It has been so long that I wrote that it is difficult to even know where to begin. If you were keeping track of my timeline, I commissioned in 2015 which means that I pinned on Captain in 2019. Coincidentally, that is when my posts started to fall off as well. Although not deliberate, this seems to be the natural order of things. I remember early on following some of the forums and Facebook groups and noticing the authors seemed to have an online life expectancy. I told myself I didn’t want that to be me, and yet here we are.
Being a Captain is a busy, yet rewarding time of a military career. I am re-watching the HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers, and I was struck by the realization that Richard Winters invaded Normandy as a First Lieutenant, was promoted to Captain less than a month later, and led Easy Company from France through Holland and Belgium… all as a Captain. I am by no means Richard Winters, but I believe that a Captain can achieve many things. Similar to how NCOs are the backbone of the force, Captains are the backbone of the officer corps. They call it the Captain Mafia for a reason. If you haven’t networked with Captains across the base or delta to help you get stuff done, you haven’t yet unlocked your full potential.
Episode 1 – Currahee
I thought I would take some time to reflect on some parallels between these wartime Army officers from WWII and my experiences as a former and present day Air Force and Space Force officer. Captain Herbert Sobel was the first company commander of Easy Company. He had a very harsh leadership style with his men in the training environment, and I believe this was key in molding Easy Company into a high-performing unit. It instilled the foundation of good order and discipline, but it also inspired a culture of insubordination and mistrust. As they advanced through their training instead of tailoring his leadership style to the situation as described by the Paul Hershey and Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership methodology, his weaknesses were amplified in the tactical execution and combat training scenarios. Sobel eventually lost the trust and respect of his men which caused NCOs in Easy Company to surrender their stripes and refuse to serve under his command before going into combat.
One of the sobering realizations of my career was the revelation that I share many of the same negative leadership traits as Sobel. Early in my military career I was trained to excel in scenarios where I had to direct my subordinates in potentially life or death situations. I became good at this because the tasks at hand were simple and they could be mastered with muscle memory in a relatively short period of time. The problem I ran into as a space operator is that our problems are not always simple. Problems often demanded solutions in short periods of time, but I had no muscle memory to rely on because they were “first-ever” problems. The complexity of the problem prevented me from immediately seeing a solution, so my brain short-circuited and the mission moved on without me. This became particularly painful when I was supposed to be the one leading the mission.
As an officer I had to learn the hard way that I have strengths and weaknesses, and I’m not good at everything. When I was an NCO, I believed that my weaknesses were not really weaknesses; I could power through them easily to still achieve a superb result. As an officer my weaknesses are not only blatantly obvious to myself and others, they can have a direct, negative impact on those I lead. If I don’t figure out a way to mitigate my weaknesses and embrace my strengths, I too will become my own worst enemy and be doomed to failure.
The catch to this was that I wanted to be good at those things. I wanted to be the anomaly who excelled with leading my subordinates in all situations when the stakes are high. But, I am not that person; I am who I am. The realization of this somber truth was something that was tough to swallow. Similar to how Sobel was visibly distraught when he was re-assigned from leading Easy Company, I was internally and externally distraught when I realized that the person I am is not the person I wanted to be. For the first time in my career, my chosen career path was not the path that I would be taking.
Hope For the Future
I will have a lot more to say about this in the future as these posts continue to unfold. I believe that every officer experiences something like this in their career, and that these experiences literally shape the character of the career. For some this may happen as a young non-prior enlisted Captain, and they may choose to separate from the military and enter the civilian workforce. For some it may happen as a Major or Lieutenant Colonel, and it may kickoff the beginning of their exit or retirement strategy from the military. And finally for some, it can be a pivot point in a career that can actually re-vector it to something better. Perhaps there is a better path that cannot yet be seen. Regardless, I encourage you all to do some reflection about your own personal strengths and weaknesses and reflect on how they shape your character as an officer.
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