Category Archives: Company Command

Posted on

The Science of Management

Applying and Managing Systems at the Company Level

by

I vividly recall walking into my Squadron Commander’s office shortly after I took command of my first Troop.  He asked me how things were going. I replied, “Sir, I feel like I’m treading water with a 20-pound brick right now. As a platoon leader and assistant operations officer, if something was wrong, I could always take things into my own hands and fix it myself. Now, it is impossible for me to fix everything myself. I have to get my headquarters section or PLs to fix everything for me.”  He replied, “Welcome to command.  It’s great, isn’t it!”

Leadership may drive systems, but without systems leadership often falls flat. Photo from Operations Group, National Training Center 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment
Posted on

Nothing Basic About It

Developing Basic Combat Training Platoon Leaders

by

We often enter new positions or jobs with some pre-conceived notions  In July of 2018, as I prepared to take over a basic combat training (BCT) company, I had a few expectations. I thought I would spend the majority of my time with a team of highly effective and well-trained non-commissioned officers who were charged to transform volunteer civilians into soldiers. This proved to be true. But I did not expect to be mentoring or managing junior officers. In an effort to increase the ratio of leaders-to-led in basic training, the Center for Initial Military Training is working to place a Lieutenant (Platoon Leader) in each basic training platoon. There are many constants and foundational tenants to developing junior officers across billets. But there are also nuances to being a platoon leader in a basic combat training company that requires a tailored approach.

Posted on

Get Rid of Your Inbox!

An Admin TTP for Commanders

by

Clear your inbox! You read that correctly. Zero it out; make it disappear. “But how will we manage administrative requirements without an inbox?” More efficiently, that’s how. It is a fair question, though. It was the same question I asked our Brigade Deputy Commanding Officer (DCO) when he suggested it during an obstacle course PT/mentoring session. Getting rid of my inbox was the single most liberating experience I have had thus far in command. Here’s how you do it.

C Co, 4-23 IN conducting a combined arms maneuver live fire. This is where leaders want to be, but if you don’t effectively manage your administrative systems you will find yourself with less time to train!
Posted on

Want to Avoid Getting W.T.F!ed? Lead.

A Response to U.S. Army W.T.F! Moments' Article

by

The U.S Army W.T.F! Moments Admin Team recently wrote a guest piece on Joe Byerly’s blog, From the Green Notebook, titled “The Leader’s Guide to Being Featured on U.S. Army W.T.F! Moments.” The team offered the 10 most common ways leaders find themselves featured on their forum. Like any list, this one is ripe for a few addenda. While they offer a great list, these 10 examples are the baseline; they are the minimum expectation of our leaders. Here are an additional 3 ways you can strive to create a command climate that avoids the dubious honor of a W.T.F! Feature.

Brigadier General Hodne, Deputy Commanding General–Infantry Maneuver Center of Excellence, talks with Charlie Rock 22-week OSUT Soldiers of the Mailed Foot Battalion (2-54 IN) at Fort Benning Georgia. (Photo Retrieved from the 2-54 IN Facebook Page).
Posted on

Don’t Schedule – Prioritize to Maximize

Maintaining Consistent Development During Seasons of Inconsistency

by

Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes – if you were able to read that without singing, you may not have seen RENT. We have 525,600 minutes in a year, each of them equal in seconds but varying in value. We define the importance of these minutes by how we use them. Tailoring this to a week, we have 168 hours to accomplish that to which we invest our hearts and minds. Josh Bowen of 3×5 Leadership provides a great overview in terms of structured time in his piece “6 Ways I Develop as a Leader Each Week.” But, what if this framework doesn’t work for you? In this post, we will review 3 guidelines to maintain consistent self-development in an inconsistent schedule.

Posted on

Combat, Orders, and Judgement

The Nightingale Series

by

Combat is decidedly mortal to the participants. Leaders, officers, and enlisted soldiers, are charged with execution of orders and the strict adherence to commander’s intent as the responsible agents for the men they serve—both above and below them. Failure to do so in peacetime can be professionally suicidal. Failure to do so in combat may be either suicidal or the key to success. The difference is called judgment. And good judgment is the Holy Grail of any combat unit. One case of leaders on the beachhead, on June 6, 1944, provides a sense through which to view disciplined initiative via calculated disobedience.

Posted on

It’s Just ONE Tool

A Framework for UCMJ

by

The Military Justice system (UCMJ) is regularly under scrutiny. Whether it is for a specific verdict, a high-profile crime, or its perceived antiquated laws, there is always something about which to cry foul. In most day-to-day cases, the UCMJ is carried out from cradle to grave by a company commander. An officer, in most cases with four to eight years in uniform, is the judge, jury, and adjudicator.  I am not a JAG Officer and this is not a review of UCMJ nor a discussion of its merits. This is a discussion of a method or framework for company commanders to use when holding this power, responsibility, and sacred trust.

173rd ABN Brigade CSM addresses the formation before a 2.2 mile full combat load run. Vicenza, Italy, April 4, 2018. (U.S. Army photo by Lt. Col. John Hall).
Posted on

Coming to a Company Near You

A TDG for Administering the ACFT

by

Much has been said about the Army’s new fitness test. The Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) is the replacement for the Army Physical Fitness Test, and there are no shortage of opinions on it. Just take a look here, here, or here. Even Business Insider is getting in on the fun. But, barring slight changes from the ongoing field testing, it looks like the ACFT will be coming to a company near you in the near future. So let’s prepare for it. You’ve read the ACFT handbook (TRADOC 18-37); consulted the dietician, physical therapist, and strength & conditioning (S&C) coach assigned to your battalion; and integrated exercises and recommendations into your unit’s health and fitness program. With all that preparation complete, how would you plan a company-level execution of the new ACFT? What does that day look like?

A Soldier with the Washington National Guard positions a 10-pound medicine ball as part of the standing power throw test event during a pilot Army Combat Readiness Test Aug. 4, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. (Stephanie Slater/Army). Retrieved from Army Times.
Posted on

Regard Your Soldiers

Sun Tzu’s Take on Family or Team

by

Family or team? It is becoming the organizational culture version of the born or made question in leadership. 3×5 Leadership recently ran a great piece that broke down two competing theories on the topic. I recommend you read “Are We a Family or a Team?” and the books he references (Dan Coyle’s The Culture Code and Todd Henry’s Herding Tigers). This post will focus more on a personal view with the only expert invoked being Sun Tzu.

Header 10

Soldiers with 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry Regiment, conduct live-fire exercises late into the evening during their annual training at Orchard Combat Training Center near Boise, Idaho, July 25, 2018. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Zachary Holden, Oregon National Guard – Oregon Military Department
Posted on

Story Time

An Alternative to Safety Briefs

by

A Google Search of “Safety Brief Memes” renders more hits than a former Company Commander cares to admit. Safety Briefs, usually delivered by a Commander or senior NCO at the end of the week, are a running joke. So much so, that the Secretary of the Army, Dr. Mark Esper, announced earlier this month that they were no longer mandatory. Safety Briefs were often a regurgitation of platitudes that sound more like an attempt to cover your behind than genuinely impart a worthwhile message. “Don’t drink and drive, no means no, don’t do drugs, don’t…., no…., etc. etc.” But, it doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s save the baby before we throw out the bathwater.