This is a great topic!

Me taking command is definitely not the usual. My last assignment was as a BN S6 in a Stryker BDE. When I spoke to my current BDE commander he told me that I’m going to be his HHC, BDE company commander. So, no assistant to the assistant staff time in the 3 before taking  command; I went right straight into one. And not just any old command – HHC command of a BDE headquarters. The base does not have a CDR/1SG course. I did not have a legal crash course prior to taking command. Oh, by the way, my unit is in the Middle East.

To address the questions:

What was your biggest challenge in the first 90 days? What did /did you not do to overcome it?

My biggest challenge at the time was figuring the debacle my orderly room had with tracking mandatory 350-1 training. Since before I took command the orderly room bickered with the BDE staff about who did/did not complete training, why is not annotated on the company’s training tracker, and why is it not shown in DTMS. The training links that were provided in the unit’s welcome packet did not work and it really causing frustration within the HQs. When I changed out so did the orderly room. With new people come new ideas. My 1SG at the time empowered our Soldiers to remedied that issue. Half the issue was that person were NOT COMPLYING with the company’s training guidance. The other half was that I had to quickly get new Soldiers (some working outside their MOS) trained on tracking training requirements and using DTMS. Now, some eight months into command my orderly room has a good handle on tracking training requirements. I still deal with having to coax HQs personnel to do their mandatory training!!

As I type this I cannot leave out another BIG challenge I had (and kind of still have) with PT and personnel accountability. Coming into the job I figured that since the unit is forward stationed and it is a BDE HQs, collective PT wouldn’t be stressed as much. Also, being a BDE HQs with the amount of senior personnel, PT ( and accountability) wouldn’t be an issue at all. I was wrong! Shortly after I took command a few people approached me stating that the company PT policy was unfair because it was rank driven. Then I received a few complaints of officers not coming to formations. When the issue was addressed the response was that everyone cannot attend morning formations because of their workloads/schedules, and some officers work real late almost every day. Ok, got it! Being that my unit is currently supporting three real-world missions I understand that some of the HQs will be swamped in work while others aren’t. What I and my 1SG did was revise the PT policy by “delegating” the responsibility of PT to staff sections. I vetted this through the DBC, CSM, and BDE CDR before signing off on it (they are in “MY” company). Well, that was only upheld for a few months until the complaints arose again. I tried to enforce the accountability piece fairly across the board only to have the BDE S3 say no and be backed by the DBC (because of the whole workload/late hours thing). Then we received a new CSM who is HOT about PT! The CSM has yet to say anything to me about why everyone is not there probably because he understands how the staff sections operate now.

All in all, I would like to say that I’ve overcame both obstacles, however, there is STILL much room for improvement. I am empowering my NCOs through my 1SG and the staff OICs/NCOICs to do what’s right for the company: Complete your mandatory training and do PT. I am leading by example in my company because I have one the highest PT scores and ALL of my mandatory training is complete.

What “quick wins” did you develop or wish you would have developed?

One quick win I started doing was having company hail and farewells in order to sustain the level of morale of when I first arrived. The BDE staff shops all were doing their own thing when I first arrived and it appeared to be very clique-ish. The first two hail and farewells were done by my orderly room and were fantastic! Everyone from the BDE CDR down enjoyed them. Then, my 1SG stated that planning for and executing H&Fs should be rotated amongst the staff because he did not want the orderly room to be stuck with planning for all H&Fs. After getting buy-in from the staff sections I came up with a MFR stating which section will plan and execute H&Fs. Needless to say this kinda fell through. Staff sections complained that they were too busy to plan and execute a H&F, so the past few months this unit event has been piece-meal by sections or individuals.

What was one issue that your predecessor left out of the changeover?

Unaccounted for ammo in the unit’s container at the ASP. Some of the unaccounted ammo is not in the system at all. One green can belonged to a unit back in 2016. Anyone like to offer guidance on how to turn in ammo? I’m tracking the DD Form 518, however, there is not an ammo account set up for the HQs.

Jeff made a great point in the above post! People will always remember how you made them feel. I try to keep that in mind as I finish out the second half of my command. Morale is kind of low due to a couple of serious incidents in the HQs and higher emplacing restrictions that are outside of my control (sucks being a commander AT the flagpole!!). I hope to make some sort of rebound in the next few months and get back to the couple of things I started at the beginning of my command.