Midterm Essay #1

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1 Leadership in the Ordinary CDT Mariajose Gracia Department of Military Science, University of Minnesota MIL 1101: Introduction to the Army and Critical Thinking MAJ Jonathan DeGreeff October 21, 2020
2 Leadership I find that leadership in the U.S. Army has many different aspects. It is not just about shouting orders and beating discipline into soldiers, like how the media portrays them. Through some examples that I have seen throughout this semester, I found that Army leadership is in the ordinary things of everyday life. You can find leadership in basic acts of kindness or selflessness. You must be one of your own troop to be the true leader of it. For my week one journaling assignment, I wrote about Cadet Vandenbergh. It was my first week and I was very confused about everything that was going on. The most recent military service in my family was my grandfather, a sergeant for the Colombian army. I rarely talk to my grandfather, so my knowledge about anything army or military related was very low. To put my knowledge in perspective; I thought the Air Force, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines, were all simply a career branch that you would choose after basic training. The military was all one thing to me. With all this information in mind, I had a plethora of questions for Cadet Vandenbergh. During our first counseling session, he let me bombard him with questions for about 30 minutes. While answering my questions, his attention never wavered and if possible, his enthusiasm grew with each answered question. After this counseling session, I was missing a lot of supplies due to shortage. Cadet Vandenbergh went out his way to get me everything I needed, and by the first leadership lab, he had gotten everything I needed. I remember I asked other MS1 cadets if they had what they needed, and the majority were still waiting for their team leaders to find them what they needed. At that moment, I was very proud to be on Vandenbergh’s team because I knew I was under a leader that would fulfill his duty, to the best of his ability, to his team. He showed his leadership skills by portraying excellently the value of duty. He fulfilled his obligations to his team in the most efficient, welcoming way. I think I could use Cadet Vandenbergh’s example of leadership in my own future career as an Army Officer. He is very attentive to his teams needs. As an Army Officer, I will need to be attentive of my teams needs. Regardless of the branch I go into, I will need to be able to step into a position where I will have a team to manage. Vandenbergh’s patience and ability to maintain a focused and enthusiastic
3 attitude will definitely be useful to me when my team’s morale is low. If I keep my attitude as focused and optimistic as Vandebergh’s, my team will have a standard and hopefully have a more optimistic attitude. Last week someone showed me a random act of kindness and I saw leadership. I was sitting near a window in my dorm’s lounge by myself doing homework. It was snowing all day so there was snow all over and everybody was outside playing in it. Right outside my window there was a group of girls building a snowman. One of the girls saw me through the window and threw a snowball at my window. She got my attention and she beckoned for me to come out and hang out with them. I thought this was leadership because she noticed someone who was in need and reached out to them. She looked outside of herself and took a moment to invite someone. I thought this was selfless and something that not many people do. I saw something of a sort with Lieutenant Colonel Hoaglin a couple weeks before. At our first leadership lab, she took all of the MS1’s and newcomers. She had everyone sit down in the grass without our normal etiquette. She told us to take off our patrol caps and she did the same. She proceeded to talk to us about our first year and conducted a very relaxed AAR. She explained a lot of different things about ROTC. I thought this was very impressive because she is our highest commander and took time to sit down and welcome us. She did an excellent job making us feel like it was okay that we did not know what we were doing. I thought this was selfless of her. Someone who also followed in her example was Platoon Sergeant Miller. One day, a couple weeks ago, I did not come to Physical Training because I had thrown up. I let me team leader know what had happened and he instructed me to follow protocol and go home. I think Lieutenant Colonel Hoaglin’s, the random girl’s and Platoon Sergeant Miller’s actions are very appliable to my future as an Army officer. Someone in her position did not need to come over and give us such a welcome. As an officer, I can always remember that a leader is only as prepared as their team is. Being a good leader would mean being within the ranks and actually knowing my soldiers. This way I can know what our team really needs and how we can meet those needs more efficiently and effectively. By following Lieutenant Colonel Hoaglin’s example I can also make myself approachable and
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4 respected. I can do this by always listening to others, no matter the rank. I can also do this by keeping an open mind to different ideas. Those examples were just some of the ones that I experienced over the weeks. My time in class also helped me develop some knowledge I should have to be a good leader. In class I learned a lot of different basic information. While basic, it is very important information that everyone should know, regardless of rank. I also learned that just because we will graduate into a higher position, the NCOs of our platoon will know way more than we will know at the moment and that we should listen to them. I already assumed this to be true, but I think hearing it again reminded me of the importance of experience. As an incoming officer I will have to listen more than I will be talking. At the end, it is my decision what happens but listening to experience will help me make a more educated decision. Another thing I learned in class was how to accurately read military maps. This is very important for an army leader, so I do not lead my platoon into dangerous areas and risk injury and loss. All of these examples taught me how to be a true leader. In the examples with Lieutenant Colonel Hoaglin, Platoon Sergeant Miller and the random friendly girl, I learned that leadership is not just about shouting orders and expecting people to follow. Good leaders take care of their troops and become part of their troops. They are not just rule makers but also rule followers. Cadet Vandenbergh’s attentiveness and enthusiasm taught me another thing about leadership. He taught me that you have to be observant to the needs of others and be ready to meet those unmet needs. He also taught me to always stay focused on the job at hand, no matter the circumstance. Your job as a leader is to take care of your troops and set that exceptional example and throughout this half of the semester, I ran into just that.
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