11 Nov
A Salute to our Veterans
I salute you! Thank you for your service. Thank you for your sacrifices.
One of my mentors is a retired 22 year veteran of the Army. The lessons that I have learned from him have been priceless. The Military is either actively insuring our freedom or training to be prepared for service of our nation’s needs. They are the epitome of planning for bountiful results. They understand every critical issue that they may face and prepare tirelessly for success in the event that they need to apply the training. In the business world, if we have a bad day, we may lose some money or a customer. On the battlefield, a bad day may cost some lives.
Some of the less obvious contributions our military has contributed to society have been:
- A standardization of the way things are to be done. A sequence to follow each and every time.
- Leadership Standards – They breed leaders that will own their accountability and not leave a man behind.
- Integrity and a code of conduct. I personally have not met a disrespectful veteran.
- Work ethic - See the mission through to the end.
- Teamwork – The impossible is accomplished when many work together as one.
- Loyalty – They run toward their responsibilities, instead of running away.
I am wiser and more prepared because of the lessons that LJ has shared with me. Do you know a veteran that you can learn from?
Please give our veterans the respect they deserve. They have already done it for you. HUA!
Posted by Mark on 11.11.09 at 10:40 pm
Your blog on our servicemen is right on, the dignity and selflessness that these service men and women maintain in a government enviroment that places them at the back of the priority list is discusting to say the least! How long does it take our president to decide on additonal troop support while they wait over there like sitting ducks.
Posted by John on 11.11.09 at 10:40 pm
Maybe our President could take some lessons from our fine veterans in the areas of leadership and integrity.
Posted by Leonard Marsden (LJ) on 11.11.09 at 10:40 pm
Thank you for the flattering words and the recognition that we have worked together on some high level projects and that we both contributed to each other an exchange of ideas and accomplishments that nobody can take away from us. John and I have moved facilities from one state to another, assembled and motivated high performing teams, and have always improved the efficiency and performance of any organization that we were a part of.
In my opinion the military is a great institution and it’s personnel are some of the best America has to offer. I have experienced serving during the Carter administration through the Clinton administration and while both individuals loathing of the military, ineffectual leadership skills coupled with their self serving innate character they could never breach the skills, intelligence or the spirit of the American Fighting Man.
Our current poor excuse of a Commander in Chief who has never served may think that he is in charge but he is not. We will suffer his political policies, men will die needlessly, but what is so different now than during any other democratic led administration. It’s o.k. we did not sign up to serve them. We signed up to serve our country which unfortunately includes them. But it also includes the best of the best. (Other Veterans). It also includes that guy that has your back wearing the uniform. So good news for the other people who have taken the time to post on this blog, take heart the administration will change. In reality they make little difference on the ground. A good Sergeant is going to do what is right in spite of echelons beyond reality officers and politicians. As a First Sergeant I only had to make an officer suffer his own decision that contradicted mine one time, then he would learn to listen to the NCO.
Back to Johns point on what our military can produce in terms of leadership. The average veteran does his or her time and gets out. Many during this short tenure are taught basic leadership skills, including lead by example, take charge, be accountable, be decisive, plan, do, check, act. If you are good enough during your first hitch you may become eligible to become a Sergeant (Buck Sergeant – three stripes up) If you are elected or if a slot is available in school while you are in a promotable status you will attend Primary Leadership Development Course. (PLDC). This is a 30 day live in course where basic leadership skills are drilled into the fiber of your being. Believe me, drilled into your core.
If you stay in for the second hitch and are good enough you may become eligible to strive for the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG). Three stripes up and one stripe down. Then you attend Basic Non-commissioned Officers Course (BNCOC). This is a live in course usually three months in length that focuses on leadership and a deeper study of your skills.
If you become a lifer as I did the next stage is a Senior Non-commissioned Officer which is Sergeant First Class(SFC) which is three stripes up and two stripes down. Then you attend another 3 month live in training called Advanced Non-commissioned Officers Course (ANCOC). This again focuses on leadership, and deeper into your technical training.
The next phase is to become Master Sergeant which is three stripes up and three stripes down. The determination between a Master Sergeant and First Sergeant which has the same three stripes up and three stripes down plus a diamond in the middle, is which path you choose to guide your career on. If you focus on accepting the hard jobs such as squad leader, and platoon sergeant then you are in line to become a First Sergeant. If you become a First Sergeant then you go to an additional training course called “The First Sergeant Course” which teaches you the administrative portions of being a First Sergeant.
The ultimate top rank is Command Sergeant Major (CSM) which is three stripes up, three stripes down with a star and oak leaf in the middle. When you achieve this rank you attend the Command Sergeant Majors Academy which is 1 year long.
The purpose of this dissertation is to show you the basic schools that Non-commissioned Officers in the United States Army attends. The intense leadership focused training that a civilian would never have the opportunity to get exposed to builds strong leaders so much so that they are not even aware of the function, they just are leaders.
What course does a civilian take that would compare to eating, living, sleeping and breathing in a lineage of leadership schools such as the army has? None…….
Long story short, the Army institutions from West Point, ROTC, OCS, and the Non-commissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) system which I just explained builds leaders. The problem is once you have attended all of the training and become a civilian your leadership instincts have become so trained and tuned that you are not aware that you make others that are senior to you insecure. You become a threat by performing the way you have been trained. And that is a story for another day. And its not so easy to make a civilian live by their decision because their training has been developed on how to blame others, deflect and defer to survive. Which is also another discussion for another day.
Thanks for the recognition of all Veterans, and especially the kind words extended to this retired First Sergeant.