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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Understand your subordinates. The best leaders I have ever had understood the strengths/weaknesses of each of their subordinates and paired them. Strong operator on watch with weak operator, Introvert paired to extrovert; they will learn about each other and develop more rapidly. Depending on the service/size of unit this may be something your senior enlisted handles, but you should directly or indirectly ensure this is done.
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"Never forget where you came from"! You maybe in position of authority, but you had others in one way or another "help" you get where you are! Always be humble and respect others!
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SSgt Thomas A Tullis Jr
SNCOs and NCOs aren't your enemy. Never forget you get dressed the same way an enlisted person does, ONE piece of clothing at a time.
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Oh man noooo, why oh why would you open this can of worms?
while on deployment my lieutenant and I were on top of a building when we started to take shots, quickly grabbing cover I looked up in time to see my lieutenant climbing up to stand on top of the sand bags that I was behind, I grabbed him and pulled him back down, with an accusing look on his face I said, "sir you are not Superman, let's use that degree you got, and use our brains." Smiling he said thanks.
If I could give young officers any advice I'd say stop looking for ways to become heroes. 9 times out of 10 you will only end up dead, instead think through the problem to find a better solution, and learn that you getting a warhead in your forehead does not inspire your troops.
while on deployment my lieutenant and I were on top of a building when we started to take shots, quickly grabbing cover I looked up in time to see my lieutenant climbing up to stand on top of the sand bags that I was behind, I grabbed him and pulled him back down, with an accusing look on his face I said, "sir you are not Superman, let's use that degree you got, and use our brains." Smiling he said thanks.
If I could give young officers any advice I'd say stop looking for ways to become heroes. 9 times out of 10 you will only end up dead, instead think through the problem to find a better solution, and learn that you getting a warhead in your forehead does not inspire your troops.
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Capt Richard I P.
SGT Kevin Gardner This can of worms has been opened a few times in other posts, usually leading to back and forth gripes and sniping. I started this discussion in attempt to re-frame the discussion positively, and use the strength of RallyPoint to accumulate collective wisdom and capture it here for future young officers.
Your input is great, thanks for giving it. The first time I took fire it took me a (split) couple seconds longer to take cover than the veteran Sgt next to me...
Your input is great, thanks for giving it. The first time I took fire it took me a (split) couple seconds longer to take cover than the veteran Sgt next to me...
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SGT Kevin Gardner
The first part of my post I meant as a joke, honestly this is a great discussion topic, honestly I wish this conversation was SOP for all company's
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Listen to your SNCOs and learn. At this point in time you should not be talking much, unless your asking questions.
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As an artillery FDC chief, I worked directly with a lot of 2Lts straight out of OBC. This threw a lot of them off. They expected an E6 and got a hard stripe E4. Typically, how they reacted to this piece of information said a lot about how they would be as leaders.
Best Lt. I had the privelege to serve with:
"OK, Chief. I know the schoolhouse stuff. If you show me how it works in the real world, I'll be sure your FDC is taken care of." ...and he did.
Worst Lt. I had to endure:
"That's not how you do it! Get out of there corporal! You have no idea what you are doing!"
(by a small mercy our BC/CO happened to be in the immediate AO and the Lt was forced to reevaluate the situation)
Bottom line is, the good Lts were humble and confident at the same time. They knew they had a lot to learn, and were willing to learn it. At the same time they knew that they were the officers and this meant not being bullied by their NCOs. As you head to your first assignment, keep in mind that the NCOs and troops can teach you a lot and you will be fine.
Best Lt. I had the privelege to serve with:
"OK, Chief. I know the schoolhouse stuff. If you show me how it works in the real world, I'll be sure your FDC is taken care of." ...and he did.
Worst Lt. I had to endure:
"That's not how you do it! Get out of there corporal! You have no idea what you are doing!"
(by a small mercy our BC/CO happened to be in the immediate AO and the Lt was forced to reevaluate the situation)
Bottom line is, the good Lts were humble and confident at the same time. They knew they had a lot to learn, and were willing to learn it. At the same time they knew that they were the officers and this meant not being bullied by their NCOs. As you head to your first assignment, keep in mind that the NCOs and troops can teach you a lot and you will be fine.
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The biggest thing that I always pressed on my new LT's was that they NEEDED to listen to their enlisted men. You may wear bars, but if you want a no bs assessment, go to your grunts that have deployed. They'll square ya' away.
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Listen to your NCOs. We are more one on one with the troops and have definitely been in longer
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Respect must be earned not demanded. Start by giving it to not only your superiors but also your subordinates. If you treat them as you would expect (not want - this is important because if they screw up they should expect to be reprimanded/counseled as warranted) to be treated everything will fall into place.
Have a rewarding and productive career !!
Have a rewarding and productive career !!
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