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The Dangers of Mirror Mentoring

A Response to "October Baseball"

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We are in a daily…scratch that…a moment-to-moment fight against our biases. They blur our sight-picture and color our perceptions. This is especially true in our mentorship of junior NCOs and officers. It’s human nature to build a picture of success that is predicated on our own experiences and views. It’s even more prevalent among successful leaders who believe they got where they are by doing what they’ve done. In “October Baseball,” a recent post on The Field Grade Leader, Major Jim Plutt provides some insightful advice on the development of captains and the transition to major. His point about broadening assignments provides a lens through which to assess the dangers of the Mirror Bias when mentoring our leaders.

Army Sgt. Forrest Layton applies face paint before a training event at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, Nov. 14, 2018, during NATO joint training exercise Anakonda.
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The Infantry Squad: Building Block of Lethality

Guest Post from Col. Keith Nightingale

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We read every day about the new strategy, plans, and programs to build our defense. This image shows what will or will not permit the “new” plans and programs to succeed or fail. It is called a squad and has been the basis of our Infantry success since time immemorial.

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Nobody Puts LT In The Corner

The NCO Responsibility To Mentor

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The second lieutenant walked through the office door, I sat at the squad leader desk working on counseling’s and my platoon sergeant was napping behind his desk. The lieutenant greeted us and introduced himself as our new platoon leader, I welcomed him and turned back to my work. My platoon sergeant squinted at him and stood up, he grabbed a chair and put it in a corner. “This is where the kids sit until they learn their place.” He grunted and turned around to sit down at his desk. This first interaction set the tone for the new platoon leader and his interactions with all NCOs.

1st Lt. Timothy Goldstone, platoon leader, Company C, 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, briefs an operations order over a terrain model with his Soldiers and visiting U.S. Military Academy cadets at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, July 26, 2017, during a platoon live-fire exercise. The cadets are spending three weeks in Germany training with the “Iron Brigade” as it hones its Soldiers’ readiness in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Ange Desinor)
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You and Your NCO

Reverse Mentorship in the Officer-NCO Relationship

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The officer-noncommissioned officer (NCO) relationship is one of the Army’s many paradoxes that is fun to discuss and theorize. The Army deliberately pairs the two. Imagine a typical platoon’s leadership, with a brand-new platoon leader (second lieutenant) placed in charge of a seasoned platoon sergeant (usually a sergeant first class). Make no mistake, the platoon leader rates the platoon sergeant. As a captain, the company commander rates the first sergeant (1SG) who, once again, is typically more seasoned. Why is the individual with far greater experience placed in the subordinate position? The onus is on the NCO to provide reverse mentorship – and on the officer to learn from it.

Among many other duties, a good NCO-partner is much like a lane safety on a rifle range. They are a trainer, coach, and mentor.
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Clearing Al-Baqqah (ABCT Urban Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-09

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“We really need to develop a better urban training facility,” you thought as you reviewed the imagery of the city. These weren’t connexes back on Fort Benning. Your armored company team has been in Erbyk, a NATO allied partner nation that was invaded by hostile Sermania, for the past three-months. And while you’ve been clearing small urban villages, you are now on the outskirts of Al-Baqqah, a dense urban environment in the heart of Erbyk. The OSRVT feed continues to provide real-time activity in Al-Baqqah as your company headquarters observes patterns of life. ”Chaos 6, this is Cottonbaler 6–change of mission to follow, prepare to copy.”

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Copy and Paste Leadership

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In a 21st-century leadership environment that is dominated by technological advancements, communication between noncommissioned officers and their soldiers is easier today than it’s ever been. Compounding this ease of communication with the United States Army’s long-standing philosophy of standardization, today’s leadership environment has created quite the conundrum for the new era of NCOs. Though the Army’s workplaces are dominated by multiple levels of structure, it is essential for NCOs to understand that the key to effectively developing their Soldiers is individualized leadership.

 

Professional Counseling

Second Lt. Isaac Brunson practices conducting noncommissioned officer counseling with Staff Sgt. Devon Perry, a student attending the Logistics Noncommissioned Officer Academy at the Army Logistics University. (Photo Credit: Adam Gramarossa)
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Writing For Personal Clarity

Why We Write #5

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Everyone has their own way of portraying their feelings, ideas, and problems. For some it’s art, for others music, or acting; for me it has become writing. In this profession especially, writing is the one of the best ways to convey information. It helps to communicate goals and expectations, whether it just be for us to read, or a broader audience.

NCO Writing

Sgt. Nicholas Johnson, 8th U.S. Army Soldier of the Year, writes down answers to the 20 essay questions of the written exam during the Department of the Army Soldier/NCO of the Year competition at Fort Lee, Va. Oct. 3. (Photo Credit: Spc. Fay Conroy, 8th U.S. Army Public Affairs)
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A Corporal’s Perspective

Why We Write #4

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Why do we write? As humans, we write to communicate information and ideas across time and space, when we cannot do so through oral means with physical presence. As Non-Commissioned Officers in the United States Military, we do so because we can no longer afford to do otherwise. Writing is now a part of all professional military education, starting at the Basic Leaders Course that all enlisted soldiers must go through to become NCOs.

Promotion to Corporal

Four soldiers assigned to 444th Engineer Company, Oswego, N.Y., receive lateral transfer from specialist to corporal rank, during the company’s annual training event July 14 at Ft Drum. Pictured here are Barry J. Bullis, of Baldwinsville, Christopher Zajac of North Syracuse, John M. Anderson of Henderson, and Charles J. Delaney of Brewerton, N.Y., receiving promotion from Sgt. 1st Class Charles Haws, unit training non-commissioned officer. (Photo Credit: Spc. Karen Sampson, 362nd MPAD)
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An Exercise In Communication

Why We Write Series #3

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Loud and colorful video imagery covered the screen in the Production Control office of our Kiowa Squadron. It was 2012 and we were conducting an after-action review of a downed aircraft recovery training event. In the middle of our exercise, in a simulated crashed aircraft, we had no way of talking to our TOC. Our QRF forces weren’t coming in over the radio. And the pilots providing overhead cover…nothing from them either. We couldn’t talk. Our recovery mission was a complete failure. In this moment – standing in our AAR – I realized it was because no one conducted pre-missions checks and services on our radios. As our Production Control Officer would say, “without comms, you are dead. End of story.”

Paratroopers assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, secure a helicopter landing zone for a CH-47 Chinook Helicopter, July 20, 2019, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. The Paratroopers provided protection to a nearby meeting between U.S. and Afghan officials discussing peace and security within the region. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Thomas Cieslak)
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Comms Down (IBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-08

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It’s dark and humid; sweat drips down your face as you collect your thoughts and reach for your RTO. Your platoon landed at the proper DZ; your squad leaders and platoon sergeant are establishing security. But for the last 15 minutes you haven’t been able to reach anyone on the radio. Comms are down. You and your platoon are behind enemy lines with just the equipment you jumped-in. “Sir, 100% accountability confirmed and security is set. We have to start moving; what’s the call?”

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U.S. Army soldiers prepare to jump from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft during a forcible entry exercise over Fort Bragg, N.C., April 29, 2010. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Robertson.