Managing High-Stakes Situations: 5 Lessons from the Pentagon

On an early Sunday morning in October 2015, I was flying overseas aboard the U.S. Department of Defense’s specially equipped 747 when the first video images of an attack on a medical clinic in Kunduz, Afghanistan, started airing around the world. The clinic was operated by the international nonprofit Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders). And though the evidence was sketchy, some immediately blamed the U.S. for the bombing. MSF quickly denounced the attack as a “grave violation of International Humanitarian Law.”

While my staff had issued an initial statement acknowledging the incident, the press on board my plane began clamoring for me to say something more in my role as secretary of defense. At that point, a few hours into the flight, we still did not have a clear picture beyond what the TV was reporting and the confirmation of our commanders that no other country was operating combat aircraft over Kunduz. Yet under the circumstances, with grisly footage of a hospital in flames being broadcast around the world and multiple deaths being reported, I knew I couldn’t sit in the back of my airplane and not comment. Nor could I risk a serious international backlash to the incident, maybe even a violent uprising in Afghanistan itself, if I failed to acknowledge what had happened. I walked back to the press area on the plane and directly addressed what I described as “clearly a tragic circumstance” in Kunduz and informed reporters that a “full and transparent” investigation was being launched. I further pledged, “There will be accountability as always with these incidents, if that is required.”