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…
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