New Officers, Listen Up.

2017-11-05T12:37:18-05:00

As a newly Commissioned Officer, or as a Cadet aspiring to become an Officer, you may be asking yourself many questions as you get closer to leading your first Platoon. How will I rise to the challenge? How should I “come in”? The first thing you need to adjust is your mindset. Unless you have prior enlisted experience, you have to adjust to the fact that you will not be leading peer Cadets. Cadets are great and wonderful people. They are motivated to be followers because turnabout is fair play. They understand generally what you are doing during your flash in the pan, under the microscope moment in a rotating leadership position and support so you in turn offer that support when they are in charge…unless they are a complete and utter blue falcon. Those will weed themselves out by self selection and general buggery. What I am talking about is leading troops. Some battle hardened. Some greener than you. Old. Young. Country. Urban. Men. Women. Black. White. Married. Single. Religious. Atheist. Etc. They will come in all shapes, sizes, personality types, experience level, emotional baggage, and fitness on the pillars of resilience. They have operated in hierarchical roles that aren’t very fluid. They have varied exposure to life outside the squad, platoon, company, and battalion. Leading them proficiently needs to be the focus of your first two years in the Army. Learn the equipment (an unfortunate ROTC weakness). Learn your craft. Learn your unit. Learn your Soldiers.

So what do you do first? What you need to develop is your BS meter. The vast majority of NCOs will give you tremendous (more) to passable (less) counsel. A very small minority will give you bad advice and talk a great game. They will falter on the follow through. I got some suspect advice now and again, but it was formed to avoid, rather than take on a challenge from a senior officer. Believe me, you'll hear it and go....dude that is suspect. Especially if it is to avoid, stall, or otherwise frustrate an official channel.

The really great NCOs will confer with you, help you break out the issue to the critical factors, mull the course of action, then stand back and let you issue the order. Many things do not require immediate response. The things that do will immediately present themselves. In such instances, use your best judgement and be decisive. You need to cultivate an environment where you are open to communication, you can hear the tough to hear, and receive bad news well. If you don’t, they’ll hide from you. Remember Saddam Hussein getting pulled out of a hole in Tikrit? Yeah he didn’t take bad news well, so no one told him tanks were in Baghdad, that’s how you end up in a hole looking like the Unabomber. Mission first, people always. It is a delicate balance. If it were easy, everyone would be a Lieutenant and they would call it bowling and have a league with cool shirts.

Be yourself, if you try and be something you are not, it will show. You can improve your “self” but it has to be your authentic self. Be humble. You are an apprentice officer. Your Company/Troop Commander, Warrants, NCOs, and Soldiers are going to make or break you. Listen, really listen. Learn something new every day. Tell a particular NCO you want to learn a certain thing. Let them teach you. If there is "suck to embrace" be present and participate fully. Look out for your people, tough love as well as praise. This presence is how your NCOs and Soldiers will get to know you and trust you.

Don't try and make up for every terrible officer they ever had. Also don't try and be super Platoon Leader either. Do YOUR best. Don't compare yourself to the ghosts of lieutenants past. Their memory is almost always better than the actual. Lead selflessly. If you do something to accomplish the mission, take care of soldiers, truly help a soldier, help your unit, fix a problem, make your people look good (higher or lower); then do it. If it purposely makes you look good at the direct expense of another, if you are hiding something, cooking the books, throwing staff or subordinates under the bus, or anything similar, you should not do it. Think in terms of coop-eting. How much can you cooperate to help those in your command and on your left and right. If you did something that worked, share it with your peers. Don't get into the trap of screwing your competition to look good. Senior Raters see right through it and don't appreciate it. There is not a yellow or green card at the end of 12-24hrs. This is for keeps. People’s lives are in your hands and it is your career to ruin (but don’t think about everything in terms of your career).

So how do you know when you have been accepted and integrated? My first sergeant yelled at me as a Company Commander in Iraq. We were establishing a CP in Iraq. I was helping setup to ensure we had a place to live. Our mission area was in a hardstand...waiting on signalers to establish comms. He grabbed me and said *knife hand* “Sir! Go do officer shit. I got this.” Which was code for go figure out what's going around us so that we can function. 1. He yelled at me because he cared about me. We had a developed relationship so I could tell it was not disrespect. 2. He knew I cared about him and the troops and knew that I wanted them taken care of. 3. He trusted me to figure out the bigger picture so we could succeed and stay safe.

