Navy

Be Devil’s Advocates, War College Graduates

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Today was March graduation in Newport and the spring term commences tomorrow, so it’s a fit time to ponder fundamentals. Such as: is professional military education about imparting a body of knowledge?

Yes, in part. It’s about acquainting midcareer students with history, political science, economics—really any discipline related to strategy. Of necessity students drink from a firehose that dispenses facts. And education is about interpreting facts. As economist Friedrich August von Hayek counsels: “without a theory the facts are silent.”

So our students acquire tools to make sense of what they see around them and think about how to manage those surroundings. Strategic theory is arguably the handiest tool in the toolkit, but Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and other masters of martial affairs keep company with the greats of political science, international relations, and economics.

If we do our job well our graduates go forth ready to read, think, write, and publish about their profession. They take ownership of their self-education, carry it forward, and put it to practical use. Graduate school helps them make that start. But there’s another purpose to professional military education—a hidden, sinister, even diabolical purpose.

We prepare graduates to vex their colleagues and superiors.

To good ends. When evaluating a candidate for sainthood the medieval Catholic Church would commission a lawyer to research the candidate’s background and character and argue against the candidacy by lodging arguments fair or foul. The point of appointing a “devil’s advocate” wasn’t to tear down the pious; intellectual combat was meant to reveal the full range of pros and cons.

Thus informed, church fathers could render the best-informed judgment possible.

Like church elders contemplating canonization, military commanders need arguments and counterarguments in full measure. Sociologist Irving Janis urges group leaders to appoint a devil’s advocate during any debate of consequence. And to assure the contrarian executes his duties well, the leadership should reward zeal in orneriness through promotions, bonuses, or awards.

For Janis, then, it takes a designated antagonist to enliven group deliberations and defeat groupthink. Release the devil’s advocates!

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