What would you do if you were a Company Commander for a day?

MAJ Christopher Daily — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 06:11:00 -0400

After 14 years in the Army, 5 years Enlisted, 3 years as a Warrant Officer, and 5 years Commissioned, I am now a Company Commander. One of the best groups of guys and gals I have ever worked with as well. On more than one occasion I’ve caught myself saying “If I were the Commander I would…”. So I have done some of those things, like formally executing a Zonk at PT after a really hard week of rucking it through the mountains of Korea. I truly have a great chain of command which allows me freedom of maneuver so I am always looking for input from my guys to see what Ideas they come up with. This really builds ownership in the group and I am hoping to find some good ideas.

So here is my question for discussion. What is the one thing you would like to do if you were commander for a day or week? Best answer might make it on my training calendar. I am always looking for ways to reward my Soldiers, aside from providing them with challenging and realistic training.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 13 at 2014 7:15 AM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:15:57 -0400

MAJ Christopher Daily, my suggestion would be to find ways to reward people with time off (a day, say). I have seen constructive, and usually competitive ways work very well in my time in the Army. Here are two examples, but your imagination is your only limit on things like this that can be used to reward your Soldiers.

When I was a young troop, we had periodic (weekly?) in ranks company inspections and less frequent battalion level inspections. If a Soldier stood out in a really good way he (infantry then, no women) was recognized in some way.

I remember two battalion level inspections. During the first, I had recently returned from jungle training in Panama and my belt buckle had rust on it. The battalion sergeant major noticed it and I did some remedial training for lack of attention to detail. During the second, however, I was standin' tall and lookin' good, and the battalion commander noticed and said something to my company commander and first sergeant. After that inspection, my first sergeant gave me the rest of that day off and another day off, and he recognized me in front of the company formation. Many thought I was a "brown noser" (there's another post on RP on that topic), but others, I'm sure, were motivated to do their best and see if they might get noticed/rewarded.

We also had to pull a fair amount of guard duty, depending on the training cycle. and the guard mount consisted of an in ranks inspection. As the guard OIC and NCOIC inspected us, they also asked questions about guard duty, the military, etc. At the end of guard mount, the OIC and NCOIC selected the "Colonel's Orderly," the person whose uniform looked the best and who answered the questions the best, and he got the night off, while his colleagues got to pull guard duty all night long. It took a while, but I was motivated, and I eventually won colonel's orderly on a regular basis. That was a treat - to have some time off, instead of having to pull guard duty.

Time off is a great way to reward a Soldier for a job well done and to recognize excellent performance. And I think it has a motivating effect on the unit.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 13 at 2014 7:21 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:21:02 -0400

I've acted as company commander for a few weeks at a time occasionally. I mostly just signed leave forms.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Oct 13 at 2014 7:40 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:40:15 -0400

A company picnic for a few hours followed by "commanders time" on a Friday would be nice. In Iraq, some of the troops enjoyed video came competitions.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Oct 13 at 2014 7:43 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:43:09 -0400

My first time there as a cadet, the HHC commander organized a staff ride to visit some of the battlefields and monuments from the Korean War.

Response by LCpl Karen Lowes made Oct 13 at 2014 8:32 AM

LCpl Karen Lowes — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 08:32:35 -0400

These kinds of questions are great, and lead me to believe you are a very good leader. I was in for only a brief time, so have extremely limited knowledge as to what your options are/are not. But your question sparked something I saw take place years ago and had a great affect on those who were involved. The person in charge wanted to know the same thing, so for a week asked a similar question via a suggestion box. Not only did ideas come up that were unique for their particular circumstances, but they got to know certain individuals in a totally different light. What was the reward? Within obvious restrictions, they were able to shadow you for a certain amount of time, and possibly help implement their suggestion. I hope you gather some ideas from your post that you are able to use. Good luck.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 13 at 2014 9:33 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:33:15 -0400

My building has two companies in it, one down each hallway from the main entrance, and the building is more or less symmetrical. There was a major conference at the higher command headquarters, and all of our E-7s and some others were TDY for various reasons, it ultimately left me in charge of my company (I was a SSG at the time) and a SSG in charge of the other one for a week. Each group of us had a list of tasks that we had to complete while the "parents" were away and in the interest of finally getting to go home early (early in an EOD company on Ft. Drum usually meant 1730 in these days) we all came together for this common goal and got EVERYTHING done by day 3. So on day 3 we went home early, and on day 4 and 5 I went to the other SSG and we made a plan. on day 4 we trained our people on military movement drills and clearing buildings and general tactics. on day 5 we had a game of nerf capture the flag, only allowing our people to use tactics trained on the previous day. When we did building cleanup I made sure to state that if a single dart was found by the headshed I would be held responsible, but all their asses would be mine.

