Personal Narrative: Life In The Army
explanatory Essay
1789 words
Since time began there has always been conflict. Whether it be religious, race oriented, or conflict over land. Conflicts have lead countries and nations to amass armies. While some armies are small, others may be vast in size. No matter the size of the Army they all have one thing in common… their Soldiers. As Non-Commissioned Officers we would be without a profession if we did not take care of, and retain our Soldiers. Through their mishaps and mistakes it is our job to lead them as they will, hopefully, be taking over our position as they climb the ladder to becoming the next great leader we aspire them to become. However, as in life, there are always trials and tribulations that come with life in the Military. We have all had Soldiers with …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that conflicts have led countries and nations to amass armies, and that they all have one thing in common: their soldiers.
- Explains that ssg davis spent six years in the united states army as an infantry mortar man and served in stryker units, including maddog troop, longknife, and chosin company.
- Describes how they kept in touch with tyler, jason, and joe after leaving maddog troop. joseph reenlisted to be an 11b infantryman in ft. bragg, north carolina.
- Explains ralph nader's premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. the leaders of their prior unit had done a great unjust.
- Describes jason young as the poster board american teenager you see in movies. he was an avid outdoorsman with a will to serve for his country and do what the nation asked of him.
- Opines that mortar leaders need to engage their commanders more across the army so that events like this won't take place again.
I guess you could say “protected” us from the relentless tasking’s that came from regiment. The new Commander, however, must have been wronged in his past by an element of mortars as he would rarely allow the line platoons to accept tasking’s that would separate his platoons for periods of time. After several relentless months of seeing my soldiers for short spurts of time I began to see the change begin. Begin to see the soldiers that I had trained, the soldiers that would never make mistakes on their off time, would never slack on physical training. Well, they began doing all of these things. Over the span of another month I could sense their morale was beginning to decline, their attitudes and desires were becoming lackadaisical to say the least. This disheartened me as I knew the potential these soldiers had and to see them in this state upset me. As I would bring my complaints to the PSG of the status of our sections moral all he could do is take it to the 1sg, which was to no avail. Over a period of months the only Soldier to stay the course would be Boston. He knew that this wasn’t where he wanted to be, he wanted to be airborne. Where he could worry about being infantry and not get stuck supporting the Commander Cavalry Scouts with whatever training was set up for them that
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- Personal Narrative: My First Combat Tournarrative essayTo some people, it is only noise but to me, it was a whole new world. I can still remember the first time I heard a round whiz past my ear, the cars passing by, or SSG Blue yelling at me to get down. At that moment, I realized that I was not training anymore. I was made aware that everything and everyone were out to kill me. I kept telling myself, “I shouldn’t be here.” Mentally, I can hear my mother in the background crying just as the day she did when she found out I joined the military. My life was not the same nor will it ever be the same. In my first combat tour I learned the importance of life, how to mentally prepare myself for the worst outcomes, and I learned how to be a great leader.
In this essay, the author
- Narrates how they took life for granted and blamed their family for everything that went wrong in their life. hearing their first round whiz past their ear was something they would never forget.
- Narrates how they wanted to see who was shooting at them, but they didn't see where the rounds were hitting. they begged god to get them out of there alive.
- Narrates how sergeant red taught them about preparing themselves mentally and physically for the worst outcomes. they do not consider themselves a hero or superior to everyone else but find themselves determined and dedicated.
- Opines that being a leader is not about the pay or caring about you. it's about caring for the soldiers around you and making sure they are trained to the best of their ability.
- Opines that the army has changed their life and made them mentally prepared for the worst outcomes, including death. the impact we leave on others today will better the futures for others tomorrow.
- Recounts their first combat tour, where they learned the importance of life, how to mentally prepare themselves for the worst outcomes, and a great leader.
1542 wordsRead More - Leadership Reflective Essayexplanatory essayDuring morning PT on Ft. Campbell, CSM Hambrick was a regular fixture along the run route and throughout the Brigade’s footprint. He always encouraged leaders to participate in daily PT with their subordinates and regularly joined them as well. CSM Hambrick showed up during an APFT and asked me what my best run time was. After receiving my answer, he told me that he believed I could do better and he would run with me to prove it. I took an entire minute off of my run during that APFT. After the APFT he gathered the present NCOs and explained the importance of breathing excellence into your subordinates. He always stressed that it was important for Soldiers to know that their leader supported them and expected greatness. In reflection, I realize that he was also demonstrating that an effective leader leverages every available opportunity as a teaching
In this essay, the author
- Opines that leadership is an extraordinary responsibility given only to those willing to exude selflessness, decisiveness, and wisdom. csm william r. hambrick, jr. has had an immeasurable impact on their career and leadership philosophy.
