True Story.

Posting this comment on behalf of a member who asked to remain anonymous:

I just came out of command two months ago and I’ve been following the run fast, shoot straight debate. I think running fast and shooting straight are just the base line but do not necessarily make a good LT. A skilled officer who is toxic is still a toxic leader. As a commander I had the full gammit of LTs.

One of my PLs fit this description to a T- super fast runner, crossfit, and regularly competed in marksmanship competitions. But he had terrible judgement and I frequently had to double back to check on his platoon. He only focussed on things that he thought made him look impressive. For example, when giving a presentation to JROTC cadets on weapons he started cussing about how great it was to shoot people in the face…. and this guy had never been deployed. This was infront of the Garrison PAO as well, which as MPs is a pretty influential networking partner. I mentored this LT the best I could but he was terrible at understanding his audience. He frequently left out crucial information and was overall arogant and unreliable.

Conversely the PL before him was not strong physically or tactically, but she was acutely aware of those shortcomings. We worked out together for months until she improved enough. Her NCOs took her under their wing and mentored her on the range. She didn’t shoot expert, but by the end she was consistently sharpshooter. Also, she cared deeply about everyone in her platoon and understood where the company was trying to go in the long run. Her NCOs constantly went the extra mile for her. I knew I could trust her to get things done on her own and that she was well organized. I made her my XO.

Two very different PLs and what set them apart was humility and common sense. That first LT had all the on paper stats until you watched him try to lead. He did not want to be taught, because he didn’t want to see himself as having flaws. If I was looking for the best PVTs then I’d look for running fast and shooting straight. In officers I first look for someone I can trust to lead when I’m not there.

Sir, I think we often overlook the importance of thinking laterally when forecasting our units’ needs. We naturally see the need to nest vertically, but we often neglect to recognize that a critical aspect of vertical nesting is horizontal synchronization to achieve our higher unit’s mission.

I like to think of forecasting for a unit in terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; the more effective a unit is at managing immediate tasks, the better the unit will be able to forecast. At the micro level, leaders that are able to delegate immediate tasks to their subordinates are then able to spend their time focusing on forecasting the organization’s needs.

I appreciate this article immensely as a reminder to continuously gain and maintain the initiative for mission success by searching for ways to see beyond the immediate to identify how the current fight fits into the larger concept of the operation. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience,

Sir, this is great advice but what about the commands that do not allow or want officers to go to schools and lose them for a period of time? I have seen numerous instances in my own time where a school is right on post but they can’t “afford to lose me for X amount of time” or “how does this benefit the unit” instead of “how does this benefit the unit, the Soldier, his/her future and the Army”; where the emphasis is sending enlisted soldiers over officers.

Great piece. I often reflected on this. My 22 mo command was an awkward, ugly, challenging beginning 8 months and a glorious finish where the troop took on a life of its own. I think I accidentally hit on the sense of belonging by continually praising them over the rest, rewarding certain behaviors (caring, striving for excellence, being a family).

I never realized how interrelated these ideas were. On my last deployment I saw first hand how expectations of incentives, ie end of tour awards, played a role in relatedness. Every E7 and above expected to get a bronze star. When that didn’t happen morale took a nose dive and a bunch of people left with a bad taste in their mouths. The incentive system -awards- became an expectation.

This isn’t to say awards aren’t valuable but they can’t be the means by which you keep people tied to the organization. My goal as a commander this tour has to been to help everyone understand how they are critical to the mission. The Army doesn’t just throw soldiers at units. Everyone is a part of a team and those small teams form a larger team. To be successful everyone has an important job. For this command it’s about building competence to allow increased autonomy while maintaining relatedness to the mission.