I’m going to address the always “on” topic.

Civilians and the younger generation get excited every time Facebook adds a new feature or Snapchat adds a new filter but I always cringe because I know that now more than ever the adage that a leader is always “on” is absolutely true, and is harder and harder to get away from. Before I left my old unit it was commonplace for a new LT to arrive to my company, add the other LT’s on Facebook, which would then result in high school pictures of the new LT being printed out with captions attached that ranged from funny to somewhat derisive. While we all enjoyed the pictures and honestly I think it helped the LT’s matriculate into our community it was a somber reminder that anything you’ve done online can and will be found, I immediately purged some of my less PG pictures, slightly changed my name on Facebook, and affirmed never to accept my soldiers as friend’s until I left my unit. It was nothing personal, just that I wanted them to view me in only a professional manner.

These days we see incidents like the Ray Rice punching incident that should remind us that there are cameras literally EVERYWHERE and all it takes is one booze induced slip up to completely negate years of productivity. In a society and army with an increasingly “what are you doing for me lately” mentality it should come as no surprise that the NOW is broadcast more than it ever has been.

When I was a Private my first Squad Leader (Weapons Company), smoked my ass off every single day for a variety of reasons that ranged from boredom to necessity. While I didn’t agree with it at the time (although in our increasingly softer Army, I am starting to sympathize more and more with it) , he was the picture of professionalism in my eyes until right before we deployed. About a month before we deployed we began to have Squad meetings and he began to take it easier on us, showing us more of his personality and even having a beer with a few of us who were over 21. In doing so he showed we had earned his trust, showed a tiny bit of that first topic (vulnerability), and allowed us to see that despite being always “on” we were a family that would and ultimately did have a successful deployment.