I have four principles I try to
live by both professionally and personally. I really think others can benefit
from these principles, regardless of the career field in which they work. In an
effort to better message, and reach out to members of my profession, as well as
others, I’m going to write about the first principle here and write about the
others in subsequent articles.
The first principle: Maintain and
attitude that says, “today is my last day to train (learn).” This principle, I
believe, is especially important to those in the profession of arms, but still
applies to those who are not. The examples I discuss here may be focused on the
profession of arms, but that doesn’t mean there no examples in other areas.
This principle is simple in a lot
of ways, but is also very demanding. We must always strive to improve ourselves
and our organizations. Every day we have to ask ourselves what we’ve done to
make ourselves and our organizations better. If, in asking ourselves this
question, we cannot find a sufficient and legitimate answer, we might need to
step back into the office, or into the field, and get back to work. Our day
simply cannot end if we haven’t done what is required of us.
The answer to this question also
doesn’t have to be anything too elaborate. If we have conducted battle-drills
with our Soldiers, if we have studied our craft, if we’ve taken the time to
train, coach, and mentor our subordinates, we’ve done exactly what we needed to
do. The challenge is in the little stuff. As we all know the importance of, and
strive for, mastery of the basics, there are so many little things we can do to
better prepare our soldiers for unexpected war. Something as simple as magazine
changes, helps every subordinate be more lethal on the battle field.
We have all been to firing ranges
and seen the young soldier have a malfunction and be completely lost on the
correction of that malfunction. The easy cop-out is to blame that Soldier for
not attending Primary Marksmanship Instruction (PMI), or not paying close enough
attention. I would have you direct your anger, or rather disappointment, to his
supervisor. How many times has his first-line supervisor taken that soldier out
and conduct magazine changes? Have his Leaders made him go conduct “SPORTS”
(proper immediate action on a malfunctioned rifle) to the point it is muscle
memory? Or did we, as leaders, trust the PMI to have been enough? Now, is not
the time for this Soldier to learn the proper technique. He is now on the
firing line, and his score counts.
This example is a perfect Segway as
we apply this principle to combat operations. We have to treat every day as
though it is our last to train because we never know when the call will come.
We don’t know when the proverbial balloon will go up. We cannot allow our
Soldiers, or ourselves, to have to conduct anything for the very first time
when the enemy is actively engaging us. We, as leaders, have to do everything
we can to get that training in now. It doesn’t matter if that training is
focused on closing with and destroying the enemies of our nation, defending
ourselves, or in the careful application of our craft in stressful
environments.
If we haven’t experienced those
phone calls, or the constant change of timelines for deployments to training or
overseas, we can at least imagine it and conclude priorities will shift
tremendously when called to deploy in support of our nation. There will be no
more time to train. Bags will be packed, containers will be loaded, vehicles
will be readied, and time with families will be the number one priority of
ourselves as well as our Soldiers. Training, will cease to exist when we get
the call for war. At that point, it is too late.
I urge us all to maintain an
attitude that says “today is my last day to train!”
