US Army doctrine demands leader initiative, defined as taking action to best accomplish a mission without waiting for new orders or supervision. This thesis explores how well the US Army develops junior officer initiative. A review of historical, doctrinal, cross-cultural, empirical, and military literature suggests that initiative is relatively stifled in US Army junior officers. While authors and researchers have suggested several factors that inhibit initiative, the most commonly cited factor has been an unforgiving command climate. This study develops a decision-making model of initiative, in which a leader will not display initiative if any of the five inhibiting factors occurs: failure to recognize a need to take action; failure to accept responsibility; inability to develop of an alternative plan; lack of confidence in the alternative plan; or unacceptable personal risk. A survey conducted of a Combined Arms and Services Staff School Class revealed that, contrary to the predominant theme of the literature, junior officers believe that they often display initiative. Additionally, the findings suggest that factors related to personal responsibility, competence, and commitment, and not command climate, were most strongly associated with the failure to display initiative. Recommendations are provided for future research utilizing the model and for developing initiative in junior officers.

ADA 272857 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)