REFLECT
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...
Choices
by Dave Leach “Do you want to continue?” the paramedic asked. I was just over three miles from the finish of the Ironman Florida 70.3 race and I was struggling. The 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling, and the 9 ½ miles of running in the...
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...
A Gut Worth Trusting
by Dilan Swift and Daniel Phillips Much has been written about Frederick the Great’s “Coup d’oeil.” In translation, “stroke of the Eye” was coined to define one’s ability to observe, intuit, and correctly act in each situation. As combat arms...
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...
Leading from the Overflow
by Jason Reynado We need to talk about leader burnout. With over a year of COVID-related restrictions while trying to maintain normal mission demands, I’m sure many of us are feeling the threat of burnout or worse – already running on fumes. Like...
Ethics: Breathing Life or Hot Air
By Benjamin Ordiway As a military, we profess that we are a values-based organization. We excel at writing about our values. Just look at our posters, vision statements, or the latest memo you and your staff crafted. Why, then, when we talk about...
Why Army Sustainment Units Need Gunnery Training
by Alan Farr In the past, the Army geared its gunnery program towards combat arms Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). The gunnery program trained combat Soldiers to be highly proficient on their assigned weapon platforms, mounted or...
A Real Sam Damon, Wearing a Marine Uniform
by ML Cavanaugh Editor’s Note: This article comes courtesy of our partnership with StrategyNotes.co. It’s hard to admit as an Army officer, but I’d like to be more like a Marine. LtCol Ben Middendorf—my roommate at West Point—was one of those odd...
Be The Duck: The Rubber Duck
Editor’s Note: The is the second insightful guest post by Zach. I highly encourage readers to check out his last post: Be The Duck. Zach discusses the importance of leaders remaining calm in intense and chaotic situations. By Zach Mierva...
4 Tips for Transitioning into New Assignments
By Thomas E. Meyer The United States Military provides an outstanding leadership laboratory to grow yourself and your team. Perhaps the most impressive means of continuing personal and organizational growth is a personnel system that requires...
Be the Duck
By Zachary Mierva The cabin was very quiet. A few passengers made phone calls or sent text messages to loved ones. Some were saying their prayers. Others would say they were making peace with the situation. If they were going to die, they said,...
Resources for Iron Majors and Company Grade Officers
By Joe Byerly Company Command and S3/XO time are two critical seasons in an officer’s career, and one of the keys to being successful is to show up prepared. Below are three resources that leaders can tap into to help prepare ahead of time...
Look to the Past for Lessons
From ARMY Magazine, Vol. 66, No. 6, June 2016. Copyright © 2016 by the Association of the U.S. Army and reprinted by permission of ARMY Magazine. By Joe Byerly As military professionals, one of the most critical components of our personal growth is...
Curiosity: The Underrated Leadership Value
By: Kellie J. McCoy Across the branches of the military and in business worldwide, leaders ascend through the proverbial ranks based on two primary factors: they deliver results and they demonstrate an ability to extend their influence over...
Throwing Your Boots Over the Wire
By: Steve Leonard There comes a time when we all throw our boots over the wire. It’s a time of reflection on the past and a time of anticipation for what’s yet to come. It’s an opportunity to share lessons learned, to look back on the kernels of...
31 Things Your Senior Rater Would Like You to Know That He Probably Won’t Tell You
By LTC Dominick Edwards I have begun a lot of self-reflection as I near the end of my nearly 24-year career in the US Army. One of the topics that comes to mind is how many “unspoken norms” there are in the Army and how we all become aware of them....
The Luck Factor
This post originally appeared over at The Military Leader. It is the 4th in a great series on luck in the military. I encourage you to read all the posts sequentially then reflect on the role luck has played in your life. 1.) The Role of Luck in...
Reflecting on Readiness
Since General Milley, the Army Chief of Staff, was sworn in he has stated on numerous occasions that his number one priority is readiness. While the message is very clear, I honestly think internalizing it is a bit harder. For those like...
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Leader-Made Climate Change
Have you ever taken charge of an organization that had a poor command climate? Whether it’s a platoon or a division, changing the climate isn’t easy and it takes time. So where do you begin? If you want to change the climate, you...
Leader Development: Ends, Ways, and Means
This is the final installment of a series on leader development. For the previous posts, please read Leader Development: The Leeroy Jenkins Model and The Maker’s Motto. Over the last several weeks I’ve discussed leader development...
Leader Development: The Maker’s Motto
Author’s Note: This is the second installment in a series on leader development: For the previous post check out Leader Development: The Leeroy Jenkins Model “If you can’t open it, you don’t own it.”...
Leader Development: The Leeroy Jenkins Model
“Time’s up! Let’s do this! LeeeeeeRooyyy Jenkins!” -L. Jenkins If you’ve been to a professional military education course in the last seven years, you’ve probably seen this video at some point. In the middle of the clip, the players devising a plan...
A Leader’s Legacy: What Does Your Recruiting Poster Look Like?
By Joe Byerly In May of 2013, the University of Alabama released a recruiting poster with the jerseys of 111 former players who Nick Saban has coached or recruited during his time in the NCAA. Every jersey on the...
Let’s Quit Going into Debt with Our Families: Time Management for Leaders
Time, like money, isn’t infinite yet we treat the management of both very differently. If I mismanage my money, and my monthly expenses are greater than my income, I must borrow from a financial lender to make up the deficit. Overtime, I run the...
The Power of a Note
By Joe Byerly Tonight I read an article in the Army Times titled Nearly Half of Soldiers say Army isn’t committed to them and for whatever reason it made me think of a handwritten note I received almost 10 years ago from my Battalion...
“A Way” To Develop a Toxic Leader: How We as Leaders Create Our Own Monsters
Toxic leaders don’t just appear on the scene, they develop over time- and we are the ones that create them. Yep! It’s partly our fault as leaders because we fail to properly counsel them as they move up the ladder. There you have it: “A way” to...
The Guy Behind the Guy, Behind the Guy: A Case for Taking our Roles More Seriously
“Remember this face! This is the guy behind the guy, behind the guy!” Vince Vaughn’s character spoke those words to the cocktail waitress in the 90’s hit, Swingers, when he was trying to pump up his wingman, played by Jon...
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