It was a lot of fun, and the Soldiers were enthusiastic about training, really the only difference was the presence of nerf guns and a sense of competition. But it's not something that one of the normal "responsible" leaders would be able to do, even now that I have been promoted it's not something I can reasonably do. While we never did it again, many of the Soldiers kept a nerf gun in their locker.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Nov 3 at 2014 8:49 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:49:09 -0500

Provide Dunkin Donuts and coffee and rent those sumo wrestler suits and let everyone take their frustrations out on each othe, then the winner could take me on. It would provide some good laghs!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 8 at 2014 2:06 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 14:06:29 -0500

company picnic/sports day

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 8 at 2014 5:49 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 17:49:07 -0500

Sadly I have nothing of substance to add, but I do have a question. Any reasons why you went Warrant to Commissioned?

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Nov 9 at 2014 4:39 AM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 04:39:44 -0500

Sir, I would hold an entire day dedicated a safety stand down. The lunch hour would be cut short, and I would release the Soldiers early for the day and take all my LTs out for dinner.

Response by SSG Tim Everett made Nov 11 at 2014 2:04 AM

SSG Tim Everett — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 02:04:57 -0500

No PT but show up to formation. Then donuts, coffee, and a special "Commander's Screening" of Full Metal Jacket: have some of the troops voluntarily get up and reenact scenes as the movie's playing. If any of you guys have ever been to a Rocky Horror Picture Show, you know what I mean.

Oh snap, movie's over? Early lunch, take my LTs and senior NCO to lunch, 1300: "Why are you still in my company? Go home and romance your wives."

Response by SPC Steve Root made Nov 15 at 2014 8:35 PM

SPC Steve Root — Sat, 15 Nov 2014 20:35:48 -0500

Paintball/zonk

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2014 8:31 AM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 08:31:46 -0500

Declare a training holiday! No...would seek first to do no harm. I believe in shadow mentoring and would look at such a program that way, expecting one for the 1SG too (1SG for a Day).
In my view these are the things NCOs of the Quarter, etc should do.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2014 9:26 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 09:26:33 -0500

Get as much pyro as you can safely use and the biggest MOUT site you can find. Make yourself and a small cadre the "bad guys" and make it nice and hard for them to assault your position. Heap praise upon the Soldier who gets you, or talk smack at their ignominious defeat.

After the dust settles, you will likely identify a number of tactical things to train. Go ahead and train those things, with the promise of a rematch the following year.

Love the question, sir.

Response by SGT Bradley L. made May 13 at 2015 11:05 AM

SGT Bradley L. — Wed, 13 May 2015 11:05:26 -0400

One thing you could do as a commander is make it easy for NCO's at the team leader level to recognize their Joe's hard work. Put in a system where they can recommend them for a three day weekend when they've put in the extra effort without being asked to. Often we lose a lot of great lower enlisted because they feel like the work they are doing doesn't matter, and they aren't recognized for it. It's a great way to boost moral, and not reward slackers who detract from the mission.

Second, lead from the front during PT. Rotate through squads as a participant, so the enlisted see you working hard. In several company's I was in, the 1SG and Commander did pt together and we only saw them on Company runs or rucks. It also sets the tone that your NCO's are competent, and you trust what they are doing for PT is beneficial. Don't make a big deal out of it or let them know ahead of time. Just fall in and participate. Your 1SG should be doing the same thing.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Apr 18 at 2019 12:43 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 12:43:49 -0400

I would play football on Fridays. The team that is scored upon has to do push-ups or sit-ups. You get a lot of cardio and have fun at the same time. You can talk to MEDAVAC pilots to see if they will fly your troops around. Do a long run and have a hot breakfast at the finish line and bus them back to the unit.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 19 at 2019 12:24 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 12:24:00 -0400

Post the duty section and sound liberty.