If there is one thing I was certain of while I was in the Army, it was uncertainty. I never liked this aspect of the military and neither did my wife. Upon reflection, I was reminded that being able to thrive in uncertainty is what makes our Army the greatest force on the planet. Picking our battles is not an option at times, the enemy’s decisions are also uncertain, and it’s unclear what the global stage will look like one day to the next. That is why our Army’s top priority is readiness; soldiers must be prepared to flip on the combat switch on a moment’s notice and fight for our country wherever that might be. After transitioning out of the Army, the importance of readiness has stuck with me, and I have found it especially relevant in the uncertain times we are all facing with COVID-19.
Readiness is all-encompassing. In the Army, readiness means more than being able to jump on a plane and head to a different continent within 72 hours’ notice. While the Army is mostly concerned with the overall unit and mission readiness, it also applies to personal readiness and your own ability to adapt to whatever might arise.
Readiness is a state of being. It means that you have taken steps to better posture yourself and acclimate to varying circumstances. These steps can include:
- self-care (physically, mentally, and spiritually)
- flexible outlook
- creating a support network
As a soldier, these traits are important to maintain individual combat readiness but can work to keep anyone resilient in the face of challenging circumstances.
The Army taught me that life likes to throw wrenches into our plans. When I was stationed in Germany, I was a Company Executive Officer (XO) serving as the acting commander while my Company Commander was away on a long-term mission. I was up to my ears in administrative work, training, managing 200+ soldiers, and trying to keep my higher Battalion leadership satisfied with a seemingly endless array of tasks. I was fully vested. This was my focus. Then one day, I got a call from my Battalion XO: “Evan, you need to report to the Brigade Commander’s office immediately, you’re now the XO for the 720th Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Company.” This was not the news I expected to hear that day. My only knowledge and familiarity with EOD were from the movie The Hurt Locker and that it involved highly dangerous operations like choosing which wire to cut when dismantling a live bomb. Questions flooded my mind. Why are they asking me to leave when I’m so busy? Does this mean I have to learn about bombs? Am I even qualified for this job? Will this be permanent?
When I arrived at the unit the next day, I was a little intimidated by the change of culture, especially since I felt like an outsider (I was not EOD certified). The EOD community is a tight-knit group of highly skilled and proficient operators. To them, I was some random lieutenant who was placed in a position of leadership who knew nothing about EOD. Nonetheless, I tried my hardest to make the most of the situation and relied on my core competencies such as physical fitness, administrative knowledge, and authentic leadership. I figured I could earn their trust by proving myself to be competent, humble, and open-minded. Fortunately, I was already friends with a fellow lieutenant in the unit who I could lean on for support. Over time, I developed a great relationship with the soldiers, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), and other officers in the unit. It turned out to be one of my favorite and most rewarding assignments while serving in the Army.
The point is, life does not always go as expected, in fact, it usually does not. In my situation, I wasn’t prepared to hear the news that I would be sent to an EOD unit on a day’s notice – why would that thought ever cross my mind? But I had a baseline level of personal readiness that allowed me to succeed in an uncertain environment seeing that I hardly knew anything about EOD. But being ready is not about being the best for any situation, it’s about preparing yourself to be able to adapt regardless of the circumstances.
COVID-19 has taught us that everything we thought was normal can change in an instant. No one was prepared for a worldwide pandemic, but individuals did not need to prepare specifically for a pandemic to adapt. It would be very difficult for a person to try and prepare for any possible scenario that could go wrong. The year 2020 has made that abundantly clear. Rather, we can work towards a state of overall personal readiness so that we can respond to the unexpected in a positive and productive way.
COVID-19 is far from over, and uncertainty continues to loom and makes it difficult to know what each day will bring let alone next year. We can work towards improving our readiness by taking simple steps one day at a time.
- Go on a run and getting outdoors.
- Join a community group.
- Read more books.
- Listen to a podcast on positivity.
- Try to be optimistic.
These simple steps might not seem relevant in a pandemic, but personal readiness is about preparing yourself for whatever life throws at you, not just one thing. Right now, it just so happens to be a global pandemic. To do this, we need to build a strong foundation to be resilient regardless of the circumstances. We did not choose this battle, but we can choose how we respond and prepare for any uncertainty the future has in store.