by Michael Everett
Relax. Be where your feet are. Be yourself. Learn how to Army. Read, write, learn. Own being the leader of your platoon.
You are about to be handed the keys to a platoon and officially begin your time as a platoon leader (PL)–the position you have been talking about, learning about, dreaming about for years (and will talk about for years to come). It does not matter the route you took to get here. What does matter is that you are about to embark on a formative and rewarding journey. And as a Company Commander, I have a few things I want to share with you so that you can enjoy your time as the leader of your platoon, while growing as a professional Army leader.
Relax
First and foremost, relax. While you are responsible for what your platoon does and does not accomplish, you are not in the fight alone. The Army created a Modified Table of Equipment and Personnel (MTOE) full of Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) because no one would hand a finely tuned warfighting machine over to a brand new, inexperienced, 22-year-old without surrounding him or her with decades of experience. Leverage your NCOs, especially your platoon sergeant and section leaders. Solicit their opinion as often as possible and carefully consider their recommendations. If you are lucky enough to have Warrant Officers in your platoon, always consult them when discussing, representing, or making decisions regarding the technical aspects of the platoon.
Be where your feet are
Avoid coming in on day one and telling your commander, fellow PLs, and your Platoon Sergeant (PSG) your big plans to “go to regiment” (Ranger Regiment), special forces selection, or any other outfit besides the one you are in now. Avoid prolifically announcing your goals to go to badge or tab-producing schools. Your full attention and effort need to be invested in learning your new position, a position that is extremely important to the success or failure of the entire company, battalion, and possibly the brigade. Failure in combat results in casualties and deaths. This position is not about your Officer Evaluation Report (OER), your stepping stone to bigger things, or a means to an end. This is the big leagues. It is time to dial it in and put the four to six years of training you received to the test.
Goals, a career timeline, and a well-organized plan are signs of a responsible officer. If you have some of the goals mentioned above, that is excellent, but projecting these desires in your first month or two as a PL is messaging to the platoon and company that you see the position as a necessary evil in your career timeline. Lives depend on how well you do your current job; your personal interests and aspirations need to come second to running your platoon. If your commander asks about your personal goals, then feel free to share.
Patiently learn how the Army works
You have been in an officer incubator for years and you will have a lot to learn about the mechanics of the “real Army.” Every location and unit is completely different. You cannot go wrong if you come in humble and hungry. Be a sponge. Ask your NCOs as many questions as you can. The good ones will never get annoyed. They will go out of their way to help you learn the ropes (it is in their best interest!). Your people understand you do not know much and they do not expect you to just figure it out (that is not in their best interest).
There are hundreds of administrative, medical, and tactical situations you are not ready to handle alone. Those that design the commissioning source programs address the broadest knowledge level possible. 95% of the knowledge required to be a successful PL is provided by your NCOs, peers, your XO, and your commander. Ask questions and never think that everyone else has it figured out, including your peers. No one thinks that a PL is stronger because he or she asks fewer questions. If you want to learn how the Army works from admin processes to tactical problems, then be humble and curious. And be patient with yourself–learning takes time.
Be yourself
Avoid trying to be the version of yourself that you believe you are supposed to be. Your Soldiers will notice your ingenuine behavior faster than you realize you are doing it. Our NCOs are world-class; there is never an excuse to treat them like second class leaders. I have seen this happen multiple times and it is a rough look, not to mention very difficult to come back from. Talk to your Soldiers and get to know them, but avoid being disingenuous or appearing as if you are doing it to check the leader block. How you do this is through genuine interest and behavior. In short: just be you. Regardless of your interests or personality, the genuine leader is a successful leader. If you do not put on a front and slowly integrate your personality into the platoon, you will earn your team’s trust and confidence, a requirement for victory in combat.
Read, write, learn
Start with doctrine. The Army has a manual for everything, from leadership to occupational specialties and their numerous tactics, techniques, and procedures. If you have not opened FM 6-22, Developing Leaders, then you need to start there. This manual will provide the foundation for you as a leader in the Army. Follow this with the various ATPs, ADPs, and FMs within your branch, which will solidify your competence in your specific profession. Finally, complement your knowledge with material from the Center of Army Lessons Learned (CALL). These manuals fill the gap between the current operating environment and existing doctrine.
In addition to a sound doctrinal base, you need to get in the books, blogs, and publications. No leader needs to learn every lesson the hard way—because plenty of people already have. Many of these people have written books or blogs on their experiences, providing a road map via “lessons learned” or “things I wish I knew before I took over.” Access the dozens of military specific blog sites online and reading lists published by Army senior leaders. The more you learn from the pen, the less you learn from the sword. It is your responsibility to be an active learner through self-development. As an officer and a platoon leader, the extent of your knowledge could mean the difference between mission success and failure, life and death. Do not take this responsibility lightly.
Finally, take the lessons you learn from these works and your experiences, and give back to the next group of platoon leaders by writing. You do not need to create a masterpiece or a prize-winning essay. You need only to gather your thoughts and experiences, get them down on paper, and submit to one of the many publication outlets available to young military leaders. There are more outlets and mediums available every year and most will work with you to get your article publish-ready. If I can do it, so can you. So, pay it forward and do the work to push your ideas and thoughts out into the world.
You are the only PL in your platoon
You were given this position to get the job done. Be the leader and do not allow anyone or anything to undermine your authority in that position. If you acknowledged the advice above, you have incorporated your NCOs and Soldiers in your learning process. There comes a time when you need to be the one person that makes the call or briefs the plan. You are that person in your platoon. Your word is final, and your platoon will do whatever it is that they need to do to meet your intent. Understand my (the commander’s) intent, work within it, and execute. While your platoon sergeant, section and squad leaders, and Soldiers own their own piece of the plan, it is your plan that they are executing. No matter how involved you get your NCOs, it is your platoon and your mission to meet.
Check your ego at the door
If this felt like an ego check, it was. Ego is the number one reason PLs fail. I have seen some of the best, most talented young leaders fail as PLs because he or she could not get over their ego, their personal ambitions, and their individual accomplishments. It is the common theme that underpins all the topics outlined above. If you want to simplify this entire piece into one, easy to remember sentence: lose the ego and put your team first.
CPT Mike Everett is currently serving as the commander for D Company, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion (Airborne) at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. He has served as a company commander for a combined 29 months.
Photo by Orkun Azap on Unsplash
