Posted on May 29, 2015
After Company Command What Do You Miss the Most?
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I am nearing the end of my second Company Command and I am already missing it. The thing I think I will miss the most will be the interactions with the Soldiers. The higher up you go the less time you spend with Soldiers. It is great to have a direct impact and see results with individuals throughout the years. What did/will you miss the most when leaving command?
Posted in these groups: 
Company Commander
Military Career
Company Commander Military Career
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 9
What I would miss most after Company Command is being in a role with direct consequences and significant responsibility that can positively impact Soldiers lives. In many ways, one's responsibility goes down after Company Command... at least for a long time... potentially for up to a decade in my view.
I created the above chart a few years ago (using my Army learned powerpoint skills) comparing a successful civilian MBA career trajectory with and a successful active duty military career trajectory. In both cases, I am assuming a successful career.
It's a rough take, and people will be able to point out many exceptions or tweaks in the timeline... but I think it has a lot of overall validity on the active duty side. The grey lines indicate possible outcomes on the civilian side and the blue line indicates successful outcome on the military side, with "success" roughly equating to responsibility. On the civilian side, there is a lot more variability, which I would say is mostly determined by the individual. On the military side, there is very little variability, and there are a lot more downs than ups.
It's no wonder that two of the most common times people get out is after their Platoon time and after their Company Command time. The trough in career responsibility (which I also equate to fulfillment) goes down significantly after those two highlights.
Capt Richard I P.
I created the above chart a few years ago (using my Army learned powerpoint skills) comparing a successful civilian MBA career trajectory with and a successful active duty military career trajectory. In both cases, I am assuming a successful career.
It's a rough take, and people will be able to point out many exceptions or tweaks in the timeline... but I think it has a lot of overall validity on the active duty side. The grey lines indicate possible outcomes on the civilian side and the blue line indicates successful outcome on the military side, with "success" roughly equating to responsibility. On the civilian side, there is a lot more variability, which I would say is mostly determined by the individual. On the military side, there is very little variability, and there are a lot more downs than ups.
It's no wonder that two of the most common times people get out is after their Platoon time and after their Company Command time. The trough in career responsibility (which I also equate to fulfillment) goes down significantly after those two highlights.
Capt Richard I P.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
Yinon, I totally agree with your analysis, but there are those special instances especially within the Reserves and National Guard where the two can intersect or run parallel to each other. I believe from an active duty standpoint you are dead on. With that said and with your analysis its apparent to me that we need to do a better job of preparing our Company Commanders for their next level of interaction both with military skills and adding some civilian leadership and MBA programs along the way. I truly believe that successful leaders at the Battalion, Brigade, and Command General level can make great CEO/Presidents in the civilian world. Let's give them some ammunition along the way by interjecting civilian based training at the MAJ and LTC level. I can tell you that used a crossover of my civilian skills as a Senior Executive/President of two companies many times when managing my Battalion for four years and my Brigades for over 8 years combined. I believe there are lessons to be learned on both sides and applied correctly at key intersections in your chart. Just my two cents!
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LTC (Join to see)
LTC Yinon Weiss, awesome chart, but two observations. First, responsibility didn't seem like it built gradually upon taking command; it felt more like an uppercut. Second, is there no responsibility in being an XO or S3?
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LTC Yinon Weiss
LTC (Join to see) - XO and S3 definitely have responsibility... that's why you see responsibility still to go up between years ~12 and the time of taking Battalion Command on the graph. I think that being an S3 and XO is still less responsibility than being a Company Commander (especially if you think of it in a combat deployment situation), which is why the Major responsibility never eclipses the Company Commander.
As far as the straight uppercut... I would agree. I would notch that to my limited powerpoint drawing abilities.
As far as the straight uppercut... I would agree. I would notch that to my limited powerpoint drawing abilities.
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I really like the chart created by Maj Weiss. That said, from an active duty standpoint I found it difficult to move from a high level of responsibility in the military to a similar one in the civilian sector. My view is mid-senior officers (LtCol - Col) are getting into the civilian workforce late in the game and those in the civilian sector don't know what to do with them. Civilians have a hard time translating Brigade Command (or Group Command in my case) to something on the civilian side.
So civilians stick to what they know best - non-military candidates. I think the reserve and guard components have the best of both worlds - military command opportunities and civilian contacts.
So civilians stick to what they know best - non-military candidates. I think the reserve and guard components have the best of both worlds - military command opportunities and civilian contacts.
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