- Explains that csm hambrick's leadership ability is unparalleled by most leaders. his impeccable military bearing and confidence inspires soldiers at all levels to emulate him.
- Explains that csm hambrick was a firm believer in leading by example. he encouraged leaders to participate in daily pt with their subordinates and regularly joined them.
- Explains how csm hambrick fosters a positive environment where ncos are empowered to make decisions and learn from their mistakes. he encourages soldiers to follow in his footsteps and surpass his level of accomplishment.
- Describes csm hambrick as a transparent leader who encourages others to strive for greatness, take care of subordinates, and always begin with yourself when looking to make improvements.
- Opines that they are forever grateful for a leader with the passion, presence, and professionalism to inspire them to be better nco. they hope to develop future leaders who are the personification of the army’s core values.
810 wordsRead More - Platoon Sergeantopinion essayRegardless of the career you choose in your life, whether it be an accountant or a Soldier in the United States Army, someone, somewhere most likely had an influence to bring you to that decision. The Army defines leadership as the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (JP, p. 1). Now imagine you are a young Private, in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq and you have constant leadership changes, and not much support from your direct leadership. I am sure at this point you can imagine, it is not the best scenario to be in. Throughout the duration of this essay you will read about Sergeant First Class Rob Gallagher and Sergeant First Class Jeff Fenlason, their leadership abilities, and the techniques they attempted to use to resolve the issues in this Platoon that was in a downward spiral after losing many leaders to the hell of war.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.
- Explains that sfc gallagher was the original platoon sergeant of 1st platon, bravo company, 1-502nd infantry regiment. he was removed from that position to serve on the mitt.
- Opines that sfc gallagher's strength was his ability to say what he believed was the correct way to do something, and not just back down when higher leadership would say no.
- Opines that sfc gallagher should have remained the platoon sergeant of 1st platon. he was an engaged leader who instilled discipline and empathy in a non-traditional way.
- Explains how cpt goodwin, bravo company's commander, lost faith in sfc gallagher as the platoon sergeant of 1st
- Explains that sfc fenlason was viewed highly from his senior leaders due to the job he did in 2004 to 2005 as first sergeant of echo company, as well as being ranger qualified and a former drill sergeant.
- Analyzes how sfc fenlason's behavior allowed the soldiers of 1st platoon to become even more undisciplined. spc cortez, a soon-to-be sergeant, got intoxicated and beat up some local iraqis.
- Opines that the alamo was a concern of sfc gallagher and he fought to have that position manned by more personnel or covered differently.
- Opines that if they were sfc fenlason, they would have done some things differently, such as winning hearts and minds of mullah fayyad, but coordinate with the other platoons.
- Concludes that sfc gallagher would have been a better leader, at least for this deployment.
1446 wordsRead More - Triangle Of Death Analysisanalytical essayAt the heart of this book is leadership. Poor leadership trumps all. The most squared away unit in the Army will cripple underneath nebulous leadership. Leadership shapes the battlefield and has more of an effect on subordinates than most think. Most of the effect is intangible, at least up until a terrible (or great) act is committed. The more that we as a society, and the Army more specifically, can look back on past events and learn from them the better off we all will be. Good leadership is a learned skill and, as with any learned skill, incorporating significant historical events into one’s decision-making process is vital for the advancement of the skill.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how jim frederick provides a succinct synopsis of what happened over the course of the deployment to iraq for bravo company's 1st platoon.
- Explains that first platoon was dealing with similar stressors as other units in the triangle of death, but bravo and charlie company both appeared to have rougher areas of operation.
- Explains that first platoon was singled out by the battalion commander and the sergeant major early on for what they interpreted as lack of discipline. this extra scrutiny may have isolated the platoon from the rest of the company.
- Analyzes how leadership failures and intense combat casualties led to the horrific war crimes committed by first platoon.
- Analyzes how the disunity of command led to the men having a destabilized command structure. frederick merely explains what happened, states relevant facts, shows how four soldiers were able to leave their posts to rape
- Opines that the army is more interested in forgetting about the tragedy than in ensuring that it never happens again.
- Opines that black hearts is a good case study for future leadership. if new leaders don't learn from past mistakes, tragedies will keep reoccurring.
- Opines that this is a wonderful read because it gives an unbiased third party account of leadership issues that the army needs to prepare its leaders for and what soldiers actually feel during deployments.
- Analyzes how leadership shapes the battlefield and has more of an effect on subordinates than most think. good leadership is a learned skill and incorporating significant historical events into one’s decision-making process is vital for the advancement of the skill.
