Posted on Jan 18, 2015
What is the ONE thing EVERY young Officer must know?
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There's been quite a few discussions about how clueless young Lieutenants (and Ensigns) are when they hit the Operating Forces (and we often are). Here it is: your chance to publicly and permanently record the one topic you think is the most critical for us to know when we step in at your unit. With some luck, maybe those young officers will read it here and have the epiphany they need privately and everyone will be better off for it.
So hit it: let all the experience of the RP community be brought to bear: immediately after commissioning what's the ONE thing every O-1 must know ?
(Just so no one gets hurt feelings, lets say you're telling this guy here-but before his promotion and deployment in the photo-I cant find any pics from commissioning.)
So hit it: let all the experience of the RP community be brought to bear: immediately after commissioning what's the ONE thing every O-1 must know ?
(Just so no one gets hurt feelings, lets say you're telling this guy here-but before his promotion and deployment in the photo-I cant find any pics from commissioning.)
Platoon Commander
Officer
Leadership Development
Junior Officers
Edited 11 y ago
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 182
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Find a mentor and pick their brain for every piece of knowledge you can get. Trust your NCOs to do their job.
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I have to use two different things.
First for officers that were NCO's prior. You are no longer an NCO and you need to let NCO's conduct business the way we have for years now and not step in.
Second for officers that were not enlisted prior. Your PLT SGT has been here for some time now and knows the ropes. Let him train you to be the PL, XO, CO that you will be one day. Without this training you will not earn the respect as a person from your troops. They will all respect your rank but none of them will respect you as a person if you do not learn from your PLT SGT.
First for officers that were NCO's prior. You are no longer an NCO and you need to let NCO's conduct business the way we have for years now and not step in.
Second for officers that were not enlisted prior. Your PLT SGT has been here for some time now and knows the ropes. Let him train you to be the PL, XO, CO that you will be one day. Without this training you will not earn the respect as a person from your troops. They will all respect your rank but none of them will respect you as a person if you do not learn from your PLT SGT.
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I forget where I first heard this, but this quote fits for me. "The beginning of wisdom is when you acknowledge that you don't know it all because then you finally become teachable."
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Know and Master the Basics (TLPs, OPORDS, PCIs), and Live Army Values (Yes that is technically) two things.
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Everything in life is a learning experience. From going to school to become an officer to reporting to your first unit. Take those events as such. Learn all you can from the experience of your NCO's. The first time you imply that you are smarter than they are and things will be done your way or the highway, it taints the NCO/officer relationship. Learn from them and put that experience to good use.
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I've posted this before, but I think this is extremely relevant.
http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/nicks-rules-on-leadership/
Especially the point "you are not the smartest guy in the platoon".
I have seen quite a few officers who knew the regulations to the 'T' but did not have a lick of common sense. I know I'm just a stupid E-4, but even when I was an E-3 I still had more common sense than my PL. We had a (literally, not figuratively) 45 minute mounted mission [to include staging and SP process(we drove just out the gate, drove a block, then turned around and headed back)] in which rather than re-fuel the truck (which had used so small of an amount of fuel it was not noticeable on the fuel gauge) I just parked it, I was screamed at by a 1st LT for taking initiative and not doing something by the regs rather using my own common sense.
My biggest thing is if someone does something via their own sound reasoning, don't get mad at them for it. If someone made a bad decision but their mental process was at least somewhat sound then don't get pissed. It is far easier and will create far more good will to say "hey, you were thinking right, but here is where you went wrong" than to get mad and explode on someone.
Here is my big thing. First off listen to your platoon sergeant. It is honestly his platoon and you are just leasing it. Second of all, figure out who your senior and experienced E-4s are. You may be told that these individuals are the biggest shitheads in the unit, but I know from personal experience that some people (especially lower enlisted) get bad mouthed by senior NCOs for personal reasons. One of the hardest workers and most proficient guys I've ever known in the infantry got badmouthed because his squad leader was a fat POS and was resentful that his guys could score over a 300 on their PT test. I'm not saying discount everything that your senior NCOs say about these guys, but don't take their word as truth necessarily. As non-party line as it may seem, not all NCOs follow the creed of the NCO, and not all lower enlisted really want to deal with the army BS. Some NCOs are shitty and some (honestly, most) lower enlisted don't give a flying fuck about the army. Most lower enlisted care about having enough money to take care of their family, and not being bugged more than necessary by NCOs. If you want to know what a standard lower enlisted person thinks about a certain action then ask me in private, but suffice to say it probably ends up with "leave me alone".
http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/nicks-rules-on-leadership/
Especially the point "you are not the smartest guy in the platoon".
I have seen quite a few officers who knew the regulations to the 'T' but did not have a lick of common sense. I know I'm just a stupid E-4, but even when I was an E-3 I still had more common sense than my PL. We had a (literally, not figuratively) 45 minute mounted mission [to include staging and SP process(we drove just out the gate, drove a block, then turned around and headed back)] in which rather than re-fuel the truck (which had used so small of an amount of fuel it was not noticeable on the fuel gauge) I just parked it, I was screamed at by a 1st LT for taking initiative and not doing something by the regs rather using my own common sense.
