Category Archives: Guest Post

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How the Moral Compass Stays on Azimuth

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You’re standing in the dense vegetation of a land navigation course, frustrated and looking for your next point. “It should be here,” you say to yourself. You know your pace count and azimuth were accurate. Time passes, doubt creeps in, and you realize you might be off course. There’s nothing left to do but get your bearings, course correct, and try again. We’ve all been there. Land navigation is an essential military skill. A slightly incorrect azimuth, just a degree or two off course, has minimal effects in the short-term. But a small discrepancy, over time or distance, can lead you significantly off course. This is similarly the case in navigating ethical decision-making. Leadership requires an accurate moral compass.

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ACFT Training on a Budget

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The countdown to the Army-wide adoption of the ACFT as the official test of physical fitness has begun, but your unit’s ACFT equipment still isn’t here…or maybe there isn’t enough to go around. Whatever the case, you have to start training for the ACFT or risk getting left behind. So what do you do? Well, you can hope for the best and continue doing pushup/situp drills or you can get creative. Below, I’ve listed a few ideas for how to workout, without. Some ideas involve nothing more than the ground or a pullup bar, and some involve a little arts and crafts. But hey, that beats waiting in line at the gym for those kettlebells, right?

The top command sergeants major from across the U.S. Army Reserve perform the leg tuck for a practice Army Combat Fitness Test at Fort Eustis, Va., Oct. 25, 2019, during the Army Reserve Senior Enlisted Council. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret)
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Moving a Mountain

An essay about SHARP

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You cannot move the mountain alone overnight.  The purpose of this essay is to inform about sexual harassment and assault in the Army.  Army Regulation 600-20, chapter 8 requires annual training on Sexual Harassment and Assault Response Program (SHARP).  So, why do cases of sexual harassment and assault continue to take place?  Simply put, tackling the topic of SHARP can feel like moving a mountain.  You can move a mountain if it is broken into smaller, more manageable pieces.  We can begin to move the “mountain” of SHARP issues by addressing contributing factors.  Three contributors of SHARP issues include toxic work environments, behavior patterns, and dated teaching methods.  All missions have a starting point.  Moving this mountain begins with addressing toxic work environments.

CAMP HOVEY, Republic of Korea — Staff Sgt. Chamiracle Earls, right, the Sexual Assault and Harassment Response and Prevention, or SHARP, victim advocate for the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, explains a scenario room decorated as a bar to other Soldiers during an open house event for the SHARP 360 building on Camp Hovey, South Korea, Dec 13. The SHARP 360 building contains scenario rooms that consist of vignettes such as a gym, a shower room, a bar, and a barracks room designed to provide realistic scenarios that Soldiers could encounter in their daily lives. (Photo Credit: Republic of Korea Army Cpl. Dasol Choi, 1st ABCT Public Affairs)
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Principles to a Successful Army Career

A Command Sergeant's Major Perspective

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Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder, U.S. Army Forces Command senior enlisted adviser, discusses trends and priorities for Army leaders, and gets feedback from 1st Cavalry Division enlisted leaders during an open forum at Howze Auditorium Dec. 8 at Fort Hood, Texas. Schroeder, who served as the III Corps and Fort Hood senior enlisted adviser from September 2012 to June 2014, discussed FORSCOM priorities and topics with leaders, including improving readiness, equipping the force, training, operationalizing the total Army, sponsorship, career progression and development, family care plans and many other topics. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Keith Anderson, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 1st Cavalry Division) (Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Keith Anderson)

Military service is a unique profession that less than one percent of our nation answer the noble call to serve their country. Some are motivated to join based on a relative that served or something more profound such as, answering a higher calling. In the quest to serve, some will make a career of their service while others will only commit to their first term obligation. Whether they decide to make it a long-term profession, or move on after a few years, one should aim to have a successful career serving their country. While there’s no exact recipe or secret to a successful Army career, it takes dedication and sacrifice to ultimately achieve success.

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Fires on OBJ Sheridan (IBCT CO Fire Support Plan)

The Company Leader TDG 20-01

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Your light infantry company is preparing to complete an air assault and secure a key intersection necessary for your division’s counterattack. The enemy’s airborne forces  defeated the Atropian Army units, forcing them to withdraw and consolidate. You haven’t encountered the enemy, but expect your base ammunition load to be at 90% after maneuvering to your objective. You are responsible for completing a fire support plan for the company attack and follow-on operations to secure the intersection. Your company will need to secure the intersection for at least 48 hours until the counterattack forces reach your position.

