With the decrease in OPTEMPO and the high level of combat experience among Soldiers/NCOs, what should a new 2LT focus on to prepare to lead?

Sir,

I am a newly commissioned 2LT, commissioned in May of this year, and haven't been to BOLC, yet (go this coming July). I'm not necessarily brand new either, as I have had 10 years in already, was commissioned through the SMP program with ROTC. As my time as a cadet, I was an acting PL, and luckily my Platoon Sergeant was a man that I had deployed with and already respect very much. I learned from him that as a new LT your NCOs are your greatest resources, and allowing them to do their job would in turn allow the LT to do their job. My current Platoon Sergeant has also taught me that the PL and PSG should work as a team, and make decisions together on the mission of the Platoon and welfare of Soldiers. My first salute was an R&R 1SG that I had known my entire life and the words he told me during that salute are always right there in my mind, "you take care of your Soldiers and I promise I will always take care of you. Another, and final example I'll give was another 1SG from one of our firing batteries, when I first signed my contract as a cadet, he would always ask me, "why the hell do you want to become an officer?" and all the way till the day he retired, no answer I gave him was ever good enough until finally the day before he retired, he asked me again, and before I could even answer, he said, "Your answer should be, 1SG I want to be an officer because I want to take care of Soldiers."

Sir with all this being said, PT, doctrine, and knowledge base should be very important on a brand new LTs agenda, the top priority should be Soldier care. It doesn't matter how good that LTs PT score is, BRM score is, or even if he/she was an honor graduate through their commissioning program; none of that honestly means jack if your Soldiers are not willing to follow you through the gates of hell and back.

Find his true leaders in the NCO ranks. Use them as his/her teachers.

Sir I feel this best thing for a 2 LT to do is foster an environment within the unit of self emprovement. Be open minded about those with compat experience and learn from it. And be consistent when it comes to enforcing standards. While combat experience is great mental capital it is not the same a leadership experience. All officers should be focused on this skill set.

I would be opened minded to the solders needs and take into consideration the years experience of your followers. To be respected is to respect.

As a 2LT I think it really depends on your MOS. I am an Infantry officer. I would say schools are a must. As an Infantry officer you should aspire to attend Ranger School. I am in the Guard and completed Ranger school. I learned a lot and I am now a better PL. Also, I am in a Armored BCT. I am working my way to attending the Bradleys Leaders Course next and hoping for Army Recon Course at Benning also. These courses will give me the proper understanding to implement all resources when I plan missions.

As much as NCO's like to poke fun at a cherry PL they usually don't understand the roll of the officer. We are not technical experts, as we are not meant to be, but we are tactical experts. My job is not to control a weapons squad or ensure they keep up a cyclic rate of fire. What I can do is plan for how long they can go cyclic and how long they can go to a sustained rate of fire, while conserving even ammo for a counter attack or a follow up mission. Many people don't see that. Without the operations experience being there now going to the school house is he next best thing. The Army has many courses to teach us how to fight they are there for that reason. I am just trying to figure out how to get my unit to send me to jungle school in Hawaii now.

Ranger, Sapper, air assault, airborne, and pathfinder schools

Decrease in OPSTEMPO? When can we expect that to start?

It may seem like a long time ago but we went almost 15 years between the end of Vietnam and the Gulf War and 10 years from the Gulf War to 9/11 with no large scale military deployments. Grenada, Panama and Somalia were limited in scope and duration. I'd say a majority of SMs managed to get through this 25 year period w/o a combat deployment and obviously, good leaders were turned out just the same. A combat deployment, IMHO, culminates and tests the training of all ranks, not just 2LTs. Its the training pre-deployment that will define leadership styles and mettle. NTC rotations, major exercises like REFORGER, Yama Sakura, Foal Eagle, etc., need to be revived and expanded to get everyone some realistic training.

Besides knowing if (or not) to salute a 1LT....

Like any new soldier, a new LT needs to learn how to be a soldier first and foremost. This can be hard for some coming right off LDAC, and going out there wide-eyed and ready to lead the charge.

I feel many junior officers lose respect of enlisted/NCOs when they try to lead soldiers without knowing how to soldier my self. If I recall correctly, the NCO Creed is the only one that includes a statement about competence. This in itself, indicates how much we value that aspect of leadership.

In my opinion, a new LT, during the first few months, needs to observe with mouth shut* and ears and eyes open. Lean on the senior NCOs for soldiering, and watch more senior officers for leadership lessons. (I am not saying that NCO's can't provide leadership lessons and that officers are not good soldiers, but that officers usually have a wider focus).

*mouth shut means backing off and letting the platoon sergeant take the reigns, but please ask lots of questions and give your input without expecting that your input will be necessarily heeded just because you are an officer.