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Securing Victory…Or Maybe Just Embracing Chaos

#BranchSeries - Civil Affairs

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In the Spring of 2007 I was a cadet at a small military school tucked away in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont. I was much more interested in being anywhere aside from the mandatory “rented crowd” at a military writer’s symposium. I was likely thinking of just about anything other than the topics being discussed. What could I learn from authors discussing topics that bore no relation to my future job as a Platoon Leader? The irony of how naïve I was then is quite comical. Finally, a guest speaker started to discuss his experiences in Iraq. He talked about how his Soldiers used diplomacy, negotiation, and relationships to target threat networks to win over the populace. I was hooked.

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Defend Forward (IBCT CO Defense)

The Company Leader TDG 19-03

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The bitter taste of Army coffee stings your tongue, but the warmth as it goes down your throat makes up for it. The drastic desert temperature swings in Atropia continue to shock your system. It’s March 5th, and while the days are warming up the nights remain frigid. Moments like these you almost rethink your dedication to being a paratrooper…almost. You look down at your watch and see it’s almost 1800. Realizing you need to get to the BN TOC for the OPORD, you call for your RTO,  “Specialist Ayala, please grab two copies of the map of our AO, your map markers, a roll of acetate, and your notebook. We leave for the TOC in 15 minutes. New orders – intelligence suggest the enemy is mounting a counterattack and we have to defend forward of this town if we have any chance of making it until 2-325th reinforces our position.”

Paratroopers from 1-325th PIR conduct night live fire exercises to improve lethality and drill the fundamentals. Photo retrieved from @1_325thAIR on Twitter.
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You Can Lead, But Can You Fight?

Leadership as a Conduit to the Real Mission

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The leader development space, especially within the military community, experienced massive growth in the last decade. We are dining at a leader and self-development buffet. The myriad resources range from Army sites like MWI and AUP to blogs like The Military Leader and The Field Grade Leader. We are discussing emotional quotient, social intelligence, and strategic communication – topics formerly reserved for academic journals and college classrooms. Leaders are learning about building consensus and motivating as opposed to the hierarchical and command/control crutches of Army generations past. But, is the pendulum swinging too far to the leadership art and science over the tactical? You can lead….but can you fight?

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CAVLOG

An Excel Tool for Logistics Planning at the Troop and Squadron-level

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Whether tank companies in the assault or cavalry squadrons conducting zone reconnaissance, the Armor Branch fights on its fuel-tanks and ammo-racks. Increased consumption, large maneuver spaces, and long lines of communication to the Brigade Support Area, reduce the responsiveness and continuity of logistics operations compared with those of the other combat arms. In our Squadron, we identified accurate anticipation of requirements as a major stumbling block to our troops’ maneuver operations. Tactical operations, inconsistent reporting, and poor systems led to inaccurate forecasting of logistical needs. This created a back-up at the CTCP that then resulted in inadequate pushes of resupply from the FTCP. We needed consistency and accuracy – insert, CAVLOG.

Logistics may not be as sexy as maneuver, but ask the trooper on the screen-line or the Soldier in the trenches and he will tell you – it’s the stuff by which we live and die.
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What I’ve Learned From Bullets

The Nightingale Series

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I was cleaning out my accumulated files when I came across a series of notes, regarding officers and leadership, accumulated through the years. I had the privilege of learning a lot through my commands of four rifle companies, three Airborne/Ranger battalions, and two Airborne/Ranger brigades. Many of these lessons learned were in garrison, while several more were in combat between 1965 and 1993. Bullets can be an effective teacher of lessons. This article is for those who wish the knowledge, hopefully without the pain.

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Building Houses that Stand

A Platoon Leader’s Perspective on Planning

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Nothing breaks a new platoon leader’s heart like hearing the words “change of mission.” I heard them within a couple hours of my first training exercise, rendering days of planning products useless in an instant. The lesson I learned – a painful one we all eventually suffer – exemplifies a common military expression: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” While I was slightly discouraged, another question lurked in the recesses of my mind: if a plan is doomed to fail, why create a plan in the first place?

Capt. Wade Redenius of 2-1 IN discusses plan for upcoming mission with 1st Lt. Ross McDonald and 2nd Lt. Tony Eshoo at Yakima Training Center, WA. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Sonie Munson, 2-2 SBCT Public Affairs.
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The Goat Trail Foothold (SBCT PLT Attack)

The Company Leader TDG 19-02

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It’s 0200hrs and you’re awake. You’ve been going for the last twenty-seven hours. Your vision blurs as you stare at the FBCB2-JCR inside your M1126 Stryker. Your driver is getting some much needed rest. The sound of snoring from your FO is making you regret choosing to have him in your vic while you sent the RTO with your PSG. You remind yourself that this was a calculated decision, both for purposes of allowing for more reliable communications support and for spreading these two C2/MC assets across the platoon. Sure, one grenade may not kill both your FO and RTO while inside your Stryker – but more lessons from Ranger School than not translated from humping it through the Appalachian Mountains to now being holed up in a vehicle in Atropia. You’re going on day seven of continuous combat operations and are currently in the company tactical assembly area (TAA). On day three you could smell yourself, the mix of sweat and the beginning stages of ketosis, but now it’s just the norm. Just as you start to doze off you are startled by Sergeant Wilson – your Gunner – “Sir! Message for you on the JCR. Looks like we have a WARNORD and the CO needs you to confirm receipt.”

Soldiers of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California July-August 2018. (U.S. Army National Guard Photo)
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Are You Passionate about Leader Development?

A Case for West Point Broadening Assignments

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West Point’s mission is “to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character, committed to the values of Duty, Honor, and Country, and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.” To this end, West Point selects senior captains and junior majors to serve as rotating faculty members at the academy. West Point’s rotating faculty members serve approximately two to three year tours in one of thirteen academic departments, teaching various core and elective courses. These faculty members are in the proverbial trenches, charged with mentoring our nation’s next generation of leaders. If you are passionate about leadership and contemplating a broadening assignment as a West Point faculty member, here is a list of things to consider.

‘Frozen in Time’ photo by Cadet Victoria Martin, USMA Class of 2020. Retrieved from West Point Facebook Page.
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It’s Just ONE Tool

A Framework for UCMJ

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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).
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Are You Really Speaking Truth?

Speaking Truth to Power and Knowing When Not To

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Four articles in as many weeks have batted around the topic of “speaking truth to power.” Task & Purpose recently took a swing at it. Doctrine Man provided two vantage points on the topic here and here. And our friends over at The Field Grade Leader published a guest piece here. But it just felt like something was missing. Speaking truth to power is as much about making sure you are speaking the truth as it is about speaking it to power. The art of speaking truth to power is equal parts credibility, maturity, perspective, and communication. Below are some tips garnered from the multiple leaders who have taken the time to teach and mentor me.

Speaking truth to power shouldn’t be the knock-down-drag-out brawl we like to imagine. It is much more subtle and nuanced when done properly. (ARTB Rangers in Action at Class 02-18 Graduation. Fort Benning, GA, Jan 26, 2018, U.S. Army Photo).