Success with your NCOs isn't going to be these seminal "Remember the Titans" like moments. It will be little nuggets over time. It is how they will gauge you on your ability to operate on your own. They will start letting go of some things and invite you into other things as confidence builds. The problems they bring you will start to get harder with less clear cuts answers. They will eventually lean on your judgement.

Jason Mackay is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with 22 years on active duty as an Ordnance and Logistics Corps Officer. He has served at a wide variety of levels of command and staff. LTC Mackay’s career includes the command of a Headquarters and Headquarters Company in Korea, 95th Maintenance Company (TMDE), and the US Army Garrison at Picatinny Arsenal. His deployments include Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2008-9 and 2011. A special acknowledgement goes to 2LT Private RallyPoint Member for spurring the conversation that generated some of LTC Mackay’s observations.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 5 at 2017 12:46 PM

2017-11-05T12:46:14-05:00

Great read, thank you sir.

Response by SPC Margaret Higgins made Nov 5 at 2017 12:51 PM

2017-11-05T12:51:33-05:00

LTC Jason Mackay: Sir, though I was not an Officer in the Army: I learned greatly from reading what you have shared. Thank You, Lieutenant Colonel! -Margaret C. Higgins U.S. Army Retired

Response by CPT Chris Loomis made Nov 5 at 2017 1:23 PM

2017-11-05T13:23:37-05:00

LTC Jason Mackay Sir, this is just another one of your excellent posts.

Honestly, no BS here, I’m not trying to jump you leg.... I’ve always learned or took away something from your posting.

Frankly, the sole reason I signed up for RP was posts like this...knowledge and wisdom....Soldiering...passed from one to another.

HOOOAH!!!

Thank You Sir!

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 5 at 2017 6:13 PM

2017-11-05T18:13:57-05:00

Sir, this is excellent. As a platoon leader right now we are going through all of it. The one thing I would add is don't be afraid to make changes quickly. If you have issues with maintenance, prep to mobablize, etc. make the changes necessary and don't feel like you have o wait because it will only hurt you and your team the longer it stays in effect. The best solution for making changes though is bring your NCOs in, tell them you believe this is something that is hurting not helping and give them the opportunity to make the changes bottom up. This gets buy in and shows your not the PL just trying to make changes for changes sake but letting your team help the develop the systems you need. We are currently doing this because I made the mistake of waiting to long to fix things I saw from day 1. And then lastly is you have to stick with it. Improving and changing is a process, doesn't happen over night. Always stay invested.

Response by LCpl Donald Faucett made Nov 5 at 2017 7:33 PM

2017-11-05T19:33:36-05:00

Be a good listener. Drop the word I and use us/we

Response by SFC A.M. Drake made Nov 5 at 2017 8:37 PM

2017-11-05T20:37:50-05:00

Great insights! You get it....however a great majority does not!

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Nov 5 at 2017 9:00 PM

2017-11-05T21:00:03-05:00

Awesome post. Lots of gold nuggets of wisdom here.

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Nov 6 at 2017 10:09 AM

2017-11-06T10:09:52-05:00

I would only add try not to be every terrible officer that you served under. There are a couple of bad ones that had as much effect on how I tried to behave towards the men and other officers as those that I truly admired. Nothing like a shining bad example.
Prior enlisted, so Grass to Brass, which definitely provided some insight to what you think an officer should be and do.

Response by SSG Tom Pike made Nov 6 at 2017 3:01 PM

2017-11-06T15:01:43-05:00

Good advice I just shared you post with a couple of young cadets who are about to become officers in the spring.

Response by MSG Steve Wiersgalla made Nov 6 at 2017 8:43 PM

2017-11-06T20:43:49-05:00

Very well written sir. I just wish golden bits of information such as this were included in the cadets POI. The working relation between a fresh green LT and their first PSG will have an enormous impact of the young officer's career.

