It is a common lesson that repeating history’s mistakes will lead to the same outcome. It is crucially important to take lessons learned from both Athenian democracy, and also various pieces of literature such as The Art of War and to apply them in a career as a leader. Looking at the model of Athenian democracy, I believe that making sure every sailor has a voice that will be heard is very important to foster an effective command climate. One of the most common things I heard over my 4/C cruise was that officers seemed to be relatively disconnected from the daily lives of sailors, and what they have to say. I believe that holding something similar to an assembly would be extremely beneficial as it would allow for voices to be heard, and to give those who are afraid to speak up the chance to voice their concerns. A strong team is developed when people believe they are important to their cause. Allowing everyone to speak, while not everyone could be satisfied, would create a climate in which they know that their voices have at least been heard. The Athenians created a model in which mostly everyone had a say in their decisions, and I believe that hearing what others have to say is important as an officer.
The Art of War also serves as an insightful and impactful piece of literature. Sun Tzu states, “The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness”. I believe that this is a perfect summation of what the military strives to achieve in their officers. We are taught to uphold each of these characteristics, and that they will lead to success. I believe that these pillars of character are extremely important as they are synonymous with the characteristics that are taught to us over our entire time at the Academy. The Art of War not only talks about what an officer should be like, but also general statements on how to conduct warfare. It is important to learn from these and apply them, in order to stop yourself from making hasty or naïve decisions in the heat of the moment. Although it is important to keep strategy in mind, the most important from Sun Tzu, is that a commander should be a person who is for their enlisted, and do everything in their power in order to guarantee their happiness and success.
WC:404
The West in the Pre-Modern World 
Billy Honaker
I find it interesting that you opened up this blog post with the fact that history repeats itself, because that is a common theme we have seen through the semester. With that being said I like how you incorporated the course documents into your post, but I think you should have correlated it more with your primary sources when speaking of the disconnect between officers and enlisted. I think you could have explained what about your primary sources made you consider this disconnect, and what solutions you found in the material. As you continued on you did a nice job of analyzing the sources and relating it to your development as an officer. I agree with your conclusion on the pillars that the military works to instill in its officers, those are strong, essential characteristics. Finally, I agree that an officer should be for his/her people, and I think that the Naval Academy does its best to enforce that.
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Sam Heideman
I completely agree with the majority of your statements involving both the Athenian democracy and the ancient Chinese military leader Sun Tzu. Allowing all members of a society to have a voice in the decisions being made definitely provides a sense of “buy in” for each individual as the feel that they have a say in what affects their day to day lives. However, it is also extremely important to understand that by having everyone participate in some sort of assembly, you are drastically reducing the efficiency and practicality of your society, especially your work place. Definitely listen to what your enlisted members have to say but also understand that the way our military society is stratified, officers must have the final say in matters. This preserves our effectiveness and ability to make decisions on the spot in an extremely timely manner. Your comments on Sun Tzu are completely accurate as they bring to light the very values that we try to embody as officers and serve as a basis to build our morals from.
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