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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Risky Business: Risk Tolerance in U.S. Army Special Forces

Risky Business: Risk Tolerance in U.S. Army Special Forces

Naval Postgraduate School

Paperback

Armed Forces

ISBN10: 1505208734
ISBN13: 9781505208733
Publisher: Createspace
Published: Nov 27 2014
Pages: 78
Weight: 0.45
Height: 0.16 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.02
Language: English
This research looks at the issue of risk tolerance, and analyzes its role in U.S. Army Special Forces (SF). Morespecifically, it assesses the degree to which senior members of an organization allow junior members to makeautonomous decisions, and argues that the unconventional warfare (UW) mission and nature of SF call for a higherdegree of risk tolerance than is seen in conventional forces.A longitudinal case study of the conflict in Afghanistan shows that in 2001 SF had a long leash to allow for autonomy and flexibility, which was necessary to succeed in a UW environment. However, by 2006, the leash was shortened and more control measures were implemented. While a short leash may be appropriate for a conventional battlefield, it adversely impacts SF effectiveness in a UW environment.The three main reasons that induce risk aversion in SF leaders are exogenous political factors, organizational considerations including chain of command, and organizational culture, which is reinforced by the current Army officer evaluation system. This analysis suggests that the deleterious impact of these factors needs to be addressed inSF.

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