A Principle: Today is My Last Day to Train (Learn)

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!”