What are some of your expectations for new Junior Officers?

Know the job the Army hired you to do and focus on that.

I expected my junior officers to learn. A few years of enlisted service are valuable, but are very little in comparison to a platoon sergeant with 15 years in.

A thing to keep in mind is the division of what is NCO business, and what is officer business. That is important to remember if you want the full support of the NCOs in your platoon.

I had a thought throughout my Army career. Mustang's are either the very best officers or the very worst.

Always remember that you can learn much from your NCOs and Greg can help you throughout your career. As a former E7/SFC then Mustang Officer I Always had the friendship with ALL which allowed both my NCOs and myself to excel. Hooah!!

I was in the office once and heard the Commander say, "the best thing for a new lieutenant is to give him more work than he can handle and see how he cracks." Butter bars are the privates of the commisioned world. I'm not saying this to be funny. I've seen so many first lieutenants do two things, they either fold or focus. My advice, be prepared to work your ass off, double check your work, just to be given more work. And don't forget to pull from the knowledge of your NCO counterpart. When they know you're there to learn and be a good leader, and not just to pull rank, the better you'll do. The better you do the faster you'll promote. Before you know it you'll have the office with too many plaques. Good luck sir.

Although advancing in Your career as an Officer is of course what You want to do and is proper don't forget where You came from. Never forget those troops, not only will that earn their respect but they will often then not just do what has to be done but even more because they want to. You can motivate Your people much more easily if You also show You support them which will also result in their support for You. What You learned as prior enlisted don't ever forget that and grown from there . I have worked for some excellent Officers that were prior enlisted and most never lost their respect for the enlisted side and as commissioned officers became great leaders. One unit I was assigned all of our Officers were prior enlisted ranging from SSgt to one that was even a MSgt. I know all of them made it at least as far as Captain (I lost track of them after that) two though I was able to follow the careers of to serve with made it all the way to Full Colonel, 06 before they retired. Another, not in our unit though that was a former TSgt also as an Officer advanced to Full Colonel and although We wen't related We shared the Same last Name, McCarter. When i first met Him, a Benjamin McCarter, at Hanscom AFB, MA He was a Major but had been already selected for promotion to Lt. Col.and hadn't put the rank on yet.

As I was told, grab ahold of your Platoon Sergeant's belt loop and hold on. They know the interworking's of the platoon members, and how to get them to get the things done that you will have to have them do.

Best wishes in your new and continuing career.

Listen and learn. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid to talk with junior guys so that you actually know what it is they do. You’re handing down orders to them, it’s important to know what they are responsiblefor, their work load, and what they are capable of. It’s important to know if they have the tools they need to complete the job they are instructed to do. Make your division great. Know what’s happening. Talk with your men. Leave it better than how you found it.