We are known as the skilled, on-the-ground warfighters of the U. As a second lieutenant, I led my soldiers, but I also led them in laughing at my mistakes and misadventures.
Military life is filled with incredible humor, mostly inspired either directly or indirectly by junior military officers, specifically ensigns and lieutenants. The misadventures of these junior officers as they simultaneously learn to lead, how the military works, and what their jobs truly were serve as an amazing resource for timeless humor.
They also offer a training ground for life lessons. Army second lieutenant in the early s. I did my part as a young second lieutenant and provided my platoon a lifetime of mistakes, screw-ups, and misadventures to fuel their stories for a lifetime.
On one of my first field training exercises, I asked several of my soldiers to take my camera and photograph their jobs from their perspective. A week later, they handed me the camera back along with a bill for some extra film. In turn, I also received several life lessons that I still carry with me today. Read: ROTC instructor shares lessons learned in combat. All the jobs in the field that the soldiers hated the most were on the camera — digging fighting positions, filling sandbags, handling mortar misfires, waiting in line for chow, running out of coffee, and standing guard.
This was a great lesson for me because this told me that these were all the tasks that I should help the platoon perform. For the rest of my time, I sought out the worst jobs — filled sandbags and stood next to the crews while they handled a misfire.
There were also pictures of me looking less than stellar. In the pictures, my chinstrap was unfastened, and I was wearing a completely unauthorized Marine Corps sweater that was great in the Korean winter. Another photograph showed me about five feet from my rifle — an infantry no-no.
Of course, my platoon had photographic evidence of me doing all these things, even if it was only once. Leadership by example is only leadership by example if you always do it and do it all the time.
I thought that the next three pictures on the roll of film were a mistake. The articles and other content which appear on the Modern War Institute website are unofficial expressions of opinion. The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense.
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Share on LinkedIn Share. Send email Mail. Print Print. LTC R Herbek on Ryan on Troy on Worthey Brisco on Tiffli on LTC REt wilkinson on The most important, lead by example. Everyone is always watching.
LTC Ret Wilkinson on EricZ on There is nothing worse than when a Centurion says attack from the rear of a Cohort" Reply. Absolm Flazed on Already did. Your loss Reply.
Col scout on This is exactly how we make horses from mules! Don jones on I think it works the other way around Reply. Bill Conrad on Good advice from an old soldier — Pride and Excellence. Army ret. Robert adams on Pullen on Three simple rules to Leader ship 1. Listen 2. Learn 3. Lead Reply. Bob on Mike on Jt on You are judged before you walk in the door, and before you even lace up your running shoes.
The only exception is if it takes you more than one attempt to qualify, then there will be a discussion. Get on the range, zero, qualify, and then move about your day. And if you talk about how great you shot on the range most superiors are going to roll their eyes at least mentally because it is the expectation you will shoot well. Qualify, check the box, move on. But if you come off as a know-it-all then they will only do the bare minimum and leave you high and dry when it counts.
If you scream at them, or curse at them in order to accomplish the task you are probably wrong. Because trust me, if you treat your soldiers like the first statement, good luck finding them when you need an additional task accomplished. Whatever it is will probably eventually get done, but it will be delayed and probably take an extra extended amount of time to come to fruition. Second, humility and caring go hand in hand.
You have to show the soldiers you care about them. They need to come before you, period. If you are worried about your OER and how you look in relation to your peers, and whether or not the boss sees you being awesome, then you are wrong. You have already lost.
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