Serving well and faithfully

I’ve had the opportunity lately to reflect on the oath of office that all officers take.  If you’re not familiar with it, here is the whole text:

"I, _____ , having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."

The passage that jumps out at me is the one about well and faithfully discharging the duties, etc.  There are two salient points here- one, that we swear to discharge our duties well, and two, that we swear to do it faithfully. 

The “well” part is straightforward enough.  We swear to be good at our jobs.  Be the best platoon leader, xo, company commander, staff officer, whatever that we can be.  Take care of our Soldiers.  Maintain ourselves.  Learn as much as we can and better ourselves.

The "faithfully" part is the one that seems to be giving a lot of people trouble, especially lately with the current political climate.  A lot of things have happened recently, from the election to Benghazi to the gun control debate going on now, and there is a lot of division in the country.  Here’s the thing, though: we members of the military can’t play in it.  Not overtly, anyway.  Oh, we can have opinions, and we can vote or contribute to causes.  But we don’t get to participate publically in the debates.  We don’t get to badmouth elected or appointed officials (it’s even in the regulations!)  We are supposed to be apolitical.  It’s part of the social contract that we make as members of the profession of arms. 

But more than that- when we accuse the Commander in Chief or a senator or someone of doing something illegal, or immoral, or unconstitutional, and we do so in a public forum, or when we use offensive nicknames, we’re not exercising our right to free speech.  We’re undermining the basis of our own authority, and we are proving ourselves faithless.

Faithfully also means that we will do unpleasant things, sometimes things that we disagree with.  I’m not talking about unethical or illegal orders—faithfulness also demands that we refuse to obey those.  But sometimes we have to serve a national political strategy that we oppose, or subject ourselves to commanders whose leadership style or personality we despise.  The point is, we swear an oath to do this.  We choose to sacrifice certain of our rights in order to preserve the rights of other people.  What discharging our duties faithfully requires is that we do this willingly.

The Army as a profession

So for those of you who don't know, I'm at a military school right now where I'm learning to be a professional officer.  I now pause for your laughter.

There, all ok?  Good.  It's actually a really good curriculum, and I have learned a lot.  This is apparently a change, because the Captains' Career Course of the past was a "gentleman's course" where everyone passed and no one really learned anything.  Now there are people failing tests and being recycled out of each class, the curriculum is intensive, fast-moving, and (in the case of the Signal Corps) pretty technical.  I am having a blast.

We recently got an assignment to write a couple of pages on the Army as a Profession of Arms.  This concept is getting some serious emphasis from the Chief of Staff of the Army, and has been incorporated into the culture at every level, starting at basic training.  Now big tough captains get to hear about it, and give our two cents.  So what I thought I'd do is, I'm going to publish my essay here.  It's a short read- enjoy!  And tell me what you think.  (Disregard the fact that this is the first essay I have written since literally 2004.)

“I am an expert and I am a professional.” Every Soldier in the Army has said these words, excerpted from the Soldier’s Creed. But are all Soldiers experts and professionals? Is the Army, in fact, a profession? And what does this mean for today’s Army leaders and Soldiers?

The Army White Paper The Profession of Arms states that “The Army is an American Profession of Arms, a vocation comprised of experts certified in the ethical application of land combat power….” (The Profession of Arms [2010], 4). It also asserts, like the Soldier’s Creed, that all Soldiers are professionals. “An American Professional Soldier is an expert, a volunteer certified in the Profession of Arms….” (The Profession of Arms [2010], 4).

            If a profession is “a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification” ("Definition for profession"), the Army certainly qualifies. The Army White Paper also lists several characteristics of professions: produce uniquely expert work requiring years of study and practice, contain a self-policing ethic, and motivate using intrinsic versus extrinsic factors (Combined Arms Center 2010, 2). The Army meets all of these criteria as well. All Soldiers are paid, and require some training and certification before being allowed to perform their duties. The Army also has a very well-established continuing education system for Noncommissioned Officers (NCO), warrant officers, and officers. Soldiers are also indoctrinated with the Army Values from their first day of service, and are taught to maintain and enforce standards and ethics. The Army is absolutely a profession.

