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LEXINGTON, Va., Oct. 29, 2019鈥擱etired U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Votel recounted earlier today leadership lessons learned from the fight to defeat ISIS in Syria鈥攁 fight that he experienced firsthand as commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) from March 2016 to March 2019.

Votel鈥檚 remarks were given as part of the H.B. Johnson鈥�26 Distinguished Lecture Series and as part VMI鈥檚 10^th annual Leadership and Ethics Conference, which took place on post yesterday and today. This year鈥檚 conference, titled 鈥淒isruption: Challenging Leadership at Every Turn,鈥� drew approximately 200 attendees, including 95 outside guests from all of the nation鈥檚 senior military colleges, plus a number of other colleges and universities. Those participants joined the Corps of Cadets and members of the community in Cameron Hall for the remarks.

Votel, a U.S. Military Academy graduate who retired from the Army in March of this year spoke about how he and others dealt with the disruption and sudden challenges they encountered when President Donald Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2018, that ISIS had been defeated in Syria and later that day called for U.S. forces to be withdrawn from that war-torn nation.

Votel admitted that the news of an imminent troop withdrawal was 鈥渜uite a shock鈥� to him, and he characterized the Syrian conflict as 鈥渁n increasingly complex campaign and environment.鈥� The conflict there had produced a staggering number of refugees, with 3.6 million Syrians fleeing into Turkey alone since the war began in 2011.

The Syrian conflict, which grew out of the Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East, had been difficult to respond to from the start. 鈥淭he international response was very slow and uncertain,鈥� Votel stated. 鈥淚SIS took advantage of this chaos. They moved quickly. They overran resources.鈥�

ISIS found it easy to get and maintain a foothold, Votel explained, and its strength multiplied quickly thanks to an aggressive social media campaign that drew on young people鈥檚 desires for belonging and economic security.

Adding to the complexity of what had started as a civil war within Syria was the presence of foreign actors such as Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Israel鈥攁nd on top of that, the conflicts in the CENTCOM area of operations involved sustained urban fighting of a type that U.S. forces hadn鈥檛 experienced on a large scale since World War II.

Halfway through the war, President Barack Obama鈥檚 second term came to an end, and Trump took over as commander in chief. 鈥淭hat added an element of uncertainty and complexity as well,鈥� Votel noted.

Despite all of these challenges, Votel explained that success in defeating ISIS came through reliance on six key principles: a unifying organizational culture; pervasive trust; flat communication; strong relationships; decision making and risk assessment at the right level; and feedback loops for awareness and alignment.

Discussing each of these elements briefly, the Votel laid special emphasis on pervasive trust, and he shared a Civil War-era quote from Gen. William T. Sherman in a letter written to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant after the 1863 battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee: 鈥淚 knew that wherever I was, you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place, you would come鈥攊f alive.鈥�

Votel said that kind of bedrock trust is vital to a military operation. 鈥淭his sustained us throughout setbacks [in Syria],鈥� he noted. 鈥淭he idea of trust is extraordinarily important 鈥� It existed up and down the chain of command, and throughout our partners鈥� chains of command.鈥�

In the area of decision making at the right level, Votel recounted once having lunch with a young Air Force officer who had flown an F-16 over Syria who wanted to make sure that his possible use of firepower in the region was in line with Votel鈥檚 intent.

鈥淚t really highlighted for me an important aspect of our campaign鈥攁llowing decision making to take place at the right level while holding risk at the right level,鈥� Votel commented.

After concluding his remarks, Votel took questions from cadets and other conference attendees. When asked how the United States should respond to developing insurgencies in places such as Mozambique and Somalia, Votel replied that an international response should come much earlier when conflict seems to be brewing. 鈥淭hings don鈥檛 get better over time,鈥� he observed.

Continuing the conversation on disruptions and leadership, Votel next participated in a panel discussion in Marshall Hall with Frank Hoffman, a distinguished research fellow at the National Defense University, and Brandon Valeriano, Bren chair of military innovation at the Marine Corps University. The conference concluded with neuroscientist and technologist Poppy Crum speaking on, 鈥淎rtificial Intelligence: Opportunities for Positive Disruption.鈥�

-Mary Price

-VMI-