My biggest thing is if someone does something via their own sound reasoning, don't get mad at them for it. If someone made a bad decision but their mental process was at least somewhat sound then don't get pissed. It is far easier and will create far more good will to say "hey, you were thinking right, but here is where you went wrong" than to get mad and explode on someone.
Here is my big thing. First off listen to your platoon sergeant. It is honestly his platoon and you are just leasing it. Second of all, figure out who your senior and experienced E-4s are. You may be told that these individuals are the biggest shitheads in the unit, but I know from personal experience that some people (especially lower enlisted) get bad mouthed by senior NCOs for personal reasons. One of the hardest workers and most proficient guys I've ever known in the infantry got badmouthed because his squad leader was a fat POS and was resentful that his guys could score over a 300 on their PT test. I'm not saying discount everything that your senior NCOs say about these guys, but don't take their word as truth necessarily. As non-party line as it may seem, not all NCOs follow the creed of the NCO, and not all lower enlisted really want to deal with the army BS. Some NCOs are shitty and some (honestly, most) lower enlisted don't give a flying fuck about the army. Most lower enlisted care about having enough money to take care of their family, and not being bugged more than necessary by NCOs. If you want to know what a standard lower enlisted person thinks about a certain action then ask me in private, but suffice to say it probably ends up with "leave me alone".
This is a tough one for us to write, because in some ways it starts with the position that we are qualified to teach leadership. I mean you can go to the store and literally buy hundreds of books on the topic of leadership from real war heroes that should be dead a hundred times over, general officers or sergeants major who have a lifetime of service to the nation, or even business leaders, coaches, or politicians who have made a real...
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1SG Cameron M. Wesson
SPC (Join to see) James... I would like to offer you some unsolicited advise because you have taken the time and effort to craft a response that I personally can relate to... even being an old fart.
1st... I was a grunt PSG and a truck 1SG. We never... I mean never... put a vehicle back in the motor that was not topped off. As a driver of a M113... I used the same sound reasoning that you did... thankfully my SL was there to explain that "topping" vehicles off was a fail safe in the event that we rolled out. Imagines 100 vehicles in a convoy that some are 45 minutes fuel down... other 90 minutes.... and you have to role out. Knowing that the range of vehicles vary as does the fuel consumption... how do you know safely they'll reach the ROM point? which could have been avoided by a refuel. That stuck with me and was very useful in Korea, the Balkans, and both desert games.
2nd... You have the platoon thing backwards. Read the NCO Guide. I know what you've been told and I hear a number of those same things... however... the PL, not the PSG, owns the plt. If you will... the PL is the CEO... the PSG the COO. The PSG "runs" the platoon on behalf of the PL... and further more has the responsibility to help the CO train the PL. I'm not making that shit up... I've lived it... and was trained by some of the best.
lastly... I agree that many folks out there do not deserve to wear the stripes they have. They are toxic and they cause soldiers to have labels that are not deserved... nor earned. I saw it in my day also... and no. they may be able to recite the NCO Creed; however, so did SMA McKinney in my day... read what happen to him.
This is what I would ask you... take those negative examples you've seen and experienced... and try not to let those happen to your soldiers. Be the buffer between what is required... and fairytales. Most importantly, before discounting something... try to understand it at the "process level". I can;t tell you how many times I have said, "that stupid as shit" only to regret saying it when faced with the challenge.
Sorry to be so long winded; however, I see in your writing a guy I once was. I still am to a point; however, instead of asking why... I find out.
Take care
Cam
1st... I was a grunt PSG and a truck 1SG. We never... I mean never... put a vehicle back in the motor that was not topped off. As a driver of a M113... I used the same sound reasoning that you did... thankfully my SL was there to explain that "topping" vehicles off was a fail safe in the event that we rolled out. Imagines 100 vehicles in a convoy that some are 45 minutes fuel down... other 90 minutes.... and you have to role out. Knowing that the range of vehicles vary as does the fuel consumption... how do you know safely they'll reach the ROM point? which could have been avoided by a refuel. That stuck with me and was very useful in Korea, the Balkans, and both desert games.
2nd... You have the platoon thing backwards. Read the NCO Guide. I know what you've been told and I hear a number of those same things... however... the PL, not the PSG, owns the plt. If you will... the PL is the CEO... the PSG the COO. The PSG "runs" the platoon on behalf of the PL... and further more has the responsibility to help the CO train the PL. I'm not making that shit up... I've lived it... and was trained by some of the best.
lastly... I agree that many folks out there do not deserve to wear the stripes they have. They are toxic and they cause soldiers to have labels that are not deserved... nor earned. I saw it in my day also... and no. they may be able to recite the NCO Creed; however, so did SMA McKinney in my day... read what happen to him.
This is what I would ask you... take those negative examples you've seen and experienced... and try not to let those happen to your soldiers. Be the buffer between what is required... and fairytales. Most importantly, before discounting something... try to understand it at the "process level". I can;t tell you how many times I have said, "that stupid as shit" only to regret saying it when faced with the challenge.
Sorry to be so long winded; however, I see in your writing a guy I once was. I still am to a point; however, instead of asking why... I find out.
Take care
Cam
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CDR William Kempner
Good comment, 1SG. The SPC has some good points. But things aren't always black and white. I liked the CEO/COO comparison.
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