LT McDonough acts very strongly when PFC King first joins his platoon. He makes the PFC address him with the proper customs and courtesies and then inspects all of his belongings. LT McDonough finds marijuana in PFC King’s rucksack and burns it all in front of him. This leads to PFC King later shooting his M-79 grenade launcher right past LT McDonough’s head in a way that indicates PFC King trying to scare and intimidate LT McDonough. LT McDonough’s reaction is severe and rapid. He quickly moves forward placing the barrel of his weapon against PFC King’s head and threatening to kill him on the spot.

Was this the most appropriate or best response according to Army doctrine? No of course it was not, but it is so hard for any of us to truly understand the gravity of the war in Vietnam. LT McDonough has just returned from a hospital where he watched a fellow Lieutenant die after a soldier threw a grenade into the battalion sergeant’s hooch to scare him. LT McDonough understands that many lower enlisted are draftees, and do not have the same motivation or drive as a regular volunteer. Yes, LT McDonough acts drastically and in a way that would never be allowed to occur now but this was a different time, and a much different war. We cannot understand the emotions and thoughts that were occurring for each of these soldiers, especially LT McDonough.

When it comes to making decisions, I think that when LT McDonough states, <span style=”color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif; font-size: 12px;”>”Military leaders must weigh the effects of their decisions carefully because usually there is no turning back.” I do agree with him but I also feel as if his example does not adequately support this argument. He uses the example of how members of his platoon had just ambushed a platoon of friendly Vietnamese because they had messed up their land navigation and ended up in a friendly platoon’s killzone. LT McDonough did everything he could have, calling higher and attempting to get as much information about the approaching platoon as possible. </span>His decision making was not flawed in this scenario. He did everything he could have to prevent that from happening.

Military leaders do need to understand consequences of their actions, one platoon’s actions can have a ripple effect throughout an entire warzone. One platoon leader’s misstep can lead to multiple deaths and the failure of a mission. It is important for an officer to understand this concept, but it does not mean that there will always be time to apply it. Sometimes actions may need to be taken that would not agree with this statement, whether its due to the heat of the battle or a lack of time to fully go through each step of the decision-making process.

I do believe that it is important for each officer to have an understanding and appreciation for the process, but I do not believe that it should be held as the standard that everyone should always make sure they achieve.