There is a fascinating dichotomy in this thread which mirrors our own schizophrenic view as leaders.
Gloria Gaynor (Don't snigger at the back) was onr the wireless last week, and defined this pithily saying "lead - that means I go first"
It is right that nobody should expect his/her people do do something he is not prepared to do himself, but that is no reason for the CO putting himself in harm's way unnecessarily. What requires real moral courage is to do his own job. Sharing dangers is fine, courting them is unhelpful. Sometimes exceptionalcircumstances require exceptional actions. It is recorded that the presence of the Duke ofWellington on the battlefield was worth 10000 men to the morale of his troops, but his greatest skill lay in knowing when to have them retreat or even lie down. It wasn't the sight of his nose, but his nous that made him a great commander.
Shakespeare sums up this opposite view:
"when that the General is not like the hive,
To whom the foragers may all repair,
What honey is expected?"
I was taught this graphically some time ago as a snotty when during a Practical Leadership Exercise on Dartmoor I was tapped on the shoulder by the directing staff and asked if I knew where all my team were. While I had been p*ssing about with bends and hitches he had quietly thinned out half my team one at a time at two minute intervals and told them to go round the corner and get a brew on. Subsequent experience including operational experience has reinforced this valuable lesson.
Army and the RAF COs in particular suffer from the understandable desire to
share the perils of their people (Matelots' COs get this for free). The danger is that is is easy to forget that the folk doing the flying are only part of the bigger machine needed to deliver effect which includes the engineers, armourers, fire crew, met and int, air tragicers, chefs, stackers, adminners
those guarding the airfield etc. Everybody must do their own job as well as they can: it is for the CO to see that they do.
The CO should be like the conductor of an orchestra: the one man looking at the big picture so that everybody can concentrate on their area of expertise.
He must have an absolute understanding of the music, as well as a pretty good working knowledge of all the instuments, but is not expected to play them all and never during the piece he is conducting. There is a good reason that command is given to operators (the same as why conductors are musicians).
Sometimes not storming the enemy position or flying the sortie yourself can take just as much courage. The really tough thing is visting the widows.