Response by SSG James Behnke made Nov 6 at 2017 9:57 PM

2017-11-06T21:57:54-05:00

LOVE this breakdown and mentorship of junior officers. I wish more of them behaved in this manner coming in!

Response by SMSgt Thor Merich made Nov 8 at 2017 10:59 AM

2017-11-08T10:59:21-05:00

Obviously, I am not an officer. But I have had the privilege to have worked with some great junior officers during my career. My duties include working with new officers and I have had the opportunity to provide guidance to some great young officers over the years. One of my biggest job satisfactions has been to see those same folks evolve into fantastic leaders.

In 2002, I was placed on active duty for Operations Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom and deployed with a active duty squadron. The squadron had a mix of active duty, Guard, and Reserve troops. We received a brand new active duty 2LT who was prior enlisted A1C (E-3). This poor kid looked like he was 15 years old and was about as useful as a bag of rocks. His senior NCO's were all Guard folks. When we departed ways a few months later, he was better but still had a long ways to go. In 2014, my unit gets a new Squadron Commander (I am assigned to a Active Duty unit). The familiar looking Major turned out to be the same young Lt from 2002. What a change from 12 years earlier. He ended up being one of the best commanders I have worked for in the Air Force. Interestingly, he credited part of his success to the Air National Guard SNCO's he worked with early in his officer career. He said they gave him a different perspective than the active duty folks and inspired more out of the box thinking.

From the senior NCO perspective this article offers great advice to new officers and to NCO's. It runs along the same lines of information that I give to my new NCO's when it comes to dealing with new Lt's.

Thank you for the article.

Response by CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 8 at 2017 5:16 PM

2017-11-08T17:16:18-05:00

"They will eventually lean on your judgement." This should be the foundational goal of any young leader. They will eventually lean on your judgment because they know you care about the mission and you care about them...they trust you. I like how you broke it down...excellent read.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Nov 12 at 2017 9:39 AM

2017-11-12T09:39:01-05:00

Great share, thank you.

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 14 at 2017 11:33 AM

2017-11-14T11:33:30-05:00

Sir, thank you so much for the shout-out! Moreover, thank you for all of your great advice. I find out my branch tomorrow night and it's really starting to be the point where the rubber is going to meet the road, so to speak. I hope that you can continue to be a source of advice and inspiration going forward.

Response by COL John McClellan made Nov 30 at 2017 8:57 AM

2017-11-30T08:57:12-05:00

Excellent article. LTC Mackay. My thanks! A couple of things stood out for me - the observation that "not everything requires an immediate response." Absolutely right. It goes against our indoctrination to action "Cadet... do something!!" but difference is... everyday leadership is not a "lane." Fact is you need both quick thinking, initiative and, deliberation... in the real world. The other is the weakness in modern equipment in our training base - especially in ROTC. You nailed that! When I went back to ROTC as a PMS, I really tried hard to address that point. It was a huge challenge, but I was glad to make a few improvements in my little world regarding this. Then, after going to FLW, MO as Director of Training and watching the EN, MP and CM schools operate, my conclusion was that BOLC might be where that shortcoming can really be addressed.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 30 at 2018 3:12 PM

2018-01-30T15:12:51-05:00

A thousand thumbs up...outstanding.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2018 4:41 AM

2018-05-13T04:41:16-04:00

Phenomenal advice Sir. Sound with just the right amount of caution for our new officers. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful post.

Response by CPT Earl George made Oct 23 at 2018 10:11 PM

2018-10-23T22:11:50-04:00

You may not always have the ideal circumstances from which to lead and learn. You must be able to adapt. For about two months while I was a 1LT commanding a 4.2" mortar platoon, I had no NCO's assigned to my platoon. I had a draftee SP4 as my platoon sergeant.

Response by COL John McClellan made Oct 25 at 2018 9:58 AM

2018-10-25T09:58:33-04:00

Terrific article!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 10 at 2019 7:42 AM

2019-11-10T07:42:28-05:00

It has taken me 30 years to decide that our approach to leadership is backwards. Young cadets and officers are often taught about great leaders in battles and wars. We should emphasize small unit leadership traits first.