            Are all Soldiers professionals, though? Consider civilian professionals—doctors must complete seven years of undergraduate and post-graduate study, followed by four years of residency. Lawyers must complete a seven-year course before earning a juris doctorate. Upon examination of the training received across the spectrum of military personnel, only senior Soldiers receive equivalent amounts of training. All Soldiers must complete Basic Combat Training (BCT), Advanced Individual Training (AIT). NCOs must complete BCT, AIT, and further education as part of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES). Warrant officers must complete all NCO requirements, Warrant Officer Candidate School and their basic and advanced courses. Officers must complete a baccalaureate degree, the Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) and specialized training in their branch. Then officers must attend advanced training and education courses at every rank through Colonel. Junior enlisted Soldiers simply do not meet the qualification of a profession—they don’t have time. Only senior NCOs, Warrant Officers, and Officers receive “prolonged training.”

            The Army, then, can be considered a Profession of Arms, but only senior Soldiers, having received advanced training and having gone through the formal education processes of the Army, can be considered professionals. Dr. Kevin M. Bond, in an article published in Joint Forces Quarterly, says that “It does a disservice to the very ideals of professionalism… to declare that by virtue of membership in an organization a person is a professional. More importantly, declaring that all Soldiers are professionals ignores the need to train, educate, and develop Soldiers both professionally and personally.” (Bond 2011, 66). He argues that leaders must focus on Soldier development at all levels and provide opportunities to grow and develop. (Bond 2011, 67) The Army must develop this paradigm further. A Soldier who has gone through 15 weeks of BCT and AIT has not met the requirements of his profession. Leaders must instead think of junior personnel as skilled tradesmen. Once leaders adopt this mindset, they can focus their efforts on developing professionalism through training and education, and truly consider our Soldiers “experts and professionals.”

Bond, Kevin M. “Are We Professionals?” Joint Forces Quarterly 58 (2011), http://www.ndupress.ndu.edu (accessed June 25, 2012).

"Definition for profession - Oxford Dictionaries Online." Oxford Dictionaries Online. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/profession (accessed July 2, 2012).

"The Profession of Arms." Army White Paper (2010), http://cape.army.mil/armyprofession.html (accessed June 25, 2012).

So you wanna be a battery commander?

So you wanna be a company commander?

Company command is a phenomenal opportunity and one of the greatest privileges in any officer’s career.  If done right, it’s the most rewarding , satisfying, frustrating, infuriating job you’ll ever have.  You’ll love it.  But there are some things that you should do before you think about taking that guidon that will set you up for success.

1-      Learn about property.  You are going to be responsible for everything on your property book- learn how to manage it.  Get a PBUSE account and learn to understand everything in every field.  You will hear a lot of people tell you that you don’t have to be a subject matter expert in everything- but you absolutely need to be an expert in your property, as it impacts your wallet.

2-      Learn your unit.  You may be the most technically and tactically proficient Captain in your branch, but that won’t guarantee success in your particular battalion.  You need to learn what the culture is from the top down.  Make sure you get an office call in with your future battalion commander.  While he interviews you, you are also learning about him (or her- I don’t discriminate).  Pay attention to what he           emphasizes during those first conversations.  Ask questions, especially about his priorities.  Also, look around at the staff and the companies.  You can get a fairly accurate assessment of a unit’s command climate by sitting through some meetings or in an office somewhere and just listening.

3-      Read.  Read a lot.  You need to read books on military leadership.  You need to read books on corporate leadership and efficiencies.  You need to read field manuals and training circulars.  Read current events.  Read everything you can.  You owe it to your boss and your Soldiers to educate yourself on your profession.

4-      Take care of your administrative needs well ahead of taking the guidon.  Once you assume command, you will lose about eight hours out of your day.  You won’t have time to focus on closing on a house, getting that surgery, finishing your Master’s degree, or anything other than your troops and your family. 

5-      Set your personal priorities ahead of time.  This is vital.  As a soldier who loves his job, it's really easy to make choices once you're at work that are Army-centric and career-centric, as opposed to Family-centric. It all comes down to how you define yourself. If you define yourself as a Soldier who has a family, then you make your choices in that order- Army first, at the expense (sometimes) of your Family. If you define yourself as a family guy who is a Soldier, then your choices reflect that you value your Family life over your job.  I am absolutely not saying that you should stint on your job- not at all.  But after 20 years or however long you stay in, guess what?  The Army doesn’t care about you not one single bit.  How sad would it be if your family didn’t care about you either because you didn't let them know through your actions and choices you made in your career that they matter and were more important than some alcoholic trooper who married a stripper and so NEEDS YOUR HELP, despite the fact that your son is struggling in fractions or started his first basketball game or whatever?  So make those priorities known at the outset, and be an example of a successful balance between marriage and a military career.

