What is the ONE thing EVERY young Officer must know?

Seek advise from your peers, seniors and NCOs, but make your own decision and make a decision. There is even benefit from making wrong decisions (as long as no one is hurt). Don't be affraid to try new things and learn from what works well and doesn't.....but above all, when you make your decisions, if you can look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and you have your Marines, Soliders, Sailors, and Airmen's best interest at heart, you will be fine!

Be humble. Not just for LTs. It works well for all ranks.

Find a good NCO or SNCO and learn from THEM, especially as a O1 or O2. There will be plenty of time to learn the politics of being a FGO, but at the CGO level they need to learn to read and understand their enlisted men and women. Those are your workers, those are your backbone, and those are the ones that will tell you how good of an officer you are, or aren't.

Consider all recommendations from your PSG, but make your own decisions quickly and most importantly, always remain confident with your decisions!

It's not that they're 'clueless' in my opinion. It's that most seem to come into their first unit with a chip on their shoulder, try to change the army in their first week and disregard the counsel of their seasoned NCO's (SSG/SFC).

Any NCO worth his/her weight in salt realizes the officers are in charge and we prosecute the mission. But when young officers repeatedly fail to ask for advice from those of us who have been in longer than six or seven years, then blame the NCO's when the mission fails leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Sir, my advice would be; take the chip off your shoulder, put it in your desk drawer. Ask for advice and take in what your SSG's/SFC's are telling you. Whatever path you decide to take is your call. But don't blow off the NCO's and then blame them when the mission fails.

Always remember, take care of your Soldiers in garrison and they'll take care of you down range.

First of all koodos for asking this question. The first thing I would recommend to you is listen to your senior E-5's and E-6's that are in leadership roles. We run everything and can guide you to make proper decisions. Learn everything that could be learned before trying to be a leader. Start out small and count on who guides you. Last don't ever turn your back on your people

You'll be so good at signing for things, you'll think buying a car or house is child's play.

Leave your ego at cash sales, and don't be afraid to ask questions. Your senior officers expect results you, yourself are not yet capabale of delivering, all the time. Your NCO's, and even your troops, will have answers for you. Be smart enough to articulate fact from fiction.

You are going to learn more from the shit birds and malcontents, about what NOT to do, then you ever will from the squared away, so always be paying attention.

Mostly, be able to laugh at yourself; it makes it easier when we are all laughing at you too! haha (with all due respect, Sir or Ma'am.)

Thought about this at length- two things to add. Understand that not all seniors are going to do the right thing nor look out for you.(Cadets/mids-take heed) They SHOULD, but what people do, and should do are two different things. Watch what is going on-stay alert and protect yourself. LASTLY-STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF. Remember who you are and what you are and what you stand for. I had a CO that used "the shit strain" -somebody was always the target. I was his target for about 9 months. Everyone could do something w/o incident, and I'd do the same thing and get called out for it. (They're out there.) I did everything I could to try to please the guy, but it wasn't to be done. Really shook my confidence for a while.(He was having marital problems) When I got it back, I remembered the "Being true to yourself " thing Had other COs/XOs since -some I liked, plenty I didn't-but they ALL respected me-even if grudgingly. No, I didn't make flag rank, but sleeping well at night with a clear conscience is its own reward.

Listen to your NCOs..