mrice14

  • Late to the fight, here. #lostRanger

    For those who can’t attend (I went twice… long story… always worth it), find the person who organizes the course, or a battle buddy who previously attended and get a DVD or the shareportal link with the resources provided at your installation’s CFSPCC. Dump all that golden wisdom in a folder on your…[Read more]

  • AHRGH! This post is TOO awesome. I don’t know where to start!

    #dat1st90days

    Nailed it with question #2. Quick wins, quick wins, quick wins. Ask your predecessor, “if you stayed the Commander/Platoon Leader for another 3-months what would you make your top-5 priorities?” “What are the things you had hoped to accomplish while you were in-charge…[Read more]

  • Warriors,
    (Sorry team, a week late on this post, #lifehappens)
    We’re continuing our discussion thread in the series “Student to Lieutenant.” You can see our original post here: https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/from-student-to-lieutenant/ and start following the thread by searching the title “Student to Lieutenant.”
    This week’s post…[Read more]

  • Mac,

    You’ve come to the right place for resources! Can you add a comment to your original post with (generally) what your formation contains as organic assets? From there, the community can help you either find or develop some effective TTPs/SOPs.

    “The strength of the wolf is the pack.”

  • 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]

  • @ae_rollinson, thanks for the additions and AG perspective.

    For those interested, check out the post/tools for Letters of Introduction. These should absolutely be sent before every new assignment. Templates are provided in this discussion thread. Definitely a best practice!

    Letter of Introduction to CO

  • Warriors,
    We’re continuing our discussion thread in the series “Student to Lieutenant.” You can see our original post here: https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/from-student-to-lieutenant/ and start following the thread by searching the title “Student to Lieutenant.”
    This week’s post jumps us to Phase #2 – “How to Report to B…[Read more]

  • Great question! So, great that I stole it!

    Discussion and answer continued here:

    Student to Lieutenant pt.2

    ~Jeff

    BOLC Topic Lead

  • Warriors,
    We’re continuing our discussion thread in the series “Student to Lieutenant.” You can see our original posts here: https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/from-student-to-lieutenant/ and here: https://juniorofficer.army.mil/discussion/student-to-lieutenant/
     
    This week’s post tackles an awesome topic from the community. This is a…[Read more]

  • Team,

    Does anyone have a company level Tactical SOP for sustainment units in the field. Concerning layout, defense plan, etc.? We are going to the field to do the lost art of “conduct unit defense” and I’ve noticed that there is a general lack of knowledge from me all the way down to the private on how to do this. I’ve been reading doctrine but I…[Read more]

  • Team — hot off the presses, THIS is the “talent management” book for everyone that chose “personal relationships” as their preferred method for exercising talent management. http://a.co/fgnzbf7. “It’s Personal, not Personnel” by COL(R) Campbell. A must read!

  • Team – hot off the presses, THIS is the “talent management” book for everyone that chose “personal relationships” as their preferred method for exercising talent management. http://a.co/fgnzbf7. “It’s Personal, not Personnel” by COL(R) Campbell. A must read!

  • Fellow Warriors,

    The tool(s) I’ve chosen to submit this week are a few examples of weekly and daily “battle rhythms” from a couple of assignments. These aren’t just for Battalion Level and above! I figured out […]

    • I’ll start by saying that I fully agree with your 72 hour rule as a philosophy, as a standard. But…I do think there is some craft to this as well, basically art to the science. This is by exception, and requires a delicate hand. But have I or my subordinates (with my knowledge) done any of the following? Yes.

      These are Staff examples. “Temporarily misplaced” personnel action documents because there was some background processing/green tab discussions that I was entrusted not to disclose and it was more appropriate for me to tell someone to come back in a few days then betray the trust of my Bn Cdr. Held an action (usually an award) until the submitter gave us the assistance they had been promising to us; that a leader (almost always another Staff OIC/NCOIC) had submitted to award very late AND was “asking for a favor” of us walking that award through the process, and therefore discarding other priorities because they were not doing things to standard.

      A commander-related one that I’ve experienced is that a Soldier puts leave or pass in for a 3-4 months in advance, say a family wedding or popular long weekend. But, the Soldier is going to be red on their MEDPROS (PHA) the month prior to that requested leave. So, instead of kicking the packet back, instead the commander says, hey, I’ve got your packet on my desk and I was ready to sign it, but I saw that your PHA will be due. Show me that you’ve made an appointment for NLT X time frame to stay in compliance, and it’s signed. Psychologically, the Soldier knowing that the packet is on the commander’s desk and is sooo close to being signed is a huge motivator for the Soldier to, in effect, be proactive.

      I again agree with your 3 day rule. But I would suggest that some other motivational techniques may cause breaking that rule. And these are times, when deliberately decided, that I suggest that it’s appropriate to do so.

