As LT McDonough first takes command of his new platoon, he uses what he has seen of the previous platoon leader to quickly formulate a stance as the new leader of the platoon. Before he first meets his Platoon Sargent and Squad leaders, he makes a series of decisions on how he wishes to run platoon operations for the foreseeable future and expresses these decisions clearly and concisely when he first briefs these NCOs. He decides to start out by going out on every other patrol and ensuring the night patrol set up ambushes during their patrol. While he went on patrols the squad leader would ultimately run his squad as usual with minor big picture tweaks being make by McDonough as needed. By making these decisions as he first began as the platoon leader, he established himself as an assertive, yet prudent decision maker, and a much more effective leader then his predecessor. His actions fit his duties as a leader and follow the mission he is ultimately instructed to carry out. Therefore, by sending himself out on many of the platoon’s patrols he is ensuring the success of his mission by maintaining necessary control of his platoon and establishing a knowledge of his area of operation in order to make effective decisions when he is commanding from behind the wire. To do any less than he had done would have made him a less effective and established leader, however, by allowing the squads to run patrols with their own SOPs he did not over step. I absolutely agree with the leadership stance he took and the decisions he made.
When reflecting on the previous lesson on emotional intelligence and bases of power, it is observed that LT McDonough begins his command of his platoon using his legitimate power as an officer to establish his authority over his subordinate leaders. When he first meets these leaders, he chooses his words and his demeanor carefully, giving the impression that he is an informed leader who understands his role and how he conducts his business. It is arguable that he has a leadership presence that would imply expert power to his men which leads them to believe he has experience and training that would be beneficial to the operations of the platoon.
Later on, one of his daytime patrols, LT McDonough would suffer several explosive based wounds from a boobytrap that would send him to a hospital for several days before he returned to the field. He had realized on his trek back to the bush to rejoin his platoon that he had suffered significant injuries in the field, yet he was eager to go back to the lead of his platoon. This is his moment where it is clear that he had faced his fear, suffering injury in combat, yet he does not shy away from his duties as a leader nor does he allow the experience to hinder his leadership presence. In this way LT McDonough has faced his fear and succeeded in continuing his mission.