6-      Learn to manage expectations.  Start with your family.  You need to let them know that you are ALWAYS ON CALL and that you might have to miss things.  You also need to let them know that you will do your absolute best not to miss family events.  You also have to be able to do this with your commander- if something isn’t going to get done, let him know why not and what your plan is to accomplish the mission.  Commanders everywhere are results-oriented, and they HATE surprises.  If you can’t give them a heads up, you’re going to have a difficult life.

This should do for a start.  More to follow, especially about balancing your Family and career.  Stay tuned…

Happy First Day Back.

I've finished command! Yay! And also, Boo!

After a long and tumultuous process, I was able to change command. I am no longer the commander of HHB, 2-43 ADA Battalion. It's bittersweet. On the one hand, I am SO GLAD that I don't have to worry about approximately 180 Soldiers every single weekend.  I don't get phone calls in the middle of the night about them, and I don't have $32 million worth of property to worry about (that's another story...)

On the other hand, though, I don't have any of those Soldiers any more.  And let me be clear- I love being in command.  Not just for the prestige (which consisted mostly of having my own parking spot and being saluted all the time) and responsibility, although those were nice.  The reason I love command is because I love Soldiers, and the most satisfaction I get in my job is when I am helping Soldiers.  Training, dealing with problems, presenting awards, all that stuff.  It's phenomenal. And I am not there any more, not in front of a formation full of people united in common purpose and preparing to execute our mission.  It's kind of a letdown.

In other news, I'm back in command! Yay! And Boo!

Yep, I was selected for a second command.  I am now the commander of my battalion's Rear Detachment.  For those of you who are snickering right now, believe me, I've heard (and made) all the jokes.

Here's what this  means.  My battalion is deploying in the near future.  In any deploying unit, there are several (sometimes many) Soldiers who for one reason or another cannot deploy.  Either they are leaving the Army, or are medically unfit for duty, or are scheduled to move to another installation before or during the deployment.  All of those people need a place to go and someone to tell them what to do, and that is me.  This also means that I am not deploying, but will be responsible to represent the battalion to all post agencies, and I am also responsible to take care of the needs of all of the family members that are left behind.

On the one hand, it's a really really really difficult assignment.  I have to find something meaningful to do for all the Soldiers in my command, and once the battalion leaves, I have to ensure that all the families are being taken care of- financially, logistically, everything.  So if a deployed Soldier isn't paying his rent, his wife will call me and ask me to fix it.  Or if a Soldier goes on leave from the deployment and forgets his ID card and can't get on the plane, I will have to fix it.  It makes me tired just thinking about it.

On the other hand, I have Soldiers again!  And literally the only thing I have to do is help resolve their issues.  It's great.  Except for when it's not.  Which leads me to this:  On my first day back from my 19 days of leave (a glorious 19 days, which is incidentally the most time off I've had in over a year), there was a shooting at Fort Bliss.  And two of my new Soldiers were eyewitnesses.  And one of those two was the very first person to administer first aid, and he saved a life.  I'm really proud of him- but he's taking it really hard.  We're doing all the right things for him, getting him into counseling and whatnot, and he's doing better, but it's tearing him up.  You expect to see stuff like this in a combat area, and can prepare yourself for it.  You don't expect it when you're trying to buy a Gatorade at the Shoppette.

So my question to the universe is, WTF?  Is that it?  19 days is all the time off I get before I have to deal with something major?  Come on, cosmos.

It costs to be the boss

So... long hiatus. I make no apologies, and only one excuse:

Command is HARD.

Let me break it down for you all right here.

Up at 4:30
At work no later than 5:30
Daily update at 5:45
Physical Training 6:15-7:30
Hygeine and breakfast 7:30-8:30 (usually in the office)
Start work at 8:30
Working Lunch (in the office) 11:30-12:30
Catch up on email 12:30-1:00
Work 12:30-6:00

Total daily hours at work: 12.5 On a normal (or "short") day.

This doesn't count after-hours events, meetings, and the phone that NEVER STOPS. I love smart phone technology, but it's hard to be chained to the crackberry 24-7. And I have to have it on- if I turn it off, I get in trouble. Because here's the other thing...

Everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING - that happens or fails to happen is my fault.

Yeah, that deserves its own line. Here's what I mean. For the sake of argument, let's say I have 175 Soldiers under my command. These are all grown people, 18+, who are legal voters and oh, by the way, have volunteered to serve and possibly die for their country. So let's say that one of these "adults" goes out at 2:00 am and gets drunk, then gets in a car and drives somewhere, and gets arrested. This is my fault.

Let's make it more interesting. Say this guy goes out at 2:00 am and doesn't get drunk, but in fact volunteers to be the designated driver. Say one of his pals leaves an empty can of beer in the car, and the Soldier gets stopped at the gate, and the MPs find an empty in the designated driver's car. The Soldier gets a ticket. This too is my fault.

Say a Soldier gets too fat to be in the Army, and has to be discharged from service. This too is my fault.

To be fair, when the Soldiers do great things (and more often than not, they do) I get credit for that too. But no one remembers those. They only remember the guy who was snorting cocaine off of the body of a stripper while he was in the club, underage, and got arrested (this happened in one of my buddies' units).

But all these things are my fault. And I will get asked questions.
"CPT Galan, why did you allow your Soldier to drive drunk?"
"What did you do to ensure they wouldn't drive drunk?"
"Did you tell them not to drive drunk?"
"Why did you allow this Soldier to get fat?"
"CPT Galan, what's your plan to ensure that designated drivers are trained in the 'open container' statutes in the state of Texas?"

These are incidental things to the actual, legitimate operational requirements that I have. We conduct maintenance on all 132 pieces of rolling stock (wheeled vehicles) that I have, weekly. I have a minimum of four meetings per week that I must attend. Plus the myriad last-minute "hey you" missions that come down. I know, whine whine whine. But sometimes (and only sometimes) I feel like the weight of all this responsibility is crushing me. But because I love the Army, because I love Soldiers and being a Soldier, and because I feel deeply that all Soldiers are entitled to leadership that gives a crap, I carry on.

But then something like this happens:

I had a Soldier who worked for me while I was on staff, for about two years. He was a good Soldier and a smart kid; he really worked hard and learned quickly. When I took command, I stopped being his immediate boss and became his commander- which means, ironically, that I saw him less but was responsible for more of his life.

Well, this Soldier got into some personal drama when we came back from Kuwait. He started hanging out with the wrong guys, and finally got caught with THC in his system during a urinalysis (that's weed, for those of you who don't know). He forced my hand- I had to punish him. I took his rank, took his money, confined him to the base and gave him 45 days of additional duty (after the work day- basically, from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm). I also gave him the option: he could take his lumps and try to learn from this, continue on in the Army and recover (which is completely possible given the right attitude and motivation) or he could get out of the Army. He chose the latter, despite my repeated attempts to keep him in. I understand redemption, and I understand making stupid mistakes, and I thought he was worth the effort. But this Soldier chose to leave military service, and so I sped him on his way.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I received a phone call saying that this guy was in the hospital, having almost bled out from self-inflicted slashes to his wrists. He tried to kill himself because he couldn't find a job, couldn't afford his bills, and had no place else to go. I also found out that all this guy used to do in his spare time was watch military programs and reminisce about the Army. Oh, and his mother blamed the unit- my unit, me- for ruining this guy's life, and driving him to attempt suicide.

The good news is, this guy is still alive. The doctors were able to save him, and he's got family around. Here's the problem, though. I feel like his mom is right. I know objectively that he made his own decisions. He chose to do drugs, he chose to leave the Army, and he chose to cut his wrists. But this was one of my Soldiers, for more than two years. I trained him, I taught him, I served him. And I discharged him from the Army. This too is my fault.

This is what comes of all that crushing responsibility. The thought that I am somehow to blame for this guy's terrible life choices, because he was my Soldier for a while. And while no one is blaming me for this, I still think about it. I struggle under the weight of all of the poor decisions of my subordinates, because I have been trained to feel that I am responsible for them.

Ultimately, I think this is what makes our military great, and what defines leadership in the military services. The thought that as a Soldier, I have someone who is invested in each one of my decisions, on duty or off, is really encouraging. It doesn't matter if they care because someone told them it's their job to care, or if they care because that's the kind of person they are- the bottom line is, I'm supported. Someone has my back, just like I've got the back of every one of those 175 knuckleheads I'm nominally in charge of. I'll happily provide marriage counseling, financial counseling, get drunken phone calls in the wee hours, work early, late, weekends, and everything in between so these Soldiers know that I've got their back, because I love what I do.

