| This project examines the postmodern US military cultural toolkit deployed by contemporary military advisors, which enables them to traverse an intricate military advising tightrope. This project employed a three-part multi-method to collect data, including a study conducted in an advisory unit in Iraq in 2010; an advisor document analysis (articles, monographs, doctrine, and training papers); and interviews conducted in 2011--2012. The findings reveal that military advisors draw on a sophisticated Swiss Army knife (cultural toolkit) filled with warrior, peacekeeper-diplomat, subject matter expert, leader, innovator, information age technology, military civilian, professional bureaucrat, and other cultural orientations and tools to succeed. The data divulge an intriguing story about contemporary military advisors that includes the importance of building productive relationships with foreign counterparts and linguists; the unconventional and ambiguous nature of the mission; the second-tier status of the mission; the impact of other relevant advising conditions; and how military advisors define mission success. This project argues that the recent tremendous growth of the military advising mission and the subsequent development of a more sophisticated and robust cultural toolkit deployed by effective military advisors reflect broader changes indicative of an emergent postmodern US military. |
