Draper Essay Award Winner: The Evolution of a Battalion Commander

The following essay was selected as the winner of the Draper Combat Leadership Trust Fund's essay contest, announced in the September-October issue of ARMOR. Being a leader is an evolutionary process. Leaders evolve through observation and study of other leaders and, most importantly, through experience in leadership positions. Most leaders have learned their leadership skills at the school of "Hard Knocks" (which is right down the street from the school at Fort Knox). We disciples of leadership all secretly hope that some day our biographers will write that we were natural leaders of men. Hopefully our egos won't grow to the extent that we can't smile at that statement and remember back down the road to being a leader. "natural leaders"? Did you not watch, listen and file the experience away saying to yourself "When I get a chance to be a leader, 1'11 get the informal leader on my side and I'll use the leadership techniques that I've seen work and discard the rest."? "... Do you remember meeting the campus oddball, who you immediately dismissed as a nerd?... I' Remember when we were children and our teachers would select one of us to be in charge of some class exercise? And remember watching your peers or yourself struggle, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, with positive or negative motivational techniques - techniques that either caused chaos or impelled our classmates to accomplish the task? Do you remember the informal leaders who arose during those initial leadership exercises? Most often these informal leaders were the extroverted, well dressed, good looking, athletic children who were considered 'hatural leaders". Do you remember the disastrous results when the informal leaders were a disruptive influence upon your classmates? Did you ever have the rarer experience of seeing the informal leader unselfishly support the selected leader with the resulting successful outcome? Were you one of the many children who were not choosen to lead or not, at that time, Remember when we participated in organized athletics and the naturally exuberant individual was slapping everyone on the back, getting us fired up and ready to win for good old Lincoln High? And remember the normally quiet and even meek individual who, due to a lack of physical skills, insecurity or whatever reason, attempted to ape the mannerisms of the inherently enthusiastic individual? Do you remember thinking, "This guy is faking it and he is falling flat on his tail"? Again, did you not watch, listen and say to yourself, "I've got to be myself if I want to be a successful leader."? Remember when we went to work after high school and later to college and we met people from other parts of the country and other social classes? People who were much different than the relatively narrow group of folks we hung around with in high school. And remember when we began to have the self confidence to be ourselves and not a clone of the group we associated with? Do you remember meeting the campus oddball who you ini-mediately dismissed as a nerd? But as the years went by you rcalized that while his appearance or manner of speaking was odd, his brain was quick and penetrating. His obvious talent in his field earned him the respect of his peers and as a result, he became a campus leader. Do you remember realizing that competence, talent and respect for others is repaid by peer respect and eventually positions of leadership? We all remember our first military leadership experience. The tight feeling in our stomach when we reported into ROTC summer camp, OCS or beast barracks. And remember practicing facing movements in front of tbe mirror, going over Jody cadence in your mind and the way your knees trembled the first time you reported to the TAC officer? Do you recall the first military leader that you admired? Wasn'the the cocky, self-confident, often funny, bemedaled infantry officer who seemed to possess an intense inner force. He had a force that made you listen and want to be like him. Did you also meet tbe cadet/candidate who worked his tail off and thus had the knowledge, appearance and bearing of an officer but lacked tbe humor, the personality, that force that caused men to want to follow him? And did you find in yourself some of the qualities of the dynamic officer and the automaton cadetkandidate?

Did you work to enhance your inner force and suppress your robotic-like qualities? Then we were commissioned and paid the silver dollar to that seemingly old man, that senior noncommissioned officer who first saluted us. Remember basic course, one of many lieutenants vainly searching for respect and truth from what was presented on the platform and in the field? "Lieutenants, pay close attention to what I'm going to teach you during this period of instruction. For this information will allow you to kill the enemy and save your life and the lives of the fine American soldiers entrusted to pour care," harked the sergeant first class. Remember how the impact of that warning waned as each instructor of each different subject gave us his variation of that speech? And remember your impatience for graduation from the basic course and your eagerness to report to your first unit with visions of glory and the desire to impress all with your new found knowledge? Jn freshly cleaned class A uniform, calling cards in the right breast pocket, clutching an inch-thick manila envelope crammed with orders already damp with palm perspiration, in spite of the European coolness, you reported into the adjutant of your first battalion. Remember the lack of joy on his face when you clicked your heels and saluted the obviously overworked first lieutenant? "You don't need to salute me or call me sir, geenbean, just sit down and relax until I can figure out where to put you," said the exasperated adjutant. Welcome to the real Army. And do you recall meeting your first company commander, first sergeant and platoon sergeant? Aren't their names and faces indelibly etched into your mind? Did you have a satisfying initial talk with your platoon sergeant or did he give you the "I'll wait and see if your worth a "... But after watching company commanders for a couple of years, didn't you say to yourself, 'I can do better '?..." damn, lieutenant, hefore I open up to you" attitude? And what about your platoon? Didn't you step back and wonder if you had stumbled by mistake onto a Hollywood movie lot where they were shooting a war movie? AI1 the stereotypical characters were present. We had the spoiled rich kid, the mamma's boy, the country boy, the thug, the college kid and the guy from the inner city. But mostly we had the draftees who quietly went about their business and honorably served their time in the Army. Remember the B. S. sessions in the field and the telling of all the lies about the home town, girlfriends, weird friends, personal exploits and the typical, "If you think that's bad, let me tell you about..." one-up-manship? Did you ever challenge your platoon by saying, "They (the BdCo commander or whoever) think we are all screwed up. Let's show them what this platoon can do!"