Getting good sleep can mean the difference between a great day and a terrible one. It can boost your mood, your cognitive abilities, and even your physical health. When you don’t get the rest you need, however, your mind and body pay the price. This is a reality that many veterans must face every day if they’re dealing with anxiety, stress, or PTSD–all of which interfere with sleep.
The non-commissioned officer has always been the backbone of our Army. No matter what type of conflict America has faced, our Non-Commissioned Officer Corps has risen to the challenge each and every time. As our Army continues to refine our ability to conduct Large Scale Combat Operations, the non-commissioned officers of Operations Group at the National Training Center have truly risen to the challenge. Outlaw 40 and the senior NCOs from throughout Operations Group constructed this handbook specifically for NCOs, paying particular attention to rotational observations and current doctrine. They established a cross walk guide for numerous non-commissioned officer positions at echelon throughout brigade combat teams and clearly articulated how the great non-commissioned officers in a unit can help their team fight and win.
Long-gone are the days of wide area security operations from static, built-up locations. The changing nature of war will reward flexibility and an expeditionary mindset, and punish conformists. Commanders and units have become comfortable with medical plans that assume very little risk regarding placement of the Battalion Aid Station (BAS). With the Army’s renewed focus on large scale combat operations (LSCO), leaders must consider employing the BAS and medical platoon in ways that have largely went untrained and unpracticed. To save as many lives as possible, commanders and leaders must consider placement of the BAS as far forward as tactically feasible.
On a cold and rainy day in October, the 504th Military Police Battalion and 66th Military Police Company personnel received the great opportunity to tour the BFI4 Amazon fulfillment plant in Kent, WA. Leaders focused on learning about sustainment and logistics. The personnel that went were all leaders in positions that dealt directly with logistics and sustainment. The group was able to gain a new and healthy perspective on their current job in the military and the cost of what it takes to be the greatest logistics company of all time.
You have never been quite this tired, wet, and this cold in your entire life. You could have sworn that Atropia was primarily a desert. But no, your unit – Task Force 1-28 Infantry – had to deploy to the other side of Atropia. No sweeping landscape and warm winters for you. And here you sit – a different day, a different puddle. You are in the middle of your platoon’s patrol base, next to your RTO, while your squad leaders ensure security is set. “Ma’am – Crusher Main says there is intelligence that enemy forces are moving in our AO. They will be traveling to a resupply point along RTE ORION in the morning. CRUSHER 6 says we need to set an ambush.”
Developing an effective training program represents a challenge for any unit. At the brigade level, simply resourcing and synchronizing a training program that creates capable subordinate formations easily consumes nearly all available time. Further, necessarily weighting the predominance of available training time and resources at the company level and below to maintain small unit proficiency constitutes another essential demand on a brigade’s organizational energy.
What does it take to bring the full power of the U.S. Army to bear upon enemies of America? Army Doctrinal Publication(ADP) 3-0 says that combat power “is the total means of destructive, constructive, and information capabilities that a military unit or formation can apply at a given time.” Combat power contains eight elements which include the six warfighting functions intelligence, movement and maneuver, fires, protection, sustainment, command and control coupled with leadership and information. The six warfighting functions are easy to comprehend with their tangible effects on the battlefield, but the effects of the other element, leadership, are often intangible and difficult to comprehend. A recent training rotation at the National Training Center (NTC) provided a concrete case study about the true power of leadership leading to an infantry company with incredible lethality and the commander selected as the hero of the rotation.
Counseling is one of the most important tools given to Non Commissioned Officers in today’s Army. It allows us to provide valuable feedback to our subordinates, and allows us to map out development plans that will ultimately shape the Army of tomorrow. So why is it so rarely utilized in the National Guard and Reserves?
Which is more important, character or competence? It’s one of those chicken-and-the-egg questions. Stack it next to, are leaders born or made? The obvious, reductionist answer is that leaders must have both. When written out, the argument is usually portrayed as character v. competence. But what if we are expressing the relationship incorrectly? What if we are struggling to find the answer because we are asking the wrong question? This isn’t a binary option or alternatives in consumption in a scarcity market. Instead, we should view it as a math equation: character x competence.
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.
