiple times until we realized what had gone wrong. Is it possible that the instructions are unclear or that there is a lack of oversight? Finally, we informed the senior officers about the situation. We were also told that it was natural for new officers not to immediately acquire the respect of the members since they did not know us well or we had not approached them correctly. And simply becoming enraged over an unfinished task will not fix the situation.

Finally, we gradually approached the senior members and then the younger ones. There is great seniority among members, and their loyalty among fellow members is relatively high, and it is allowing the chain of command to be used. We delegate work to senior members, and others will follow. What is equally vital is our assistance. As an officer, don't depart after assigning a task; instead, spend the time to oversee and collaborate so that the connection improves and trust develops.

    If I experience the same situation in the future, first, don't be afraid to ask individuals who have previously been there to learn more about the work environment. Don't be arrogant because we have a higher status; instead, choose a persuasive approach and create trust by interacting and cooperating according to their different roles.