Entering Active Duty in security forces in 30 days. Any Advice?

Sir,

- God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth... use them proportionately
- Do not be afraid to listen to your troops. Chances are, they know alot more about the job than you do
- A SNCO should not be your best friend, lapdog, or the bully from the block. You find a good seasoned NCO and pick his brain. He will shape your career more than you can imagine
- Do not dress down your troops, do not insult their intelligence, and try not to tie them down with a risk assessment every time they need to take a leak.
- The troops really appreciate it when every now and again you grab a broom, or move a sandbag or two... No Sir that is not your job or place, but you will earn genuine respect from your guys if they see it on occasion
- Trust your men and they will trust you. Respect your SNCO and your troops will respect you, as will he, and more importantly he will take an active role in getting you from crawl to the run phase
- above all else Sir, remember that respect is a two way street. You cant buy it or take it. It is earned. You cannot lead men if you dont have their respect and confidence. You need to give respect in order to gain respect. Marine Corp General Chesty Puller once famously made a LT salute a Soldier 100 time because that LT never return his salute.

"You were absolutely correct in making him salute you 100 times, lieutenant, but you know that an officer must return every salute he receives. Now return them all, and I will keep count"

Chesty Puller

Good luck Sir

1. Listen to the SNCO's and allow them to teach you the job.
2. Ask the Flight Sergeant for a copy of all the 797's for all the duty positions. They will contain references to Special Security Instructions, AFI's, etc. Learn each duty position.
3. Get to know your Airman. But remember, your not their friend, your their boss/leader.
4. Do not jump the gun on personnel issues. Get all the facts before making a decision.
Good luck and congrats on your assignment.

You've been to OTS so you've already gotten the "listen to your elders" speech. So, here is some advice with a slightly different slant. The Security Forces have justly earned its reputation for eating their young. First and foremost be fair but remember to take care of YOUR TROOPS. When something goes wrong under your watch, and it will, place blame where blame is due and often thats at the hands of a midlevel or senior NCO who was supposed to train and supervise his or her Airmen but didn't. Always look for and correct the institutional failings that allow a problem to happen, rather than automatically isssuing LORs and article 15s at the lowest level. Next, never forget that the rules and laws apply to everyone equally from the most junior Airman to the highest ranking Commander. Many young Security Forces Officers fall into the mindset (I call it a trap) of believing "I'm in charge of all the cops on duty right now! So who's going to issue me a ticket?" The answer is the OSI, every commander and deputy commander on base, the Chiefs, the Shirts, the Senior NCO's, the Junior NCO's, the Airman, the civilian's, the contractors, and the dependants, basically everyone is watching you. With the prevalance of smart phones and tablet computers with cameras you need to be vigilant about what you say and what you do at all times. A single off the cuff comment about something when taken out of context can ruin your career.