The fact you’re asking here and now already puts you ahead of your peers. To caveat off a couple of things @logisticus mentioned.

Standout by knowing and doing your job – doing it to standard, efficiently, and effectively. If you don’t know, ask. If you want to know a better way to do something, look for it. The NG is full of young officers who…[Read more]

The fact you’re asking here and now already puts you ahead of your peers. To caveat off a couple of things @logisticus mentioned.

Standout by knowing and doing your job – doing it to standard, efficiently, and effectively. If you don’t know, ask. If you want to know a better way to do something, look for it. The NG is full of young officers who…[Read more]

Management is definitely a major gap for me.  My last two commands comes down to one very serious problem; “professional development” isn’t a priority from the BN level.  I think I had management at the platoon level down; I’m still figuring out the company command management thing (but I’m getting it I think). However what’s next? The last 2 B…[Read more]

Jefferey,

Congratulations! This was something that I spent about a month trying to figure out, basically as soon as I took command right up until the point that I briefed my company for the first time. I guess it included my speech as the incoming commander during the CoC.

I tried to keep with a theme which boiled down to my vision for the…[Read more]

I found that I understood the things I needed to do, I just couldn’t figure out an optimal battle rhythm in which to get them all accomplished.  My lack of knowledge on how to manage my time was a huge distractor for me.

Justin! As I logged into JO I was sending out my first appointment letter to one of my 2LTs. Talk about coincidence!

Resources. Your main resource will be your legal representative/JAG. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about procedures, processes, etc. Another great resource are other officers who’ve done this before. Things like here (JO), M…[Read more]

Jeff,

Ray noted a lot of key things you need to really put some thought into. Understanding where you want your company to be helps you determine what you need to focus on now to get it there.

As for specific details on your meeting content, a lot of the necessary details will come from your battalion and your sister companies. Your battalion…[Read more]

Jeff,

Ray noted a lot of key things you need to really put some thought into. Understanding where you want your company to be helps you determine what you need to focus on now to get it there.

As for specific details on your meeting content, a lot of the necessary details will come from your battalion and your sister companies. Your battalion…[Read more]

Some of the best advice I can offer are the following:

1) Get an example of what the approving authority is looking for. Some BDE CDRs accept 4 achievements on an ARCOM written as simply as “Joe did X, X helped the unit Y amount.” Then again, some BN CDRs want full, multi-sentence write-ups in each achievement block to justify an AAM. Know what…[Read more]

How are things progressing for you? It can be a lot, but have you noticed anything yet that has spurred additional questions?

Shep

Me? Because I was once an Aide, I hate coins. I mean like, vehemently, HATE coins. However I understand their value as far as morale. Sometimes there just isn’t time or justification to write up an award or positive counseling. So what I did was come up with my own “ata-boy” type device, a velcro backed patch. Like a coin, it can be given right…[Read more]

Me? Because I was once an Aide, I hate coins. I mean like, vehemently, HATE coins. However I understand their value as far as morale. Sometimes there just isn’t time or justification to write up an award or positive counseling. So what I did was come up with my own “ata-boy” type device, a velcro backed patch. Like a coin, it can be given right…[Read more]

Nate,

To be honest, I try to prepare with everything we do. An important mentor of mine once said “everything is training,” so I look at it just like that. I stress every opportunity to learn to grow and to correlate what we (my unit) are doing to our war time mission. We are currently preparing to move out to Fort Lewis to train and assist…[Read more]