Posted on May 9, 2017
CPT Signal Officer
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Posted in these groups: General of the army rank insignia Officer
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PFC Roger Goff
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Know the history of your unit. Have your NCO's teach it to the troops to instill a sense of belonging in them. And give them a sense of their place in history. Speak of it when you address the men. Remember that respect isn't pinned on, it is earned.
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SGT Carl Blas
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Keep your men to heart, and they will respect and follow.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Postgraduate_School

This was the one I had a recommend for and couldn't get, they also have an totally online PhD in comp sci (CS) you might care to look at, though you should also try to see if you can apply to attend in residence....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Institute_of_Technology

Think very seriously, as I'd said, about applying here, you don't need to be USAF to attend, as I'd mentioned....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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You know, that's a really interesting question, for a multitude of reasons, honest...God knows, I suppose different svcs have different ways, of course, however, basically, this is honestly what I'd tell you, OK? When I went in throuh USAF OTS, I basically got EVERYTHING wrong, ALL of it...I couldn't have bollixed stuff up more if I'd tried...in fact, I quite literally INVENTED new ways to bollix things up, I assure you...first and foremost being, I simply refused to accept the reality that: (a) I wasn't going to be able to change where I was, then (b) Nobody cared one whit what I wanted, and I do mean ZERO, and, finally (c) I needed to have my head quite literally pounded and slammed into pavement to get (a) and (b) into my head, OK? So, where you are is where you are, and, basically, as I learned, yeah, in the hardest possible way, the only thing you're there to care about is your unit, and contributing to its productivity...your ambitions are your ambitions, not those of your unit, your bosses, or the service, NOBODY could care less about your ambitions, believe me, I found out, just as I'd said, that NOBODY cared one whit, one iota about mine, period...I wound up under the wrong people, for all the wrong reasons, basically because I was an idiot, and impulsively joined totally the wrong way...I'd been Army ROTC before USAF OTS, and I learned all about charity drives, additional duties, which, trust me, aren't gonna vary all that much from USAF to Army, I assure you...I had to do the booth for the base winter carnival where I was, attend the company grade officers council (CGOC) meeting, write up an accident by a junior airman who'd damaged a fender, I found it wasn't his fault, as it'd been a snow day, I had to spend a day with the base commander, a Capt I'd been under wanted me to do that, and also do unit disaster preparedness...I had to stay in the office I was in generally till 3 AM most days, to get briefings together, then be called an incompetent idiot and screamed at by a GS-15 I was under...I had to be supervised by civil servants, quite often, not just active duty...if I wanted to send out a letter, I had to get three different signatures, just to have it go out, and constantly rewrite it, I had to learn about Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity drives, the service version of the United Way, and got basically ZERO of what I'd actually joined for, which was to have been a bioengineer trying to aim to be a flight surgeon on the clinical side...I never got to actually eval anyone, or write up a performance report, I had to learn how to organize my work, and record all I'd done when my performance evals were done, as I was most definitely asked what I'd done...if you're gonna stay in, you're most definitely gonna need to get, minimum, a masters, ASAP, even if only part time, as in PRONTO, plus, you're gonna have to do prof mil educ (PME), not just for Army, but for other svcs, as well...USAF was REAL serious about getting Squadron Ofcrs School (SOS) nonresident done, I also did USMC command and staff (C&S) nonresident, and also tried to do Naval War College (NWC) C&S nonresident, though that turned out to be way too time-consuming...it'd help to know what your bachelors was in, if possible, any associates you might also have gotten, whether you were ROTC, OCS, or USMA, your grades, GPAs, specific STEM coursework, I'd seen you're Signal Corps, what specific masters major you'd want to try for, so far as you could elaborate...also, you should look at both USAF AFIT, as well as Naval Postgrad School (NPS), and try getting ready to submit for them, all warrants and commissioned can apply, you don't have to be USAF or Navy, I had a recommend for NPS by my unit CO, an O-6, I just couldn't get it...you wanted to know what reality was, the only award I ever got was a plaque for helping my unit get a good IG rating, that was it...I don't know what it's like where you are, however, that was, truly, the way it was where I was, honest, I hope that was informative, if nothing else, if you'd care to chat more, just ask, no rush, whenever you'd want...I didn't tell you all that to dissuade you, I have an interest in career/educ questions, my object was only to try to educate, promise, OK?
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2LT Health Services Administration
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You're the moral compass in your unit. If something is going on that isn't appropriate (i.e. Hazing, discrimination), YOU have the responsibility of making a change. Also, property accountability will make or break you as a LT. Other than that, trust your NCO's and you'll figure everything else out along the way
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Col Ian O'Connell
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Lots of good advice here. I would add:
- Listen more than you speak (to everyone)
- Some in this thread said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, I would modify that to say, Don't change things just to change things. But never be afraid to ask "why is it done that way?" and "Why can't we do it differently?" Tradition: Just because it's always been done that way, doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid.
- Your troops are who make you successful, so you better be loyal to them and have their back.
- Never stop learning

I'd also suggest getting hold of General (Retired) Colin Powell's principles of leadership.
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SSgt Thomas Phillips
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A couple of things. 1. As a lot have said, learn which senior NCOs can be trusted, and listen to them. 2. This may sound weird, but in almost everything the CO puts out, there should be a section called "Commander's Intent." Use that to guide your actions. I don't know what term the Army uses, but that was what we called it in the Marine Corps.
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SGT Paul Mackay
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treat everyone in your command egual
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