But sometimes it's pretty freaking hard.

I'm Bringing Sexy Back

You heard me.

The tall one is me, and the one who looks like a Panamanian General is my First Sergeant, 1SG Neumann. He is my right hand man, and keeps me out of trouble.

Me (the tall one again. Sometimes I think I work in Munchkinland). From left to right, not counting me, CPT Jeff Jaramillo (will be taking command in two weeks), MAJ Bill Dowling (the Battalion Executive Officer), CSM Evaristo Torres (the BN CSM) and 1LT Ginette Bocanegra (my XO.)

In case you're wondering, the little short coats that Dowling and Torres are wearing are called the Mess Dress uniform. They cost A TON and I'm not getting one until I'm a major.

(This was at the Association of the United States Army Bradley Leadership Awards Banquet. Or the Army Prom.)

Papi, what's a general?

That's a general.

Where were you?

Wow, just looked at this blog for the first time since, well, May. It's been a ri-freakin'-diculously busy several months, and I've been forced through sheer fatigue into this long hiatus. I think I've got a handle on my life now, so I will start updating again.

Today's entry is three days late- I had originally inteded to publish this on 11 September, but got lazy.

During September 11th, 2001, I was working in the Washington, D.C. area. I was attached to an agency called the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was doing a joint (meaning multi-service: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) mission dealing with a couple of Latin American countries. There were about thirty of us, of which maybe five were Army personnel. We all lived in these really nice furnished apartments in the D.C. suburbs. Mine was two blocks off of the Ballston Metro station. I had already been in D.C. for ten days, and had settled into a routine.

Every morning, I would wake up, get dressed in my Class B uniform (slacks, shirt, name tag, medals, beret), and go downstairs. The van would pick me up, along with the other personnel assigned to the DIA for that day. We'd get to work at about 0700, get a bagel and Diet Coke, and start work no later than 0730.

The 11th was business as usual. I had just settled down to work, had my headphones on and was listening to Weezer. We worked on the 14th floor of an office tower complex called Crystal Towers, in Crystal City, VA (approximately one mile from the Pentagon, and maybe seven miles from D.C. proper). Anyway, there I was, Weezering it up, and all of a sudden, heads start popping up from cubicles. I took out my earphones to find out what was happening, and started hearing radio stations announce that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers.

Since we were all intel nerds, we stopped what we were doing and went to the TV to watch CNN. That's when we saw the second plane hit. We were stunned- no one spoke. Finally, one of the Airmen said what we were all thinking.

"Holy Shit." (sorry, Mom).

We all started making phone calls to our respective headquarters- we knew it was a matter of time until we were recalled back to our units to prepare for war. That's when it happened.

An Air Force colonel came running in to our office. "Everyone evacuate the building- a plane just crashed into the Pentagon!"

Here's why I love the military. At this point, instead of devolving into panic, we all looked at our NCOIC for instruction.

"Get out of the office, walk down the stairs, and get outside."

Which we did. We got outside and saw all traffic at a complete standstill. We also saw, about a mile away, a column of thick, black smoke coming up from the Pentagon.

"The van will be here in an hour. Til then, no one leaves. Report to me if you need to use the bathroom or leave the immediate area for any reason."

We stood there for an hour, watching all the buildings on our block disgorge literally hundreds of military personnel, all in their Class B uniforms. Then we all stood there for another hour, watching each other watch the same unmoving cars.

Those few of us who were able to make cell phone calls contacted our loved ones. My Mom was at my apartment, visiting Jen.

"Mom, turn on the news. I'm ok, just wake up Jen."

"What?"

"Turn on the news, I'm ok, now wake up Jen."

"Oh my goodness, are you ok?"

(Facepalm.)

"Yes, I'm ok, now wake up Jen, please."

Once I finally told Jen I was ok and not to worry, I hung up. That was the last phone call I was able to make for two days.

Back on the street in Crystal City, we finally decided that the van wasn't coming. So we all started to walk home.

We walked past miles of stopped cars, past police and emergency responders, past National Guardsmen. We walked through two suburbs- eight total miles in plastic dress shoes and wool slacks. I know because I kept a 100-meter pace count and counted the kilometers all the way.

