I tell my young LTs, “if you want to be a step above most of the other people in the Army/Guard/Reserves, do two things; be halfway competent, and give a sh*t.” From my observations, those are the hardest two things to do. Knowing your job, and caring about doing it right seem simple, however look left and then look right; see many accomplishing…[Read more]

I would add this; fine, you’ve gotten your branch and you didn’t want to be a (insert branch here). Well, do your best. Be the best (insert branch here); get great OERs; make a difference to those Soldiers who may not have had good leadership until that point…

And then re-branch.

I don’t know how hard it is in the AC, but in the Reserve Compo…[Read more]

Chris,

A Headquarters Company Command can be a great opportunity.  Your ability to weigh in and support the commander and staff can go a long way in cementing your leadership abilities.  Also, it will give you the chance to develop your ability to influence others even if they may be inclined to “ignore” you because they work for the “XO” or s…[Read more]

This reminds me of the relationship that my SQDN had with a medic platoon in the HHT. The Line Medics were all “assigned for duty” to the Line Troops. No problem except … there weren’t MTOE slots at those Troops, there were only MTOE slots with the PLT in HHT. So all medics were Assigned to HHT, but many had duty (were attached) to those Line…[Read more]

Bottom line, OBJ-T is going to hurt the ratings of a lot of units, and I think after a couple of years the Army will find that it was over reach. No doubt there were some dubious ratings in the subjectivity of how things have been done. However with OBJ-T, units are set up for failure – ESPECIALLY in the Reserve compo.

From my experience, it will…[Read more]

I was at Ft. Bliss as a cadet for a month, it was by far the best “short assignment” I’ve experienced. The post is really big, the have an awesome outdoor mall with lots of restaurants to enjoy and also different stores (dollar store, under armor etc.). It is very warm at least from what I remember but the view from some offices is phenomenal and…[Read more]

The computer approach…

I hear “this millennials don’t know how hard it was…” comment all the time around the office.

As leaders we forget that “this millennials” grew up in a technological savvy world and, regardless of what component we are, their expertise comes handy if you need something done. It seems to me as if they are also more cre…[Read more]

JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!!

I’ve been a little MIA this past few days and was wondering this specific topic after a small conversation with my husband. I’ll ensure to read through before we have the “serious conversation”.

Thank you so much!

@jrolli, I wouldn’t say technical competence is less important than command competence, but I also wouldn’t manage our officers exclusively on technical competence. There’s a growing movement in the cyber officer ranks to focus exclusively on technical things and just sort of let leadership things fall where they may. Don’t get me wrong – we need…[Read more]

@adam.szczypka, it seems like you are asserting that because Cyber is a “branch” and not a “functional area” that technical competence in the domain is less important than “command” competencies. I would have to bluntly disagree with this dichotomy. I think a Cyber officer cannot be a competent commander without a high degree of technical…[Read more]

@ae_rollinson – this is my first unit with an OPCON/ADCON split in the chain of command, and even though those terms were defined in BOLC, it doesn’t appear we’re actually operating that way. There’s actually a spaghetti-looking graph showing which teams are OPCON to which command, yet most of them are ADCON to this command. On the personally…[Read more]

@adam.szczypka – For those not familiar with CY (or MI) OPCON / ADCON relatinoships, would you do into more detail so more folks can understand what means on a day-to-day and a mission basis?