by Dan Kinney and John Singharath
Regardless of branch, commanding a unit is one of the hardest jobs you’ll ever have as an officer or senior NCO—it’s also one of the most rewarding. With anything in the Army, it’s been done before and there’s a chance for you too to make it better. This article is based on our reflections, successes, lessons learned, and failures while in command. Any officer or senior NCO who fears failure isn’t ready to be a part of a Command Team.
Seek Efficiency, Even in the Small Things. Change can be hard in the Army, but it’s what makes things more efficient. One of the most impactful changes we made right away was scrapping the concept of the “Commander and First Sergeant’s Office”. We figured a large room with a few desks, a whiteboard, and a table could be a more efficient way for us to operate. After all, you’re a command team, not celebrities. We tucked ourselves and the Executive Officer (XO) in a large room with a few desks and put a large conference table in the middle for platoon and section leaders to give us feedback. We were criticized by others for not having an office, yet we found it was far more efficient for not just planning, but for daily operations. It may sound like a Silicon Valley “open office” gimmick, but it worked well. We were able to problem solve and plan far quicker. Don’t be afraid to change what seems like small things… even where you sit.
Know When to Say No. Our Division Command Sergeant Major Randolph Delapena said it best: “We owe it to our Paratroopers to say no.” Hearing this from him helped us understand when we should add training or events and when enough was enough. Saying “no” isn’t telling the battalion command team you are refusing to do something, instead it’s working with your higher headquarters to give them a realistic idea of what can be accomplished. Don’t add random events or mandatory fun just to fill the training calendar. The whole point of the training calendar is to resource, synchronize, and schedule training for your assigned mission. Use the training calendar and know your unit’s limits. Don’t be afraid to say no.
Seek Work-Life Balance. Many believe this is impossible, but it’s not. That’s not to say it is easy. However, with good time management skills and an ability to say no when appropriate, it is achievable to some degree. Use the tools at your disposal—half days, late work calls, leave, and passes. Passes are an underutilized tool that enables you to care for a Soldier and their family. At times, you will want to keep the gas pedal on the floor, but you have to ask yourself: “is it really worth it?” Sometimes it is not, and staying an extra hour or two won’t accomplish anything that can’t be done tomorrow.
Invest in the Unit. An old Greek proverb states, “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit in.” To follow this adage, you must keep the future leaders and members of your unit at the top of your priorities. For example, updating admin records in your company operations shop sets the unit up for longer-term success. Getting Paratroopers into elective schools (non-PME) invests in expertise that may benefit the next commander more than yourself. These choices are by no means easy, but improvements made in the organization will benefit those who will replace you. We found that applying this concept to our unit paid great dividends, with the newer Soldiers typically being the primary beneficiaries.
Promote Retention. Retention is often overlooked by command teams at the unit level because they think they can’t influence it. Command teams sometimes believe that encouraging reenlistment, which often comes with an expedited Soldier PCS timeline, hurts the unit more than it helps. We’d argue otherwise. Retention is an investment, but it is investing in the individual and the Army as a whole. Every time a Soldier chooses to reenlist or even extend, it’s a win for the Army. Many times a reenlistment means a Soldier will then fill a vacant or soon-to-be vacant position in another unit. Understand that supporting retention impacts the Army as a whole and its ability to man units at echelon.
Manage Your Property. There are quantifiable variables known as key performance indicators (KPI) at the unit level. From an objective standpoint, KPIs are data points on the unit’s overall readiness, Mission Essential Task List (METL) proficiency, and capability to deploy with little notice. Although there are numerous KPIs, we’d argue that a unit’s Command Supply Discipline Program (CSDP) is the one system which drives all others. Without it, your unit’s ability to perform maintenance or to conduct a simple weapons qualification is impacted. How can you train on tasks if you can’t provide the supplies to do so? If property management is non-existent or insufficient, you will find that the extra time the unit spends on property management will eat into valuable training time. Humble yourself by learning about the Army’s supply regulations and policies.
Balance Training and Taskings. Every unit will be tasked to support adjacent units with personnel and/or equipment. Once you accept the reality of these taskings, it’s much easier to plan how you will meet them. We found it best to combine our training calendar with taskings. This lets everyone in the unit know what is happening in time and space. For example, you can capture a platoon going to the enduring qualification range, another platoon laying out equipment for cyclic inventories, the headquarters section assisting with a service on their HMMWV, and the five Soldiers aligned to the task of running the obstacle course for the Soldier/NCO of the Quarter Competition. Seeing the whole of your company’s requirements—including the painful taskings—enables you to better accomplish the variety of both training and taskings.
Get a Government Purchase Card (GPC). Get your hands on a GPC; plain and simple. It will enable you to solve problems, save time, enhance training, and most of all—you can use it when and if you deploy. Personal deployment experience showed us that having a GPC is invaluable. In the money world of the Army, a GPC is referred to as a procurement mechanism. Think of it as a tool for the Army to pay for things, just like a contract is a way for the Army to pay for goods or a service. Get the buy-in from your higher headquarters and appoint someone who is responsible and trustworthy, with longevity in the unit. To take it one step further, there’s nothing to say you can’t help your sister companies within the battalion either. We did exactly that when summer PCS season hit our Battalion hard. The GPC enhanced numerous training events. Get a GPC and figure out the business rules associated with it. It will pay dividends.
Accept Failure. There’s an old saying that “failure is a far greater teacher than success.” How can you expect to learn from failure if you don’t even take the first step to accept it? One of the hardest things to do in life is to fail. In the Army, it is no different. We failed at many things, but the far more important thing was learning to be better at whatever we failed at. From equipment inspections to the effectiveness of your unit level programs, such as Command Supply Discipline Program (CSDP) and Command Maintenance Discipline Program (CMDP), accept when you fail. Learn from it and never make the same mistake twice.
Thou Shalt Be a Team Player. You’d think it would go without saying, but you need to be a team player. Not only are there networking and unit-to-unit relationship opportunities, but you’ll show your future leaders why it matters. We cannot begin to imagine the number of times we asked another unit or the staff for help or assistance. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and assist where you can when someone reaches out to you. You just might need help from that same person in the very near future.
Our hope is that these 10 COMMANDments serve as a guide for those leading at the company level. Take it a day at a time and share what you learn with your peers—they are likely dealing with the same things.
CPT Daniel (Dan) Kinney and 1SG John Singharath are currently assigned to 82nd Brigade Support Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. 1SG Singharath has 19 years of service and has served in a variety of Maintenance Management positions and as an Inspector for the Office of the Inspector General. CPT Kinney has 7 years of service and has served as a Company Commander, Brigade and Battalion Staff Officer, and Platoon Leader.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.
