How to Lose Your Job, If You’re a Lieutenant

Newly commissioned officers in the Marine Corps – and I can only assume this guide will translate to my counterparts in the Army – get absolutely inundated with leadership advice, and for good reason: they are about to take responsibility not just for some company’s new project or marketing plan, but for a platoon of Marines.  So why do they fail?  Where is the disconnect?

I would argue that the consistent theme of failure is actually more precise than many believe – especially at the entry level leadership position that is Second Lieutenant.  In fact, I would argue – and I will below – that there are six primary causes for relief of command at the platoon leader level, some stronger than others, and quite frankly none all that revolutionary.

What this article is not  is another guide on leadership advice, as there are plenty of those – in the past two months alone I’ve come across three different platoon oriented leadership guides on Tom Ricks’ Best Defense Blog at ForeignPolicy.com here, here and here.  Rather, this is a guide for new lieutenants on what not to do – from a practical, bottom-line-up-front perspective, when they take that first coveted step into platoon command.  The goal, or end state if you will (hey, I’m in the IRR), is to provide awareness to those wide-eyed, leadership advice-seeking sponges with gold bars on their collars so that they can focus their time on not only what they’ve been trained to do, but their most important task: leading Marines or Soldiers.

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Drone Videos: Meet the WildCat from Boston Dynamics

Now how cool is this beast?  Having worked with a few different drones from my recent time in the Marine Corps, I can definitely vouch for the huge value they bring to the battlefield; on that same token however, many of them also have significant shortfalls.  Although drones are making the biggest impact from the skies at this point, robots on the ground have been a huge help in the fight against IED’s (CIED).  Boston Dynamics has been at the forefront of ground-based robotics for the US military, and that four-legged gentleman who you see above is their latest and greatest creation: his name is WildCat, and you do not want to be in front of him when he starts a chargin’.  Check out the video, then hit the link below for our thoughts on if this guy is battlefield ready yet.

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