@ae_rollinson – this is my first unit with an OPCON/ADCON split in the chain of command, and even though those terms were defined in BOLC, it doesn’t appear we’re actually operating that way. There’s actually a spaghetti-looking graph showing which teams are OPCON to which command, yet most of them are ADCON to this command. On the personally frustrating side, as an ADCON company commander with majors leading my teams, I don’t even have the standard “Train/Man/Equip” options available, as the majors like to play rock/paper/rank for anything of consequence. I’ve commiserated with my fellow company commanders that it’s frequently like being an XO perpetually on assumption of command orders. Day to day? Still responsible for property, legal, medical, FRG, Retention, Family Care Plans, ensuring compliance with all administrative metrics (350-1, MEDPROS, timely evals/awards, etc) and managing taskings from higher headquarters.

I know this sounds like a lot of complaining, but it’s significant progress from where we were, and if there’s any one thing I’ve learned in command it’s that even the simple things can be hard. Prior to February 2017, we had one company commander for roughly 700 personnel. This company commander was so overburdened keeping track of the “no fail” tasks – Property, Legal, Medical – that pretty much everything else got a cursory glance at best. You could even argue a lack of effectiveness on those “no fail” tasks, depending on your perspective. This one “company” still had a brigade commander and two battalion commanders, but, like normal brigade/battalion commanders, they don’t typically step in until it’s beyond the company commander’s ability or authority. In February 2017, we split that one “company” into five companies – an HHC for brigade, and two companies for each battalion. This has led to the progress I alluded to above, but it is still completely impossible to deploy my company to Iraq to fight ISIS. Much more work to be done.

In another forum I’ve advocated for reducing the rank for “Team Lead” to Captain, and making them essentially “Team Commanders”. Teams are slotted 39 personnel (although they rarely have above 25 currently) and a “Team Command” could be similar to a Battery Command for heavy artillery – some of which only have 40 something personnel. Pushing the Majors in Cyber up to the various commands would help alleviate planning issues from the various commands, give space to the Captains on the teams, and help restore unity of command.