Posted on Apr 9, 2017
MAJ Telecommunications Systems Engineer
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Some officers are meant to command and lead, and others probably should never be allowed the opportunity. I'm a witness to the case of an ousted ex-commander now working as a staff-O "leading" a highly technical department - his lack of technical competence and inability to mentor and lead others is obvious. Should such an officer be "encouraged" to separate or retire early to make room?
Posted in these groups: 200210106b CommandGeneral of the army rank insignia OfficerDod color DoD
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SPC Joe Weddington
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Some folks are just not cut out for command or ascending the ranks but are good at something and useful somewhere. This is why specialist ranks should be reinstated spec4 through spec 6 but in their absence, a lot of mostly unqualified folks make it to SSG. I do agree that many officers should be Warrants.
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COL Charles Williams
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MAJ (Join to see) My gut tells me, if you are relieved, you should go... But, I suspect the regulations allow for it. If you are relieved, you are finished as far as future advancement. But, I am sure you are allowed to serve until retirement or MRD.
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COL Marco Marin
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Agree with concept of a career staff officer or NCO vs line officer. But at what rank should they become stabilized? Perhaps bring back senior specialist positions for NCO's? Good dialog.
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COL Marco Marin
COL Marco Marin
6 y
Up or out is not a bad concept.
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Cpl Andrew Tucker
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The biggest mistake the military as a whole makes is assuming that the only way to become an officer is getting a college degree. Why does a piece of paper automatically make you a leader of men? Personally I think everyone should be enlisted before they are chosen to become an officer.
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CPT William Jones
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The biggest mistake the military makes is the must command and be promoted or must leave. There are lots of officers and EM that are happy and excellent in certain jobs and woild love to do them for their entire term of servicebut are forced out because they are made to do something they cannot handle for various reasons.lots of money could be saved by putting them where they shine and enjoy what they are doing.
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SGT Armor Crew Member
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Yes. They should be allowed to continue to serve. Just because they failed once as a commander doesn't mean they won't be great staff, training or other special jobs in the military.

This zero defect always perfect mentality is not a reality.
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SSG Jeremy Sharp
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I think this is a difficult question to answer without a complete file review of the officer in all assignments they have held. My reasoning is that I have observed officers that were deficient in leadership ability and the inherent requirements of a commander to motivate and develop their subordinate staff that were absolutely brilliant staff officers because of superior technical expertise and analytical ability. I think this is usually the road taken by the Army in reaching a decision on an officer's fitness to continue to serve. Case in point is an aviator that is a master of his aircraft that is not necessarily attuned to the needs of other troops. His ineffectiveness at being a good Aviation Company Commander has no bearing on his ability to pilot an Apache helicopter in a brilliant manner in combat situations.
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LTC John Bush
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That is a very broad subject!There are skill sets required for a field command which are unique, everyone does not have them and they not essential for leading and managing and organization in garrison environment. Of course some skill sets are required in all situations and good managers can succeed though they are not particularly good leaders. So it all depends is not what you are looking for but that is the answer. We hope the fitness reporting system will get rid of the truly incompetent and a senior will recognize when an officer is ill suited for their assignment and take action.
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COL Field Artillery Officer
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7 y
I knew a guy that was a great unit commander and could get his unit to excel above the others. The bad news was he was a terrible staff officer and you can command only so long. He could out "John Wayned" about anyone else if the war had gone on. He was eliminated by a Law and Order commander.
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CPT Jeff Robinette
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I served in the early 1980s. We had two officers in our BN Relieved for Cause; onebwas just incompetent, the other was caught in a lie .
A 3rd Officer was relieved from the Armored BN in our Bde as he did notproperly supervise the crew of his own tank when the order was given to remove some track pads from his tank. During an ARTEP his platoon was moving up a steep hill on a hardball road. His tank lost traction and slip backwards into a large Oak Tree. The Tortion bars on one side were literally ripped out of the hull of his tank.
As I recall his tank, an M-60A1, had to be sent back to the states for repair.

Of the 3 officers I described above I would only trust Armor Officer to serve on Active duty to fulfill his obligation. The other 2 were pond scrum in my opinion
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LTC Brett Weeks
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You are assuming that the person relieved is 100% at fault. That frequently is not the case. Military commanders have discretionary authority to relieve anyone for any reason. If they don’t like someone, or they have reached their max level of competence and are poor commanders themselves, they can & will relieve someone unjustifiably. I knew a guy once who got relieved for a variety of small mistakes, because the commander was an asshole that everyone hated, and because there was zero chemistry between the two. The consensus across the division was that the guy was a good leader who got screwed. BTW, the commander was later passed over for his star. In the old days, being relieved was not the end of the world. Second chances were common because it was understood that sometimes things just don’t work out. Today, a zero defects mentality rules.
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