As we all walked home, we saw thousands of military servicemembers, all walking to their various suburbs. All I could think about was "holy crap, if they got us now, look at how many casualties they'd get."

By the time we made it back to our apartments, it was dark. We all congregated in one apartment and watched the news. No one wanted to be alone. Later, we all went back to our individual places and went to bed.

That's my story. I was at a 9-11 rememberance cremony on Friday, and someone asked those of us who were personally affected by 9-11 to raise our hands. My First Sergeant looked at me and said "I spent three and a half freaking years of my life in the Middle East. How's that?"

Personally, I hate 9-11 rememberances. I know it was horrible- I was there (kind of). I remember the feeling of helplessness and anger, and the urge to retaliate. I remember the resolve we all had that this would never happen again. I imagine people felt the same way on December 8th, 1942.

But I for one would just like to get on with it. Let's remember that it happened, not with a schmaltzy funeral every year, but with decisive action, with determination, with substantive fixes for the systemic problems that led to the attacks. Remember 9-11, but keep it to yourself.

Big News

Big news, everyone.  I was offered a Battery Command.  For those of you not in the military, I will explain:  The main goal of every Captain in the Army is to be a Company/Battery/Troop commander.  Unfortunately, for officers in my career field, those opportunities are fewer and farther between because of the way the Army has been restructured.  Couple that with the fact that command is a privilege and and honor, and you get a glimpse of why this is big news for me.

As part of my incipient command, I have written a draft of a command philosophy.  There is a lot of stuff I could have put in it, but I was trying to keep it to under a page and a half.  I am going to reprint it here, with the caveat that this is a first draft.

Oh, also, the battery call sign is "Hardcore," so don't be confused by that.

Here goes.

1.      Our mission is to provide outstanding, professional support to the line batteries of 2-43 ADA BN.   While the other units conduct air defense operations, we provide the critical unified command and control necessary to accomplish the battalion’s missions.  Hardcore Soldiers are a team, and our job is to support the battalion’s missions in peace and war.  Our attitude must always be “The answer is ‘yes,’ now what is the question?”  We will take pride in our ability to sustain the combat capability of our fellow Warriors no matter what conditions, no matter what time, no matter what day

 

2.      Hardcore Soldiers are motivated.  Hardcore Soldiers are treated with dignity and respect, and Hardcore leaders constantly demonstrate real concern for Soldiers.  This does not mean pampering Soldiers, but ensuring they are always trained, informed, personal problems are addressed promptly, awards are timely and punishment is exacted swiftly when needed. 

 

3.      Hardcore Soldiers are professionals.  They are disciplined, motivated, and proficient in their MOS.  The nature of the HHB mission requires a high degree of personal responsibility on the part of all Soldiers, particularly in staff sections.  Soldiers and junior leaders must step up and take individual responsibility in their work.  This means that more senior leaders must empower their subordinates and allow them opportunities to excel.

 

4.      Non-Commissioned Officers are the backbone of the Army and of our unit.  Platoon, Staff, and section NCOICs are the center of gravity around which all battery operations revolve.  I will treat you with the respect you deserve- ensure you earn it.  Leaders will set the example at all times.  Good leadership provides purpose, direction, motivation, and will spark esprit in a unit.  I expect leaders to lead their soldiers, care for them by holding them to high standards and preparing them for combat.  Developing young Soldiers and junior leaders for increased responsibility is a priority in all our training.  Depth is provided in our ranks through delegation with supervision, as our primary method of leader development.  I expect all NCOs to know and live by the Creed of the Non-Commissioned Officer, to ensure that they are the standard-bearers of professionalism and to provide the outstanding leadership that all Soldiers deserve.

 

5.      Hardcore Soldiers and their Families are the core of our unit.  The Army frequently demands much of our time and effort, so we as leaders must ensure that we safeguard Family time for our Soldiers.  I believe in a strong, involved FRG and will work to ensure that Families are informed and involved in unit activities.

 

6.      The Army is not a zero-defect organization.  We will all make mistakes- it is how we react to those mistakes that will determine our success as individuals and as a unit.  I will do my best to take care of Soldiers who make honest mistakes.  I do have some zero-tolerance areas, however:  Drug or alcohol-related incidents, domestic violence, adultery, equal opportunity/sexual harassment or violence against another Soldier will be prosecuted with all the resources available to me.

 

7.      HARDCORE!