'SO Imperatives In The Ugly American'

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Several characters’ actions in The Ugly American illustrate principles found in the SO Imperatives. I chose the vignettes of Senator Jonathan Brown, Father John X. Finian, and Homer Atkins to compare to SO Imperatives. Ambassador Gray’s efforts to maintain the status quo in Vietnam prevented Senator Brown from gathering sufficient intelligence. Senator Brown could have generated multiple options to provide sufficient intelligence by operating through others. Father Finian’s efforts to combat communism in Burma are an example of working with and through others. Homer Atkins efforts to build bicycle-powered pumps in Sarkhan demonstrated components of long-term engagement. I have personal experiences with the application of SO Imperatives …show more content…
I believe it is our duty to provide our leadership sufficient intelligence and candid truths. It has frequently bothered me when my unit received orders to change what we are doing when a dignitary or VIP makes a visit. My platoon was working in the motor pool and orders arrived to prepare for a VIP visit. I choose not to change anything that the platoon was doing. I felt that if we were doing the right things, there was no need to change our methods because a VIP was coming through. If we had to change something, to me it meant that we were doing something wrong. If we masked a problem that the VIP could influence, we were ultimately doing ourselves a disservice. The VIP came and went, and the platoon presented well. I told them that because we were constantly doing the right things, I did not expect them to prepare for VIP visits. I also told them that if we should raise issues that the VIP could influence, and provide them with the sufficient intelligence they expect. This experience showed me that there is a mentality in the military, similar to Ambassador Brown’s, that works hard to maintain the status quo whether it is right or

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