A Tale of Two Guidons ... Leading the Company

As I walked through a battalion’s area one day, a pair of company guidons caught my eye. What was interesting was that one stood starkly alone on a bent staff with “thousand-mile tape” wrapped around the joint where the two halves join, while the other bore streamers de-noting the unit was “Honor Company,” had received the battalion “Maintenance Award,” had “High Reenlistment,” and was tactically proficient as evidenced by a “Battle Run” streamer. Those two guidons said a lot about the quality of the units they represented. My interest piqued, I decided to find out how the two companies differed and why. The next day, I dropped by the motor pool during a scheduled command maintenance period. The first thing that caught my eye was the streamer-bedecked guidon I’d seen the day before. It was flying from the company commander’s tank. The unit’s vehicle line was alive with activity. In front of each tank stood an NCO calling out items to be checked from the preventive maintenance checks and services section of the vehicle operator’s manual. As an item was called, a crewman would perform the check and report his findings to the NCO, who logged it on the DA Form 2404. by Captain Dale E. Wilson In one instance, a young soldier appeared to be confused by his NCO’s instructions, so the NCO patiently showed the soldier what to do, then had him perform the check. Well, I thought, this company obviously has strong NCO leadership, but where are the officers? I asked the First Sergeant, who was climbing in and out of tanks making spot checks. “You’ll find them up at battalion maintenance, sir,” was his reply. As I walked through the motor pool toward the maintenance shop, I noticed the line of tanks belonging to the other company whose guidon I’d noted the day before. Only a few soldiers were there. Several tanks were still locked up, and those that were being worked on had only one or two soldiers performing the tasks. Few operator’s manuals were out, and NCO supervision was conspicuously absent. I walked up to a soldier who was greasingroadwheels. “What are you doing, soldier?” I asked. “Pulling PMCS, sir,” he replied. “Where’s your dash-ten, your tank commander, and the rest of your crew?” I asked. “Well, we don’t have a dash-ten, but it’son order. My tank commander called in this morning to say his wife was sick and he had to take her to the hospital, and the driver’s out by the front gate getting us a couple of sodas from the roach coach.” “Okay,” I replied, “how about your platoon sergeant or platoon leader?” “Oh, they’re all up at the orderly room in a meeting with Top and the Old Man.” So much for “command maintenance” in this outfit, I thought. At battalion maintenance, I found the first company’s commander, executive officer, and platoon leaders hard at work reconciling the document register and checking out bins in the Parts Room. I hung back, listening to the conversation: Commander: “Okay, First Platoon, talk to me about the parts in One-Two’s bin.” 1st Platoon Leader: “Sir, we received the transmission oil pressure sending unit on this morning’s parts run. The motor sergeant knows it’sin, and a mechanic is on his way now to get it and install it. We’ll have One-Two up by close of business. As for the other parts you see, I realize that we’ve had them for more time than that allowed for installation on the vehicle, but we can’t put them on until we get the required cotter pins.” Commander: “Right. Have you ARMOR: The Magazine of Mobile Warfare 35

“... Those two guidons said a lot about the quality of the units they represented...“ checked with quick service supply to see if they have any on hand?” 1st Platoon Leader: “Yes sir, but they’re at zero balance, so I dropped a requisition on (he points to the document register) zero-one-nine. That’s three weeks ago. You’ll notice that they’ve been released for issue, so they should get here any day now.” Commander: “Good. Now, tell me what you’d have done if they weren’t released for issue.” 