Like Patrick, I’ve seen the dark side of loyalty first hand. Officers who should be drummed out of the service, instead being promoted because they have the right friends (above 1 star…). The transgressions of a squad of SGMs overlooked simply because the CG didn’t want the organization as a whole to look bad. The SPC who falsified a report when…[Read more]

Armel,

The above posts hit all the right points. Know you equipment, know your soldiers, and know how it fits into the overall mission. As a commander, I would love it when staff sections would ask me to get in on their training. For example, if you as an S-6 go to the training briefing and see Company X is out doing a range maybe you can ask the…[Read more]

I read Pete’s article and have had some time to think about it. I have seen the loyalty to the boss get in the way of what loyalty is supposed to be here in the National Guard for years, and thought it a function of the close ties we have and the closed loop system of promotions and assignments that exist in a small state, but now that I am…[Read more]

@logisticus Thanks for sharing. You raise a lot of great points.

To help current and upcoming leaders, I’d like to follow-up by asking:

1. How did you facilitate this discussion as a commander?

More specifically…

2.What was the venue and who were you communicating with?

3. Was this an all hands-on-deck type event or more targeted to leaders…[Read more]

Loyalty may have been included naturally due to history of armed forces and officer corps but in practice may be misunderstood.

I thought often of loyalty to the American people who pay my salary, when making decisions. I wanted to honor their hopes with my conduct. I was dedicated to helping Army team succeed but for moral compass relied on…[Read more]

Looking at the options again, it strikes me that the issues “Overload of Training Requirements,” “Resourcing Difficulties,” and “Technical and Tactical Mastery” are all related to prioritization – a key task as a leader, and in life in general. We never have as many resources (time, money, etc.) as we’d like, so we must develop sound priorities.…[Read more]

in regards to discipline, sometimes you don’t have the luxury of time. we all know what is right and wrong.

I explained the expectations up front, but was patient.

what my 1SG said who will now be a CSM was true – “sir, you set a standard, and that is what it is, immediately.”

If I were to take a stab at why this discussion may not occur right away, I’d guess that it has to do with the negative perception of coming into an organization and immediately changing things. I think there is some value in coming into an organization and observing it to understand it better before making changes. There may be some things that…[Read more]

Issues are related: I prepared for command, but still learned along the way. Some IMHO solutions maybe:

1. lengthen time in unit on station between PCS moves

2. do not retain non-deployable Soldiers, unless they served 18 years, multiple deployments and have experience, wisdom to share – move them to TDA slots and jobs fitting skill-set, allow…[Read more]

Ray: I am not in a position to get this program started now, but I am anticipating the possibility in the future. I’ll reach out to you when I am in such a position. In the mean time, I wanted to ask here, because I’m sure others might have the same question. This looks like a great resource!

@CALDOL: I just checked out this part of the site for the first time and think this is a great tool to facilitate discussions of readings. Are you willing to set up a discussion similar to 1-5 CAV’s existing thread on “This Kind of War” for any unit? Or do we already have the ability as regular members to set one of these up?