? Remember the look of approval from the platoon sergeant and the gleam in the eyes of the platoon members as they went about preparing for the dreaded event? And remember the pride and feeling of satisfaction, the shouts of triumph, the sense of relief as your platoon all qualified on Range 80 Grafenwoehr? Then they moved you out of the platoon and into a batlalion staff job. Remember the larewell party, the handshake from the platoon sergeant, the feeling of respect from the first sergeant, and the final "Don't screw it up and don't forget where you came from." from your company commander? Weren't you left with a feeling of sadness but satisfaction? Did you find the staff job as challenging, but less satisfying, than being a platoon leader? If so, didn't you start to set your sights on company command? Were there not other platoon leaders who were not as successful in their platoons? Remember the lieutenants who found the challenges of staff work more self-fulfilling and the prospect of command more threatcning? Was this not the first indication that not all were cut out to be military leaders? As a staff offrcer, do you recall watching and evaluating company commanders? Didn't you learn by watching their triumphs and failures? Their independence and the power of their position was evident. "The staff will never say no to a company commander. That is green-tab business," the grey-haired battalion commander said, glaring at tbe staff. If you didn't feel like a second-class citizen before, you did then. But after watching company commanders for a couple of years, didn't you say to yourself, "1 can do better, or at least as well? That company commander's lieutenants fear him. He can't get along with his first sergeant and his NCOs and his troops hate him. Tbe other company commander can't make a decision and can't wait until his command is over so be can go to graduate school. Now, the E company commander is having fun, his soldiers admire and respect him, his NCO's totally support him, he has high standards and his company is the best in the battalion. 1 want to be a company commander just like him." The inventory was bewildering, the change of command quick, and as you signed the first morning report the thought crossed your mind, "What now, captain?" Did you slowly gain the repect of your command or did you rapidly demand it? Was your first sergeant a partner in the running of your company or did you shut him out and leave him with 50 menial police/duty roster responsibilities? Could you share leadership or was your company a one-man show? Did you train your lieutenants or did you let them fail or succeed on their own? Did you enjoy talking to your soldiers, either in a group or individually? Did you stay open and positive in your attitude toward your troopers or did you let the few bad apples cause you to withdraw and be bitter about the quality of your soldiers as a whole? Did you seck to stay in command as long as possihle or did you consider command across to bear in order to get a better job? More than likely, we left knowing that there is no better job than company command for a leader if the battalion commander allowed us to lead our company. Commanding successfully meant we left command with a unit that was at least as good as it was when we took command. We also left with a successful leadership style that was uniquely our own: a style demonstrating tactical and technical competence, a style that earns the leader a reputation of being firm but fair, a style that earns the respect ol the unit's NCOs, and lastly, a style that creates lieutenants who want to be a company commander just like us. What of the years after company command? Remember keeping up with our craft in the doldrums of the 3Rs? Reflecting upon our past leadership accomplishments, we, through enthusiasm and force of personality, recruited line young men, influenced promising ROTC cadets, or caused our reserve components to consider us totally professional military officers. Now you are a major and, unless you are in SF or aviation, you have no opportunity to command. This may he the time that the lucky ones meet their mentor. A mentor is the person who takes the time and interest to teach us what the Army schools do not. He is the man who instructs us about brigades and divisions, budgets and programs and training constraints, tactics and operations. Did you have such a mentor and advisor? Did he allow you to grow within yourself and not attempt to make you his clone? Remember that efficiency report he wrote that said "1 would light to make him one of my battalion commanders"? And remember that first faint glimmer of hope that it might come true? They promote you and they put you on the battalion command list. Before you know it you are at the pre-command course, quivering with anticipation, impatient with the instructors, and eager to get in command. The day of the change of command arrives, you give your short humble speech, and you sit in your bare new office and think, "What now, colonel?". Then the adjutant drops a letter on your desk. You open it to discover a note from your mentor responding to your invitation to come to tbe change of command. The letter says, "AS you take command, let me give you two bits of advice: 0Don't change. The Army has selected you for what you have been.. Your legacy will be the lieutenants you touch. All else is transitory. They will remember you as long as they live. Good Luck, get hits." Now it all comes together; your leadership course is clear. You and your leadership style are a function ol your environment, values and experience. Remember the leadership lessons learned. Retain the ability to recall what it is like to be a platoon leader, company commander or staff oflicer. Remember you will be starting some lieutenant's leadership evolution and hopefully, your company commanders want to be a battalion commander just like you. (Continued From Back Cover) 172d Armor Campaign Participation Credit Civil War Gettysburg Virginia 1861 Virginia 1862 World War I Streamer without inscription World War I1 New Guinea Northern Solomons (with arrowhead) Luzon (with arrowhead) Rhineland Central Europe Decorations Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, Streamer embroidered 17 OCTOBER 1944 to 4 Headquarters Company, 1 st Battalion (St. Albans), additionally entitled to: Presidential Unlt Citation (Army), Streamer embroidered IPO DAM, LUZON (2d Bat-JULY 1945 (172d Infantry cited: DA GO 47, 1950) talion, 172d Infantry, cited; WD GO 90, 1945)