1st Platoon Leader: “That’s easy. I’d wait one more week and, if the status was still good, send a follow-up. If I got a bad status on the follow-up, I’d reorder.” Commander: “Correct. Third Platoon, I know you’re new at this, so I want you to pay attention. See those end connectors in Three-Three’s bin? They’ve been laying there for six days now. I expect you to ensure your platoon sergeant gets your tank commanders up here every day to clean out their bins and get the parts put on the vehicles. If they can be installed by the crew, fine. If not, coordinate with the motor sergeant. If you have trouble getting a mechanic, let the XO know. Once the part is on the vehicle, make sure the TC goes to the dash-fourteen and closes out the entry. Got that?” 3d Platoon Leader: “Yes sir.” Hey, I thought, these guys are squared away. The CO gets personally involved and uses his inspection as a teaching vehicle for his platoon leaders. I wonder what that other company does? I went into the PLL clerks’ work area. The PLL clerk for the other company was making entries in the document register. At that moment, the XO walked up. “Let me have the document register, Brown,” he said to the clerk. “I need to initial off on the high-priority parts.” After he’d finished, I asked the clerk if the XO usually did that. “Yes sir, the Old Man delegated the authority to him.” “I see,” I replied. “Does your commander get down here often to check parts status?” “Nah,” said the clerk. “The last time he asked to see the book was just before the AGI. That was about eight weeks ago.” Hmmmm, I thought, quite a difference in interest these two commanders take in their maintenance effort. That afternoon, I decided to eavesdrop on training in the two companies. The difference again was like that between night and day. In the company whose guidon sported the streamers, I found numerous activities going on simultaneously. The supply sergeant was working “one-on-one” with his clerk, showing him how to prepare Statements of Charges and Cash Collection Vouchers. In the back of the orderly room, the 1st Platoon was using a sand table to practice platoon battle drills. The second platoon was outside, tank commanders drilling their crewmen in the assembly, disassembly, and cleaning of the M-85. Third Platoon was in the motor pool practicing crew drills inside the tanks. Throughout it all, the commander and first sergeant could be seen observing training in each element, and platoon leaders and platoon sergeants were active participants, training with the troops. In 2d Platoon’s area, the commander participated in an M-85 field-stripping competition with the crewmen. In the other company, I found a cluster of bored soldiers in the back of the orderly room listening while a junior NCO read a task to them from the 19E Soldiers Manual. No other officers or NCOs were present. On the way back from the motor pool, where I’d been watching the first company’s 3d Platoon perform crew drills, I ran into the company commander and introduced myself. “I hope you don’t mind, but I saw your guidon yesterday and wanted to find out what makes your company tick, so I’ve been observing some of your training and maintenance today. I’m impressed.” “Thanks,” he said, “but it’s easy to have a good company when you’ve got soldiers and NCOs like I’ve got. They’re great.” “So I’ve noticed. Mind if we go up to your office and talk?” “Sure,” he said. When we got to the orderly room, I asked him what his physical training program was like. He pulled out a notebook and handed it to me. In it were the PT test cards for everyone in the company. Glancing through, it looked to me like the average score was over 250. He noticed my expression and said, “The average is 261. When I first took command, it was 209. They were in pretty bad shape. We had a high sick call rate on PT days, and attendance by officers and NCOs was terrible. The company had one NCO who led PT regularly, and they did the same thing every day. “The first thing I did was have the ‘first shirt’ administer the PT test to me in front of the whole company. I scored a 288. I issued a challenge to the troops, offering a three-day pass and letter of commendation to anyone who beat my score. I told them I’d make it a four-day pass if they beat my score and my two-mile run time of 13:40. Since then, I’ve given a lot of passes and written a lot of letters, but the 52-point increase in average scores was worth it. “I also changed the way we ran our PT sessions. We’ve now got three Master Fitness NCOs in the company. We give the troops a lot of variety - aerobics, grass drills, guerilla exercises, sprints, distance runs in ability groups, strength training, etc. And, we rotate all our NCOs as PT leaders. “I’m a firm believer in the benefits of a rigorous PT program. I expect officers and NCOs to lead by example, so I challenged them to exceed 250 on the APRT. I also try to split our workouts equally between aerobic and anaerobic training. To help increase scores on the push-up and sit-up events, we do two minutes of push-ups and sit-ups at every PT session.” I asked him how the unit planned its other training activities. “That’s easy,” he said. “We just 36 ARMOR: The Magazine of Mobile Warfare observe the Battalion Training Management System