Thread by @MarkHertling

My friend, Australian MG (ret) Mick Ryan (@WarintheFuture), has written a magnificent article on those leading Ukraine's Army.

Highly recommend it!

Hoping Mick won't mind, but I'd like to add some thoughts (& 1 critique). 1/14

engelsbergideas.com/essays/a-tale-…

Mick describes the actions of Generals Valeriy Zaluzhnyy & Andrii Kovalchuk, and Col-Gen Oleksandr Syrskiy and how those will go down in Ukraine's military history (similar to Eisenhower, Bradley & Montgomery on D-Day).

Aggressive, adaptive, innovative...a new breed. 2/

In April, @politico did a great piece on Zaluzhnyy, saying he is part of a "new generation of Ukrainian officers who cut their teeth in the grinding eight-year war in Donbas and...deployed to training ranges across Europe to drill with NATO forces." 3/

politico.com/news/2022/04/0…

I don't know Kovalchuk & Syrskiy, but I did meet then-Colonel Zaluzhnyy on 1 of those "NATO training events" (a @USArmyEURAF sponsored event called "Rapid Trident" at Yavoriv training area).

He was commanding UA's 51st Separate Mech Brigade.

media.defense.gov/2018/May/03/20…
4/

Zaluzhnyy - and a few other colonels - were introduced to me by then-Chief of Ukrainian Ground Forces, Col-Gen Henadii Petrovich Vorobiov.

I wrote about my friend Henadii, the late COL-GEN Vorobiov, in a @BulwarkOnline article in March. 5/ thebulwark.com/i-commanded-u-…

Col-Gen Vorobiov was a visionary.

When appointed the Chief of Ground Forces on November 18, 2009, his goal was to transform the Ukrainian Army.

He had several points of effort: new doctrine, modern training, getting rid of the old guard & developing the new. 6/

Henadii's career started in the Soviet Army -before Ukraine gained its independence in 1991- and told me he needed to rid the UA of all vestiges of the Soviet Model.

His top priority was leadership development: character, standards, ethos, initiative, dedication to Ukraine. 7/

As I say in the Bulwark, he focused on getting rid of corrupt senior officers (from the Soviet period), while training a new corps of senior officers & developing his NCOs.

Every time we came together, like a proud father he would introduce me to "the future of Ukraine." 9/

Then-Colonel Zaluzhnyy -the 51st Mech Bde Commander - was one of those "up and comers."

I remember his big smile, his obvious love of his soldiers, and his "bold" sense of humor.

I wish I had a picture of our meeting. 10/

In reading Mick's article, it became obvious to me that the 3 Ukrainian Generals were the equivalent of 3 of the best...Ike, Brad, Monty.

But it's also obvious how Henadii was a lot like GEN George C. Marshall...keeping names of potential leaders in a little black book. 11/

I'm really glad @WarintheFuture wrote his piece.

Understanding the role of "personalities" is important.

Positivity, energy, caring, character, values, a vision for the future, building a bench of talent...all contribute to success.

The leader traits we all need. 12/

But having a vision, creating standards, adapting...and most importantly teaching, training, counseling, mentoring, coaching in order to build a bench for the future...are required for success.

Actively finding & developing those with potential. 13/

So thanks, Mick.

Oh...the 1 critique?

"Corrosion." Since that word isn't doctrinally defined or universally understood, I believe we ought stick with the operational art construct of "sequencing battles to achieve specific strategy objectives."

That's what UKR did. 14/14