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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).
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Planning…It’s Your Business Too

An NCO's Role in TLPs

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If your company were to mobilize today, are the squad leaders ready? The future of war may require squads to work independently to exploit fleeting gaps in the enemy’s capabilities. As NCOs in today’s Army, some leaders have grown accustomed to recognizing “NCO business” and “Officer business,” rather than Leader business. Are you prepared, not only to execute, but to plan and execute the mission?

Sgt. 1st Class Fernando Gonzalez directs the movement of his platoon outside Combat Outpost Zormat in Afghanistan’s Paktya province, May 30, 2012. Gonzales is assigned to the 25th Infantry Division’s Company D, 3rd Battalion, Airborne, 509th Infantry Regiment. Photo Retrieved from U.S. DOD Website.
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Introducing Sergeant’s Time

An Invitation for NCOs to Write and Contribute, by Harlan Kefalas

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Effective writing is critical to an NCO’s success. It is a critical component of the Non-Commissioned Officer Education System (NCOES). Effective writing is an evaluated skill at both the Master Leader Course (MLC) and Basic Leader Course (BLC). This is for good reason; counseling, awards, and evaluations are just a few of the writing responsibilities championed by our Sergeants and the NCO Corps. If you want to get better at writing, write more. Sergeant’s Time is your invitation to write more and contribute.  

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The Making of a Grunt

The Nightingale Series

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This is an image of a Grunt at both his finest and his worst. It is Grunts doing what Grunts always do, picking up pieces, moving forward, and gaining the ground that no one else can. It could be Caeser’s 10th Legion with short swords, slings, and shields. Or, it could be today’s finest equipped force in the world clearing some mud-bricked village in the depths of Nowhere, Sandbox. Here, in this image and on this ground, it is all the same. It is the essence of how we arrived at where we are today and where we may be.

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Right of the Line (IBCT Attack to Clear)

The Company Leader TDG 19-01

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You are the Company Commander of A Company, 2-14 Infantry Battalion of 2nd IBCT, 10th Mountain Division. Your unit is deployed to Southern Afghanistan. For the last three months you’ve been partnered with the Afghan National Army and conducting offensive operations in Zharay District of Kandahar Province. In the last month, Taliban forces have establish a complex defensive belt along the primary north to south running main supply route (MSR) in your area of operations (AO). This is disrupting the movement of military logistical supplies to the Afghan National Police and, more importantly, is limiting the local populous’ access to the primary water supply during the rainy season – the Arghandab River. Your company is tasked with conducting a clearance operation along RTE Hope.

Soldiers of Strike Brigade, 101st ABN DIV (AASLT) during Operation Dragon Strike in Zharay District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Photo taken on September 21, 2010 by Army Sgt. Joe Padula and found HERE.
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The Rock at Lookout Mountain

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On November 24, 155 years ago, a force of Union Soldiers gained redemption they never felt they needed. The Army of the Cumberland (AOC) was an outfit comprised mostly of Ohio and Kentucky units with a smattering of other mid-westerners. It’s fellow western army, the Army of the Tennessee, was composed mostly of Soldiers from Illinois and Iowa. Both were tough outfits with capable subordinate leaders. While neither gets the same acclaim of the Army of the Potomac, they are prideful units. Never was this better demonstrated than at Lookout Mountain where the Rock of Chickamauga, just two months after devastating defeat, kicked the Confederacy in the teeth and planted Old Glory at the summit.

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To Get Outside the Box, Start Inside the Circle

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My first official duty as an Officer in the U.S. Army was a temporary assignment to Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), working for Cadet Command as Cadre for the ROTC Leader Development and Assessment Course (LDAC). I worked for a Lieutenant Colonel who was serving as the Professor of Military Science at Purdue University. He taught me a lot that summer, but one story sticks out. It was a humble parable that continues to resonate with me a decade later.

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Refrigerator Gap (ABCT CO TM)

The Company Leader TDG 18-12

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You are the Company Commander of A Co/ 1-64 AR. Your unit is in a TAA VIC NV 585215 at REDCON 2. You are waiting to receive orders to conduct an FPOL with B Co and continue the attack to OBJ Chicago. Your current combat power is 1x Armor PLT with 3 operational tanks, 2x BFV platoons with 1 PLT of 3x BFVs and the other of 4 BFVs. Each Platoon has 14x dismounts divided into 2x squads each and all Javelins are operational.  Additionally, you have an engineer platoon attached with 3x operational engineer BFVs, a MCLIC, and a sapper squad of 6x Soldiers. Your Company HQs is 100% and you are fully resupplied.

U.S. Army Armor Basic Officer Course Class 18-006 conducts STX at the Good Hope Maneuver Training Area. Photo Retrieved from the U.S. Army Armor Basic Officer Course Facebook Page.

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Thanks for the Privilege

A Practical Guide to Gratitude Year-Round

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Thanksgiving is over. The one time of year where we, as a nation, get disciplined about our intentional gratitude for one day. Well, not quite one FULL day. We quickly moved from Thanksgiving Dinner to Black Friday. But now it’s Saturday and with it comes two full-days before Cyber-Monday. Let’s take some time today and tomorrow to reflect on how we, as leaders, can build a practice of intentional thankfulness.

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2018 In Books

A Review of 80 Books for Leaders

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A move from coast-to-coast and a now long daily commute have combined to help in my 2018 book consumption. Audible has certainly been a game-changer too, making drives and PT hours double as “reading” time. Below is a list of the books I read this year, a top 10 list, and a focus on the books I highly recommend. In the interest of doing my part to further commercialism this holiday season, I’ve decided to cut-off my list and publish this post a little before the year is over. So whether you are looking to broaden your reading or put a book in the stocking of someone special this year, here is a post for you!