guidelines. We have a weekly training meeting at which we break out the time for unit training. The platoons have already assessed their needs, so they present the tasks they want trained, assign instructors, and request resources. I think our key to success is that we keep the classes small and allow first-line supervisors to function in their role as trainers. “We also take our company NCO and Officer Professional Development Programs seriously. ‘Top’ is the personification of the perfect master trainer. He meets with all the NCOs twice a week. They work on Skill Level 3 and 4 tasks and other NCO duties and responsibilities. I work with the officers during those same periods and in ‘one-on-one’ sessions as often as possible.” “What about morale indicators?” I asked. “No AWOLs in the past 12 months, and the lowest Article 15 rate in the brigade,” he said matter-of-factly. “We also exceeded our reenlistment objective the last three quarters and give a lot of awards. I’m a firm believer in General Bruce

C. Clarke’s philosophy that the ratio of pats on the back to kicks in the butt should be 10-to-1 in favor of positive strokes. I don’t mean we give medals out like candy, but I actively seek opportunities to recognize outstanding performance with letters of commendation or appreciation or certificates of achievement - in addition to decorations. “Something else I do is send a copy of letters, certificates, and award citations to parents and wives with a personal note telling them how well their son or husband is doing and how proud I am to be their commander. That little touch gets a lot of mileage for the amount of effort expended. I’ve gotten calls from parents and had soldiers come up and thank me - it really lets them know I care about them as individuals. “I also expect the officers and NCOs to come in and spend time in the billets after duty hours. They do it informally, usually in civvies, lounging in the day room or talking to the guys in their rooms. It makes the leaders’ presence felt - lets the troops know we care how they live and that we’re not ‘flag soldiers’.” He was on a roll, and I didn’t want to interrupt. “I think the most important thing a commander can do is create a climate in which subordinate leaders and soldiers can work to their fullest potential. That means giving them the freedom to fail while the commander absorbs the flak from higher headquarters. “When I was enlisted, I despised officers who sat in their offices drinking coffee and shuffling papers all day while trying to control every detail of every operation themselves. I swore if I ever got the chance to be a commander, I’d let my NCOs take care of NCO business. “At the same time, I make it a practice to stay out of my office and be with the troops. Again, I think General Clarke summed it up best when he said ‘the only things that get done are those things the boss checks.’ But I don’t just go snoop-ing or stand on the side, observing. I participate with the troops. During maintenance periods, I put on my coveralls and work side-by-side with them as much as possible. When they train, I train right beside them. That does two things for me. It gives me a chance to informally check up on NCO performance and ensure standards are being maintained. It also gives me credibility with the troops because I prove to them I’m tactically and technically proficient and that I’m willing to share their hardships.” I looked at my watch. “Hey, time flies when you’re having fun,” I said. “It’s time I got going, though.” “Yeah,” he replied, waving at a I was a Sergeant First Class before his commissioning as an OCS honor graduate in

1979. He has served as a cavalry platoon leader in the 194th Armored Brigade, Fort Knox; a tank battalion adjutant in Korea; a tank battalion S3 Air and company commander in the 2/34 Armor, Fort Carson, where his tank company was Fort Carson’s 1985 Draper Award winner. He is now attending CAS3 to be followed by completion of a masters degree in history at Temple University. He is scheduled to be assigned to the U. S. Military Academy faculty in June, 1988. well-stocked in-box. “It’s after 1730, so I’d best get started on this paperwork - my wife likes it when I get home at a decent hour.” As I left the orderly room, a buck sergeant from another company passed me without saluting. Before I could say anything, a PFC coming out the door behind me said, nodding in my direction, “Excuse me, sergeant, but aren’t you forgetting something?” The NCO seemed to notice me for the first time and sheepishly saluted. I t wasn’t hard to see how that company earned all those streamers.... c ARMOR: The Magazine of Mobile Warfare 37