By Tom Sujack
Smoke and I agreed the platoon should practice one more hip shoot before chow. We would start platoon qualifications early the next morning, so this would be our last chance to get this normally chaotic evolution right. When the fire direction officer called “fire mission” over the net, I without hesitation told Smoke to drive to the first open field that I could see down the road. However, we had not used that area as a firing point before and were unaware that forestry had recently clear-cut the field, leaving it covered in ankle-deep root holes.
Though we were successful in completing the rehearsal, my lack of tactical patience when selecting a firing point meant that it was far from our best. While I did not become the patron saint of tactical patience as a result, our next drill would have been much worse if I had not just learned that lesson the hard way the day before while high-stepping through a field in full kit.
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Unrestricted free-play training is an important tool that a commander can use to prepare their formations for qualifications or certifications. This training is incredibly valuable for junior leaders because it gives them room to make mistakes and learn from them. In the days leading up to our platoon qualification, my commander split the available training areas between the two platoons and gave us time to train and run rehearsals on our own. Without our higher headquarters watching us, there was less pressure to be perfect on every rep and we could instead focus on refining our craft. This was some of the best training that we did during my entire time as a platoon leader.
Years later, when I took the guidon myself, I inherited a loaded upcoming summer training calendar with minimal white space. Our battalion’s mission would lead us to develop a very different collective training plan than what I had seen as a platoon leader; however, I still felt that I owed the lieutenants the same chance to grow and learn autonomously before they faced external evaluation. Instead of making every exercise we supported a battery mission, I delegated as much of the planning and execution to the platoon leadership as they could handle. In doing so, I hoped to empower them and allow their teams to grow and develop without First Sergeant or myself breathing down their necks. This also allowed the two of us to take a step back and learn the platoons’ respective strengths and weaknesses.
Empowering the platoons to own their missions paid off during our battery qualification that fall. I knew what they could handle, and they were extremely comfortable operating independently when needed. Being able to give guidance and let them execute freed our battery headquarters to focus on the larger problem sets we encountered. I believe the battery’s success during that qualification was a direct result of the number of opportunities we gave the platoons to practice their craft in a variety of environments, and their performance during that exercise remains one of the highlights of my command and career.
We should always fight to give our subordinates the time to fail without feeling like they are under pressure to perform. They should have more than just rehearsals in the motor pool or that open field just outside the battery headquarters. It can be something as simple as giving them a couple of unstructured days in the field before starting qualifications. Free from the pull of garrison taskings and appointments, they have the chance to focus and come together as a team. Just as important, it gives them an opportunity to deal with whatever Murphy throws at them before adding the stress of being evaluated. I have never completed a qualification where my team didn’t have to react to at least one unscripted inject. If battery qualifications are the first time you are trying to pull a launcher out of axle-deep sand, it is going to be a bad day for everyone involved.
All too often, as a result of the training cycle or mission requirements, we throw junior leaders into key positions and expect their teams to perform to the standard almost instantaneously. This situation should be avoided as much as possible. While we can and should expect our junior leaders to perform individual skills (ACFT, Weapons Qual, etc.) to standard, you can’t make a cohesive and effective team out of thin air. And, forcing your team to gel under the scrutiny of qualifications limits their development and can quickly strain relationships. Sports teams will always conduct some version of training camp before the games count in the standings. Coaches do not expect perfection during the first practice. Those early weeks of camp are where the team usually sees the most growth and development. We should always be fighting to give our subordinates the same opportunities.
Tom Sujack is a Field Artillery officer with over ten years of service. He has previously served in both HIMARS and M119 batteries.