894 wordsRead More - Leadership Failures in Black Hearts by Jim Frederickanalytical essayThe book Black Hearts by Jim Frederick is an in-depth narrative about the 1st platoon, Bravo Company 1-502nd Infantry 101st Airborne Division deployed to Iraq in 2005. The leadership failures documented in this book range all the way from the general officer level down to the lowest private. LT general Ricardo Sanchez failed to understand the climate his command group was entering as they were deployed into Iraq. From then on the entire leadership failures continued to compound upon each other with improper time to plan. It is customary to have a six month lead time to have a proper battle hand off when preparing to take over an AO from another unit. To compound this problem, the entire time the 502nd was in pre-deployment training, they were preparing for the rigors of urban combat. In reality, they were given six weeks to recon their new area of responsibility and were going to a countryside crafted by the heavens for guerilla warfare. As Colonel Ebel said in the book, “It is not going to be an easy road. They are not even sure of what they have in the area. It just feels bad. We can expect a real fight.”
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the leadership failures documented in the book black hearts by jim frederick range from the general officer level down to the lowest private.
- Summarizes the struggles that bravo company faced from the start even before deployment. they were assigned to the most dangerous ao in the so-called triangle of death.
- Describes how fragmentation orders became a pseudo-standard for the boys of bravo company.
- Explains how the 1st platoon began unraveling during the deployment. ssgt yribe shot a woman and then tried to cover up his mistake by dragging her body inside the tcp.
- Explains that fenlason's leadership style didn't fit well with the 1st platoon. he was under the influence of alcohol and did not adequately monitor the tcps.
- Analyzes how leadership failures led to the incidents inside of the deployment. goodwin was unable to communicate the information from the battalion down to his platoons.
1483 wordsRead More - The Role Of The HR Sergeant In The Profession Of Armscomparative essayWe can identify three major cultural dimensions that help us to understand what leaders must focus on as they guide the transition of the Army. First, professional Identity, which is guided by Soldiers at all levels who are striving for excellence in their functional specialty, i.e., HR Sergeants. Soldiers who have goals and ideals of the Army to ethically put service and duty first. HR Sergeants are trained and well educated in their field. They are taught to put Soldiers first and have great customer support skills. Second, community, the sense in which Soldiers stop thinking about “I” and start thinking “we”. The bond among units who not only believe in cohesion with Soldiers, but their families too. The HR Sergeants are there to take care of Soldiers when financial issues arise with them or their families and don’t back down until the situation is solved. Last, hierarchy, which leads to order and control and provides Soldiers with moral reference and a sense of direction. The HR Sergeant has the mentality of mission first, knowing who to contact at the next level for assistance helps get the mission
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the human resources sergeant in the profession has the responsibility to balance the role of the professional arms and the army professional culture.
- Explains that the profession of arms is unique because the professionals are soldiers who are trained to kill and prepared to die for the nation.
- Explains that hr sergeants balance the army's four fields of expertise and its current and potential future operating environment in the administrative world. the relationship between army culture and climate influences the mindset of army professionals.
- Explains that army culture is the system of shared meaning held by its soldiers, the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize the larger institution over time.
- Concludes that the hr sergeant plays a great role in the profession of arms. they are professionals who are well educated in their profession and are dependable soldiers and leaders.
840 wordsRead More - Analysis Of The Commanding Officer's Moral Dilemmaopinion essayUnited States Military Officers from all services are trained in military tactics, standards, and values. One of the most important lesson they are taught is the health and welfare of their troops. Commanding Officers (COs) hold the lives of thousands of service men and women in their hands, and their decisions directly affect the safety and well-being of subordinates. The moral dilemma to risk the lives of many to save a few, or its opposite, to save the lives of many by sacrificing the lives of a few, is one of the toughest situations for a CO to be in, and one of the toughest decisions to make. The CO has to look at the big picture and the long-term effects of his decisions, and in this scenario the
In this essay, the author
- Explains that consequentialism is the doctrine that actions should be judged right or wrong on the basis of their consequences. if the co acts on deontology ethics, he will act on duty or moral obligation to save the americans.
- Opines that the better course of action is taking the consequentialism path, where the actions are valuable for the good of all and the overall consequences are morally right.
- Opines that the co's decision to heed china’s warning is the best solution for his crew, his ship, career, and his country.
- Explains the moral dilemma of the commanding officer of a littoral combat ship (lcs) in the south china sea.
