This is a fascinating subject
that I’ve given much thought and observation to over the years. I spent nine
years as an Army combat arms officer, starting in the active force and ending
in the National Guard with an Iraq deployment thrown in for good measure. The
following observations refer to active Army combat leaders. The National Guard is
an entirely different animal.
It seems to me that lieutenants perform at such high levels
(physical, technical, mental, ethical) because they have to. Their commanders expect it and so do the men they lead. It’s
a cornerstone of the ancient warrior ethos. As the old adage goes, ‘You can’t
lead from the rear.’ The Army is not
an aristocracy. It’s a meritocracy. Rank and personal respect are earned, not
given. As such, a lieutenant is not
an aristocrat. He’s a warrior leader. The alpha male. Anybody about to lead a
gang of hot blooded meat eating trigger pullers into combat better understand
that. An LT that falls out of a run, fails to qualify on the rifle range, gets
a DUI, or goes down as heat casualty is perceived as weak and usually relieved
on the spot. Oh, by the way, good enough simply isn’t good enough. You better
at or near the top. If you aren’t, neither your men nor your commander will
respect you. And that’s before you even get to the officer stuff you gotta do. No
excuses. No slack. It’s a pressure cooker. It’s hard as hell. And it makes for
a damn fine officer corp. The same is true of junior NCOs. While he may not
beat the LT, that buck sergeant better be able to outrun, outmarch, and
outshoot his men. Fear of failure is a great motivator.
Imagine being tossed
into a platoon where everybody has more time in the chow line than you have in uniform
with the punch line, ‘You’re in charge, o’ green and clueless one.’ No time to
ease into the role. It’s sink or swim. All will step on their cranks at some
point, but the smart ones learn from their mistakes. Some fail, but most find
their way. The bad ones stick out like sore thumbs and cause hardship for their
men. The good ones forge on, do their best, and make their men proud.
There’s another part of the warrior ethos that is almost universally
ignored by popular media. It’s the concept of putting the troops first. A warrior
leader at any level eats last, sleeps least, and takes all the blame. Field
Marshal Sir William Slim put it best when he said to his subordinates, “I tell
you, as officers, that you will not eat, sleep, smoke, sit down or lie down
until your soldiers have had a chance to do these things. If you do this, they
will follow you to the ends of the earth. If you do not, I will break you in
front of your regiments.” The U.S. Army sums this up in four words: Mission
first. People always.
The movie (and the book) We
Were Soldiers gets it right. For brevity’s sake (too late), I’ll just say
that the Sobelesque LT was the minority just as in actual units. I try to
reflect such truth in my own writing.
As to why does the media portrays officers with such
disdain…When do they ever show leaders differently? You name it – police chiefs,
fire chiefs, CEOs, politicians, even fathers. All are portrayed as incompetent,
corrupt, or both. I suppose they think it makes for better storytelling. The
groupthink is that good guys & boy scouts are boring. Even superheroes are
pretty screwed up lately. They all have to have a dark side or be deeply
troubled. The last one I can think of that didn’t have some serious mental
issues was Christopher Reeves’ Superman in 1978.
The lead by example mentality is what sets our military
apart. A platoon leader’s job is tough. A company commander’s is even tougher.
The crucible of platoon leadership separates the studs from the duds and makes
for tough, demanding, competent, and uncompromising senior officers. Sure,
there are exceptions and even the good ones screw up. But I’ve worked in many
arenas with all kinds of people. And the officers, NCOs, and enlisted soldiers
in the Army remain the finest I’ve ever met. I count it as an honor to have
served in such fine company.
