I feel very hot and cold about social media. There’s certainly times that I love it and being able to keep in touch with certain people in an easier fashion than individual emails, text messages, Christmas cards, or phone calls. But … I have security concerns about these platforms as well (caveat / confession — yes, ack this varies on the p…[Read more]

@vanezzaospina / Hmm, you asked for writing tools. Maybe providing Attachments to the BN Memo of the specific award templates could help? Also, have you talked to your BC and/or CSM? Depending how closely you work with them, getting one (or both) of them to put this out to Command Teams (likely during Command and Staff) could be helpful to both…[Read more]

@vanezzaospina / Here’s the resources that @rakimball mentioned. Maybe you’ll get some ideas from this!

@jeremyboeh

I feel your pain. AGR, since 2012. Aide, PL, BN A-S3, full time BN 3, S1, Company Commander, BDE A-S3… It never seems to stop.

I recommend attacking it just like any other M-day commander does. Work out a daily battle rhythm of when and what you need to do, and then pen in some time for your Company Command role. We’re lucky that…[Read more]

Thanks for the link, @rakimball, I’ll dig up the data off MilSuite and will post here.

In the meantime FWIW, I agree with @cplenge that distinguishing between 1 of at least 3 distinct problems that could be all happening at once is very important … and challenging.  Initial help, I’d say make sure to communicate the specific issue to…[Read more]

@george-l-gurrola

I try to teach the biggies; SHARP, suicide prevention, and resilience at a minimum. Having served 22 years, I have a perspective not many CPT’s have. It’s fun watching the faces of new troops when we discuss how “life changing” or “bad” getting an article 15 can be, and I point out that it doesn’t have to destroy your life……[Read more]

Incomplete list… Missing WTF; IDGAF; FUBAR; and JAFO to name a few.

Hah!

Thanks for the share.

Brock

There’s some really good points here that resonated with me. I agree with Jeff ( @x70037 ) that maybe a different title would be helpful. I also agree with Chad’s concerns about alcohol, as well as some of Brock’s counterpoints.

I personally think it significantly comes down to the US drinking age being 21 and alcohol (which is a drug, just as…[Read more]

george.l.gurrola

The first thing I want to say for the young officers reading this, be VERY careful with the anonymous comment boxes. I have seen those things destroy units, especially when you have commanders who act and react on every complaint, rumor and innuendo, even when the note is anonymous. The idea board has merit, but just be…[Read more]

Great post, Chad! There’s tons in here and I love the variety.  13 pages is for sure a lot of variety!! A few things that resonated with me, in no particular order:

– “Be curious”. I think that’s a great way to inspire questions without relying on the trope far too often leaned on of ‘I’m just a LT/SGT/etc, what do I know?’. Everyone can be…[Read more]

In my experience, civilians working within the military organization can be a challenge, or an asset. In CA, we have both dual-status and Title 5 (non-dual status) Federal Technicians, and while I don’t currently lead any, I have in the past, and have also been one. Like @fightingengineer said, you have to tread lightly when leading civilians.
One…[Read more]

@Cale,

This has been talked about off and on for the last decade. It’s not a horrible idea, if implemented correctly. When I joined the National Guard in ’99, my unit was part of an “enhanced Brigade,” and we were authorized 60 UTA a year, on top of the 15 day Annual Training. Given, that only equated to 45 days a year, but it’s a great deal more…[Read more]

Bottom line, being a leader is hard. It requires a great deal of time and effort on the parts of leaders to enforce the standard, and ensure any remedial actions or training is complete. It’s part of the reason that so many people who fail to meet the standard are never corrected. But when we do it, the organization gets better and your job gets…[Read more]

Great topic!

@vanezzaospina is absolutely correct. Seek out your counseling if you haven’t received it. In my experience it’s rarely been more than a check the block, “here’s where I think you should go next” sit down, and opportunity for the higher CDR to poor upon you some of the highlights of their own careers. With that said, it gets you…[Read more]

@cplenge,

Precisely. All too often we forget that there are two careers and lives at stake in one of these situations. Thankfully I have not had to deal with a sexual assault under my command or when I was a PL (knock on wood…), however being an MP for over a decade I have seen a couple of them. Over the course of my career, there have been 8…[Read more]

I get VERY clinical with things like this and suicidal ideations. Have a process or a battle-drill beforehand, something, and then practice it. When you’re done, put it in a drawer, pull it out every couple of months and practice it some more.  You have to KNOW how to react when it happens, before it happens. Because when it happens a lot of…[Read more]