1001 wordsRead More - Bad Leadership Skills in Black Hearts by Jim Frederickanalytical essayBlack Hearts is a great example of the reality on how severe bad leadership skills can ripple throughout a unit and impact its overall mission. This book serves as a guide for future leaders of America and will set the examples of what not to do in leadership positions. The lessons we can take from these soldiers can help us as potential leaders to become more competent and effective. The fact that this book focused on the hardships, poor decisions and sound judgment of the soldiers it helped emphasize on what was not the best choice of action and leaves a moment for you as the audience to think how you would of done it better. So right or wrong there was a lesson to be learned and the book did a good job including the reader. This book puts you in the shoes of a small group of soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment and gives you an up close and personal take on the experience of the soldiers, from the bottom of the the ranks all the way up to the commander. 502nd Bravo Company 1st platoon deployed in the fall of 2005 into one of the most dangerous battle zones in Iraq known as the “Triangle of Death”. Thrown into the heartland of a growing insurgency, with undefined goals and a shortage of manpower, Bravo Company began piling up casualties at an alarming rate. They suffered many losses, as well as mental anguish. Because of the long and tragic deployment, a collapse in leadership began to unfold causing one of the most tragic, brutal, and infamous deployments in U.S Army history. There were many reasons that caused the deconstruction of leadership, and eventually, the actions of the soldiers accompanied by the lack of control, lead to the rape and murder of an innocent Iraqi girl and her family. This is a story about character...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how black hearts is a great example of the reality on how severe bad leadership skills can ripple throughout units and impact their mission.
- Analyzes how ltc tom kunk, the commander of the 1-502nd infantry regiment, set the standard of communication within the platoons.
- Analyzes how leadership failed to notice how desensitized and strung-out the men were. they were put into a constant mode of life and death situations and didn't take care of their soldiers' mental and physical state.
- Analyzes how the soldiers took matters into their own hands because of the lack of control and guidance within 1st platoon.
- Explains that ltc. tom kunk's positive and negative leadership characteristics were the same, communication. he was a great communicator and was trusted to keep the peace in enemy territories.
- Opines that the negative characteristic of someone with as short as a fuse as ltc. kunk, is that he was capable of understanding and communicating with iraqi civilians upon missions but didn't need to pay his own soldiers the same respect.
1242 wordsRead More - In Need of Good Leadersopinion essayAs our forefathers before us stated, ‘‘No one is more professional than I. I am a Noncommissioned Officer, a leader of soldiers. As a Noncommissioned Officer, I realize that I am a member of a time honored corps, which is known as “The Backbone of the Army (“The NCO Creed writing by SFC Earle Brigham and Jimmie Jakes Sr”). These words to Noncommissioned Officer should inspire us to the fullest with pride, honor, and integrity. The NCO creed should mean much more than just words whenever we attend a NCO’s school. For most of us this is what our creed has become because we learn to narrate or recite. The military from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard has an overabundance of NCOs who fall under their pay grade of E-5, E-6 and etc. Yet somehow there still not enough leaders. I believe that the largest problem afflicting the military today is our lack of competent leaders, ineffective leader development, and how we influence our subordinates under us who are becoming leaders.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the army is mismanaging its development training program leaving the "backbone" completely unprepared to accomplish the tasks set before them.
- Opines that junior ncos need to be given the chance to learn, succeed, and fail through experience.
- Opines that a true leader is concerned with how his actions affect his soldiers or how he can better the solider that coming behind him.
- Opines that the nco creed should inspire non-commissioned officers to the fullest with pride, honor, and integrity.
851 wordsRead More - COL Prescott’s Command in the Battle of Breed’s Hillanalytical essayCOL Prescott’s role in the Battle of Bunker Hill, or more correctly know as the Battle of Breed’s Hill, is a great example of how to properly execute mission command. An overview from The Cowpens Staff Ride and Battlefield Tour (Moncure) reveals a number of operation and strategic objectives that the American militia had to consider. In this instance, COL Prescott takes charge of 1200 men with instructions to defend against incoming British forces that were seeking to occupy the surrounding hills during the Siege of Boston campaign. COL Prescott utilized a variety of steps in the operations process that contributed to his expert utilization of mission command over his forces. Through various sources from published works by experts on the subject, COL Prescott’s mission command demonstrates its effectiveness in his understanding of the situation against the British, his visualization to create an end state for t...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how col prescott's tactical mind shows that the british would overwhelm the colonists through sheer force alone.
- Analyzes how col prescott observes the advancing and repulsing motions of the british and americans respectively.
- Analyzes how col prescott's role in the battle of bunker hill showcases his amazing tactical and strategic level of thinking that contributes to the outcome.
- Describes frothingham, jr.'s history of the siege of boston and the battles of lexington.
- Analyzes how stephen ambrose's novel, band of brothers, discusses one of the greatest examples of mission command in the form of 1st lieutenant richard winters.
- Analyzes how col prescott delivers his command by directing his subordinates in all the necessary tasks prior to the british engagement.
1339 wordsRead More