Sgt. Aaron Sweeny and Staff Sgt. Robert Novak, both with 3rd Platoon, Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Spartan, watch explosions from a mountain top near Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, during a call-for-fire exercise, Feb. 3, 2012.
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Feats of the BSA Defense

Episode I

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Brigade Support Battalions (BSBs) are ill-prepared to defend the support area in Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). This truth bears itself out at every Combined Training Center (CTC). BSBs require a large area, an ambitious enemy force, and a demanding sustainment synchronization to adequately prepare for LSCO or a Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE) rotation at a CTC. This vignette shows how many of the engagements in the rear area unfolds as well as how an engagement can change when properly resourced and rehearsed. At the end of this vignette you will find some discussion questions that you can use to better prepare your BSB to defend itself.

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NTC Update (NOV 19)

Scout Platoon & Cavalry Troop Observations & Best Practices

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Reconnaissance formations constitute an invaluable asset on a modern battlefield. The notion that sophisticated enemies, equipped with air defense, electronic attack, as well as cyber capabilities will just allow us to remotely sense their actions prior to commitment of our forces is quickly fleeting. Responsible for answering Commander’s Priority Intelligence Requirements during either reconnaissance or security operations, Cavalry Troops and Scout Platoons often have less time than other maneuver units before being required to act. For the average Scout Platoon or Cavalry Troop, simple tactical mistakes can have catastrophic effects on a larger formation’s ability to understand the situation or maneuver effectively against a determined enemy. The ability to operate continuously utilizing sound SOPS, basic maneuver techniques and tactics at the crew, section, and platoon level, as well as the ability to share information collected are just of the few tasks these units must do exceedingly well to accomplish their mission. 

U.S. Army Soldier assigned to 3rd Cavalry regiment, “Brave Rifles” Fort Hood, TX, surveys the area with a FGM-148 Javelin on Oct. 27, 2019. (Photo: Spc. Jessica Rutledge)
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NTC Update (NOV 19)

Mechanized Infantry CO/TM Observations & Best Practices

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At the National Training Center, mechanized infantry formations represent some of the hardest working Soldiers on the battlefield. Capable of clearing restricted terrain ahead of mounted armor formations, seizing and controlling urban areas, and providing support to enable myriad other operations, the four mechanized infantry companies in an Armor BCT often find themselves struggling to keep up with the demands for their formations’ capabilities. For Stryker BCTs, the speed of the Stryker platform combined with the power of anti-tank equipped dismounted formations poses a unique challenge to the enemy. Yet, often, because they overlook some very fundamental tasks, units fail to realize the true power of these formations. 

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NTC Update (NOV 19)

Field Artillery Battery Observations & Best Practices

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Field Artillery units constitute the single most powerful combat multiplier on the battlefield under the direct control of the BCT Commander. By adeptly utilizing artillery fires, Commanders can effectively shape the deep fight prior to enemy forces making contact with the lead units of the BCT. They can also provide additional firepower to disrupt, neutralize, or even destroy enemy elements in the close fight. The decision to employ artillery and the decision to transition the weight of your artillery fires from one task to another cannot be haphazardly controlled. The deliberate execution of a scheme of fires, conducted in concern with the movement of direct fire ground forces onto enemy positions (the very definition of maneuver) constitutes one of the single most important tasks a Commander must perform to be successful in a decisive action training environment against a near peer threat. 

A 101st Airborne Division Soldier pulls the lanyard on an M777A2 howitzer during a fire mission in Southwest Asia, Jan. 26, 2019. The 101st Airborne Division deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, working by, with and through the ISF and Coalition partners to defeat ISIS in areas of Iraq and Syria. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Gyasi Thomasson)
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NTC Update (NOV 19)

Attack Helicopter Company Observations & Best Practices

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When managed correctly, Army Attack Aviation represents the most flexible and powerful combat multiplier a Division Commander can direct to any area of operations. Unlike a counterinsurgency fight, attack aviation in a decisive action training environment must be conserved to affect the fight in accordance with the friendly scheme of maneuver in a synchronized manner. Most often, this implies employing attack aviation, en masse, as a maneuver element to destroy significant enemy capabilities. Whether committed to weight the main effort, employed as a separate maneuver formation as an economy of force or in the deep area, Commanders must specifically focus how attack aviation elements are employed. Today, our attack aviation companies can provide additional capabilities, unheard of during the counterinsurgency days of the early 2000’s. Yet, our ability to employ those capabilities is dependent upon a unit’s ability to train them effectively at home station. 

U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crew-chief scans the horizon during a 20 multi-ship air assault to the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Island of Hawaii, Nov. 11, 2019. During the fire support coordination exercise at PTA, the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade is tasked with providing troop-lift, air-assault, and close air support.