REFLECT
When Ego Leads
by Meaghan Parchert “Leadership in a democratic Army means firmness, not harshness; understanding, not weakness; justice, not license; humaneness, not intolerance; generosity, not selfishness; pride, not egotism.” – GEN Omar Bradley...
“Leading Up” as a Company Grade Officer
by Mike Martino “Someone got Sir off topic again…” Forty of us, students at the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course (IBOLC), were huddled into a corner of Building 466A listening to our platoon tactical trainer. We were supposed to be discussing...
To Captains in the Marketplace: Consider Recruiting Command
by Ben Potter Are you an Army Captain whose AIM marketplace is open? If so, you may see Company Command positions within the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (“USAREC”). These positions are a phenomenal broadening opportunity, and you should consider...
7 Years’ Time: A Sexual Assault Survivor’s Story
(David McNew/Getty) Editor’s Note: Today is Denim Day, an annual campaign observed worldwide to highlight misconceptions surrounding sexual violence. It began twenty-plus years ago, after the Italian Supreme Court justices ruled that a rape...
Questioning The Military Brain Drain
by Owen West Every so often an article declares that the military is suffering an avoidable exodus of its best junior officers. This argument has reappeared a dozen times since I joined the Marines in 1991. It’s misleading. Most officers who...
Do What You Say You Can Do
By Jacob Loftice The best training guidance I have received is “be able to do the things you say you can do.” Having the capability to execute your assigned mission is central to a unit’s readiness. It can be tempting to treat aspirations as facts...
Leaders Shoot First – the Value of Leader Live Fires
by Reed Markham Have you ever felt that the more you teach your Soldiers with words the less they get it? Or even listen? I have witnessed brilliant and experienced leaders struggle to train their teams over the years, and...
Harnessing the Power of Knowledge Management
by Jakob Hutter Reinventing the wheel is often discouraged. But COL Schmidt, the Director of Army University Press at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, argues it’s crucial for leaders to make impactful decisions and drive meaningful change in their...
Diving with Death: Navigating Scary Conversations in Mental Health
By Stein Thorbeck I want to tell you a story to make you better at supporting people in pain. I was glad to be there when it happened, despite the difficulty. Further, I was thankful to know something about struggle. My experience with depression...
From a Company Commander to Platoon Leaders: Relax—and Check Your Ego
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...
The One Thing Series: Burnout
by Bob Shelton I failed … my family, my unit, and my leaders. As a teenager, I had a t-shirt that said “Eat, sleep, and go like hell.” I put a lot of stock in the latter part of that slogan…I believed it. Twenty-two years...
The One Thing Series: You Are Not the Point
by Ben Durdle Our education plants the seed of our perceived exceptionalism, our training waters it, and our experiences prune and bathe it in sunlight. We have signed up to do something extraordinary and believing we are capable and, in many ways,...
The One Thing Series: Mentoring Through the Gauntlet
by Don Gomez The one thing I wish I had known before I started my last job is that, in mentoring relationships, the mentee is almost always looking for practical advice – not cosmic wisdom. That may seem simple, but is truthfully...
One Thing: Systems and Processes for Command
by Jared Massie Within the first few weeks of Battery command I knew I needed to get organized. I began to develop practical products that, looking back, are my greatest lessons learned. They focus on an organized weekly calendar, a ready-made unit...
The One Thing Series: The Criticality of Composure
by Benjamin J. Elliott If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; – Rudyard Kipling To meet the...
The One Thing Series: On Self-Preservation
by Nadir Attar Of the myriad of things which come into my mind reflecting on my time as a company commander, one word stands out: self-preservation. At first glance this might look like an awkward, even selfish choice. Isn’t command...
The One Thing Series: Find a Mentor
By Marc Meybaum “Mentorship is the voluntary developmental relationship that exists between a person of greater experience and a person of lesser experience that is characterized by mutual trust and respect.” – AR 600-100: Army...
On Practical Leadership- The Value of Active Listening
by Alberto J. Delgado “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” You’ve probably heard that quote thrown around at meetings and posted all over social-media as...
An Introduction to (Bullet) Journaling
by Jakob Hutter Note taking may seem like a simple task of processing information and writing down ideas, thoughts, and other important information any time. However, it earnestly takes skill, time, and effort to be able to later retrieve this...
Post-Traumatic Growth: Reflections on PTSD and Thriving in the Military
by Ron Sprang Eleven years ago I wrote an article in the middle of one of the greatest trials of my life, A Silent Warrior’s Struggle: PTSD and Leader Resiliency. I wanted to follow up on that experience, address the positive change in Army culture...
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Professional Fulfillment: How Finding Your Purpose Promotes Unit Cohesion
By Andrew J. Bibb The first time I took the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) I felt as if a massive burden had been lifted off my shoulders. My Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) scores were steadily declining as I aged. I was frustrated...
What are Chaplains For? Five Suggestions on How to Best Utilize the Chaplain
By Caleb Miller There are many guides for officers or NCOs to become better leaders. There are also guides for chaplains to improve. However, I see very little out there helping leaders develop, utilize or rate the chaplains in their midst. This...
An Aversion to Ambition
by Brennan Randel What is it about open displays of ambition that can cause an eye-roll so deep it results in temporary blindness? Imagine a room full of combat arms second lieutenants on the first day of their basic officer leadership course. To...
New York City Recruiting Battalion in a Time of COVID
By Lieutenant Colonel Whitney O. Jensen and Command Sergeant Major Latosha Ravenell Editor’s Note: A version of this article was first published on March 21, 2021 in the NCO Journal. A year ago, in March of 2020, the New York City Recruiting...
Building on Crisis
by Matthew Schardt I am as eager as anyone to get beyond the human and economic suffering associated with the current pandemic. Thankfully, the promise of vaccinations gives me hope that life around the Army and the country as a whole will come to...
Balancing People First and Mission Always
by Jia Wu and Howard Zhou General McConville’s “People First” prerogative states, “Now with people as the Army’s top priority…the Army will deliver on our readiness and modernization priorities. When we care about people, we get them in the...
An Uncomfortable Conversation
by Thomas Krasnican If the military wants to retain the trust and confidence of the American people, its leaders – from the most junior to the most senior – will have to do something that might feel a little bit uncomfortable. If we want to uphold...
Killing Zombies: How to Preserve your Organization’s ‘Brainpower’
By Jake Conrad We are all familiar with zombies. We see them plastered across pop culture in movies, video games, and television shows. You may have even read a full length novel about them! Today, zombies are everywhere. But what if I told you...
How to Enable as an Enabler
by Ryan Cornell-d’Echert I am an Army Logistics officer who – for better or worse – has spent much of his career separated from other logisticians. I wish to share some lessons and observations that may be applicable to other “outsiders,”...
Developing Innovators: Science Fiction Beyond the Convention Center
by Christopher L’Heureux Innovation is the lifeblood of success. It feeds our ability to adapt and conquer our environment whether on a battlefield or in a boardroom. The aircraft carrier began its life as an auxiliary scout for the fleet. By the...
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