    • Ray, I’ll answer to what I interprete your question is first. I will say the answer of transparency is 2 things in tandem: the context of the action and the source of the information for the status. If it’s a standard action, not personally sensitive, and it’s routine for a senior leader to review it, then no issue expressing this to the submitter/owner of the action. For all intents and purposes, that is “public knowledge” for that leader. In short, whenever the Bn Cdr yelled out of his office door at me to say that the Bde Cdr had just signed a personnel action, that equated to public knowledge, I would not shy away from telling a CC that status. But, if the status was akin to a closed door conversation, or the person gave me information that they felt was close hold (PII, not classified), then I would maintain that close hold unless I saw significant reason to violate that. That person entrusted their secrets to me, and that is contingent on me not sharing that information. For me, it was much more about working to improve the entire experience of working personnel actions , even if that meant short-term hiding some info from the person whose action it was. They mattered in the short run, but in the long run it was about improving reputation, trust, and legitimacy of the process across S1 channels at the CO, BN, and BDE level. Back to the individual though, that means a good, down-to-earth delivery of a status without violating the trust of the source of my info; that basically means vague descriptions, but it doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention to that person and answering questions to what I believe is the fullest responsible extent. I will even go so far as to say that going through this process of shielding peers, subordinates, and even superiors from the buearcracy of this processing is a clear but not obvious form of leadership. Here’s an example of what I would say to a PL asking about their OER – “I know you’re worried about your packet/OER/etc, and (status here – I just talked to BC yesterday about it – glossing over their expressed career concerns about PL, or the fact that X was missing, or any expressed views on the CC writing the OER). It’s good that you’re balancing your needs with taking care of your PLT. But, we’ve talked and I check on OERs x2 / week. I’ve just briefed the Boss on OERs, so we’re all moving forward on it. Stay focused for your range week, and then come check in after your back from the field. I’ll have a new status then.” I provide enough info to answer their question, while still leaving myself room to manuveur and not breaking trust of those I work with. If I have to ask someone if I can quote them on something, it usually means I shouldn’t (rule of thumb, not written in stone).

      Can you rephrase your comment about “process” and helping someone understand how they might be in the wrong? I’m not following your logic about how that ties into alterations of SOP for personnel actions.

    • Ah, I see! Okay, awards example – I can detail just what you did there, but I cannot stop anyone from submitting the award, especially as the S1. Squarely in the duty description. I can inform them of likely consequence and routing and questions they will be asked to either help them be successful or to lead them back to the drawing board (or just tell them the commander’s policy). An action is harder. Schools requests really shouldn’t go to S1 IMO, clogs up the system. But say

    • Say a LT did submit a school request with poor timing. But that 4187 was signed by their commander, so as the S1 there’s limited capability. I usually handled that by saying you have 2 COAs, one saves you time and other formally gets it kicked back, depends on what message you’re sending. It’s providing them (CC, in this case) information to make an informed decision.

    • This speaks to my OCD! Haha. Thank you for sharing that article. I LOVE batching my time. I am SO much more productive and it really motivated me just to set up the plan/schedule to do it.

      I always believed that personnel actions needed to be something you closed out with at the end of each day (whenever possible). I will NEVER forget the time I watched another Commander ream one of her staff for asking her to prioritize signing something for one of her Soldiers. It was sitting right there on her desk and she said, “I will get to it when I get to it. I have other important things to do.” The repercussions of that action probably haunted her for the rest of her Command time, but I bet she never knew that. Your actions have MEANING. Never treat a personnel action as an “extra thing” you have to do. It should be built into your time. You should also schedule in self-care, lunches, PT, and morale boosting activities whenever possible too- these are all the things that tend to fall by the wayside when we are busy. They are the things you need most when you’re busy! Program them in as well. For me? Thursday mornings, I go in a little late to work so that I can play with my puppy and have breakfast at home, versus a smoothie on the go. Obviously this isn’t always possible, but it’s a great motivator for me to look forward to.

  • x70037 and Profile picture of mrice14mrice14 are now friends 6 years, 8 months ago

  • [repost from “articles/content” to “discussion” threads]
    Warriors,
    As promised, this week’s post for “BOLC” Topic Thread’s new series “Student to Lieutenant.”This week’s article starts the discussion for Phase 1: From Branch Night to Graduation from your commissioning source. We’ll dissect this Phase until the horse is dead, and then move to the…[Read more]

  • And some stuff for the administrative side of the job.

    Example logistics inspection checklists. Your unit’s will be different but similar. Just flip-through and if any of the terminology or references are foreign to you, the RIP is the time to ask either the outgoing or the Bn XO.

  • Some tools for the budget fight attached here.

    Best advice I EVER got as a BN S4, – “Jeff, it’s not your money. Yes, be a responsible steward, but it’s not YOUR money. Forecast, project, advise, but let the commanders make the decisions. Don’t protect the money like it comes from your personal paycheck… don’t worry about ‘fiscal constraint’…[Read more]

  • Brother! Welcome to the club of combat logisticians.

    “Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics…”

    I recommend “Moving Mountains” by GEN Gus Pagonis. It will get you totally amped for the job. I have a hard drive dedicated to old S4 stuff, including deployment loadout stuff. Let me see what I can dust off for you over the…[Read more]

  • Team #BOLC,

    Here’s the start of a new series for you! Over the next few weeks (months?) Let’s break down the transition from a college student or OCS graduate to platoon leader into a few manageable phases. Then, let’s all share some lessons learned for each phase. We’re going to gradually build a detailed roadmap to success…

    Phase 1:…[Read more]

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