Day 11: 2020 Pandemic. Why Decisive Leadership is Key; A Tale of Two Adjacent States

22 March 2020

Every training environment I was in, and every unit I served with in the Army emphasized leadership. From West Point, to Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced, Ranger, Special Forces Qualification, etcetera. Then in the Infantry and Special Forces as an Infantry platoon leader, Battalion scout platoon leader, Brigade recon platoon leader, Special Forces A-Team leader, and on. The cornerstones of leadership are responsibility and making decisions.

A leader is responsible for everything his/her unit does or fails to do. A leader makes decision. “Do something, Ranger!” Sometimes making a decision was pounded home so hard, they didn’t care if you made the right decision; the key in a dangerous situation, is to make a decision. Not stand around in the kill zone pondering what to do next.

Below is a graph showing the difference between TN and KY. It shows the difference in infection rates for COVID-19 between the two states which share a very long border. I know it’s hard to read the words but let me give you the crux of the matter. The blue is Kentucky. The orange is TN. Where the color is faded that is the number tested. Where’s it’s dark that’s the number positive. Here is a timeline between actions, or lack, by the governors of each state, which is what the boxes say: