As an NCO for close to 10 years and then an officer for 16 more, here is my take:

1.  As @Lucas.v.hobbs mentions, as an NCO I wanted to be “friends” with my lieutenant/captain but to me that meant having a friendly/joking working relationship.  I did not expect to be friends that went to dinner together or spent time at each other’s house.  I jus…[Read more]

@murphys_law – I’ve never seen it, what resonates with you about it?

@Joe,
However, I think I went off on a tangent. To your original point, what kind of relationship do you have with your NCOIC? I honestly think it depends on your level (CO, BN, BDE, etc), Branch/MOS, and duty positions (e.g. PL/PSG, Command/1SG, S1/NCOIC, etc.). It also depends on the confidence and trust you have in your NCOIC, their knowledge…[Read more]

For the group, can this mean training more than just the ATN, T&EO training tasks?

What about intangibles like professionalism, discipline, respect? Can, how and should these be “trained” as any other skill?

@cpttimswanton,
Excellent tie-in to the COS’ number one priority.

To preface this, I’m on the Active Duty side of the house. Therefore, this concept means two things to me:

First, he’s reinforcing the Chief of Staff’s number one priority: Readiness. The question every commander at every echelon should ask every day is, are we ready to fight tonight. Obviously, no unit can sustain a “ready to fight tonight”…[Read more]

Yes, it is absolutely worth attending. It’s important to have relationships with your installation entities so that they’re at your service to help out, and vice versa. Having good relationships with ACS, Family Advocacy, and Legal during my Command time was incredibly valuable to my success. Even if you can’t pay attention 100% to the death by…[Read more]

We have 2 MPFs. Prepo stocks are protected by, same thing that guarantees logistics: California, Texas, and New York all have a higher GDP than Russia, basically we have a country which far out-produces all enemies combined. We own all 10 super-carriers, which have 7 times the capacity and capability of the 10 non-US jump-carriers on Earth. U.K.…[Read more]

I am lucky enough to know Pete Kilner, then Ray Kimball, Jon Silk, Tom Morel for a few years now. I was interviewed as a PL in Afghanistan back in ’12. I say lucky, because its a real pleasure to serve alongside Americans passionate about helping others.

I benefitted from the forum as a PL and have tried to give back.

One that I keep coming back to again and again is “Imitation Game” (2014). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084970/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I saw this film after an assignment in INSCOM and it really resonated with me just how much dialogue strikes the nitty-gritty of intelligence work. I think most people focus on the cool guy persona with having a higher…[Read more]

for my WFF: sustainment, it’s site occupation procedures, concealment and dispersion. A quartering party site-recce, IDs routes in/out and plans missions/movement in & out with enemy observation considerations. it’s actively reporting up enemy air (UAVs, quadcopters).

most importantly, often-seen is forecasting requirements to limit time on the…[Read more]

posted some T&EOs, and now will attach some more products here:

-see sustainment nodes arrayed vis-à-vis OPFOR and BLUEFOR. One tank and two armored vehicles exploited a seam and took out all sustainment units before these 3x OPFOR armored vehicles were killed with a Carl Gustav (only FSC to ever kill 3x armored vics at a cost of losing the…[Read more]

George, never attended, but wish to add a parenthesis here: what if they opened up broadening opportunities before KD, the LAST thing you did as a Captain? Imagine having 4-5 years to grow as an officer before you commanded troops. I got voluntold to command 30 days after pinning Captain. Similarly, there’s some notion that many Majors str…[Read more]

This is such a killer thread, and I’ve wanted to contribute here for a hot minute. I’ve cycled through four commands. All of them were the best time in my military career… hard, but SO kick@$$. Taking Command is like becoming a parent. You won’t feel ready, but you are at the same time.

So, understanding that there is LOTS of great advice here,…[Read more]

Team, the series can be followed through the search bar with “Student to Lieutenant,” or the first few posts here:

Student to Lieutenant

Student to Lieutenant pt.2

Student to Lieutenant pt.3

I hope you keep…[Read more]

Awesome! Could you go into more detail or even add a video link (YouTube)? What aspects jumped out at you? Was there a behavior a character consistently models to show a result you highlighted to your Soldiers? What jumped out to them?

Ah, politics… Both a pro (if you’re in the in) and a con (if you’re in the out). Personally, I learned a long time ago that you have to learn to play the politics game; one way or another. You learn to play, or it will crush you. However, as you said, in order to be successful and still maintain your professionalism, learn to play the game but…[Read more]

On of the best I’ve seen, and actually blew Soldiers away when I show them is an old one called The Devil’s Brigade, 1968, staring William Holden, Cliff Robertson, and Vince Edwards. It’s an excellent example of planning, preparation, and execution, as well as a character driven, opposed to special effects driven story.