I don't mean to sound stupid but what exactly is the role of a Platoon leader in combat?

In combat?

Accomplish the mission

Lead from the front

Lead by example

Take care of your people - keep them alive
Eat last - if there's anything left
Get dirty first
Know your people by name and reputation
Get your people what they need ASAP

Listen to your NCOs

Never be transparent

Even if it's not your fault, it's your responsibility. The buck stops with you.

And when you've done all that, then your people will trust you and follow you. When they are comfortable calling you ElTee instead of Sir, you probably are doing something right.

Thats right. The best PLs Ive seen have strived to be reflections of their PSGs. But yes, the PSG may run the platoon, but the ultimate responsibility for success or failure rests with the PL. So he commands, controls, directs toops, and spends a whole lot of time on the radio with the commander telling him whats going on and what he plans to do about it.

thanks for the replies. i am only a junior in HS but am planning to take ROTC in college. can ppl that take only ROTC be good leaders or do they just have to be born?

A good Infantry Leader:
Plays well with others.
Is quiet during nap time.
Shares his milk and cookies.
Stacks his blocks neatly at the end of recess.

Check out this board, there is a thread about this further down. Relax for now, becoming an officer is a long way down the road.

quote:

Originally posted by triathlonrunner:
thanks for the replies. i am only a junior in HS but am planning to take ROTC in college. can ppl that take only ROTC be good leaders or do they just have to be born?

Good leaders are not born, they are groomed mentored, and made. Some leaders have a certain amount of "natural ability", but most all of them are in constant search of more knowledge and better ways of doing things.

I largely agree with O4Psyoper..

First and foremost you have to be a soldier... know all the skill level -10 and -20 tasks by heart
LEARN how to read a map, use a compass, terrain associate, key to getting your soldiers where they are supposed to be
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS... the troops come first. First to eat, first to sleep, first for new equipment.
The PL sleeps less than anyone else, gets up before anyone else, has their gear squared away, uniform orderly, boots clean no matter when you got in or how messed up you were the last time your troops saw you.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let Joe clean you weapon, your gear, your vehicle unless they are part of the crew. You, as a leader are responsible for YOUR stuff as well as all your troops. Communicate well with the PSG.. he is the most valuable tool you have in an infantry platoon. He has more experience and education than you do.. but know it is like a marriage, common/singular front. Make decisions with the PSG so you are both on the same page and your troops won't get conflicting stories.

What an infantry PL does... gets orders from the old man, devises a plan, leaves NCO business alone, keeps the captain off the troops, trains his leaders (squad and team), ensures platoon integrity, takes responsibility for keeping the troops alive, meets retention goals, inspects unit equipment, volunteers for all the crap jobs

You know, I'd like to add one more thing to SkipHadaway's excellent response as well.

Thinking back on my days in the 100th Div an (O3) OPFOR Controller, I got to evaluate a bunch of platoons and their LT's as part of their ARTEPS, FTXs, etc., at annual training.

And the one thing that consistently boloed the platoon leader, be it IN, AR or Cav, was them not realizing that the most incredibly powerful weapon in their possession was.......

.....the radio!

Natural instinct is to "join the fight" and to them that meant engaging with their own weapons. So, I used to try and get my point across with a little humor and tell them that any conversation that begins with "Redleg, redleg, this Alpha6 actual, fire mission, over" is going to generate some rather amazing results, and quickly.

Naturally, if the fight is already "up close and personal" this may not apply. But especially with the heavy units, there was usually ample time to call in supporting fire - but they were already busy engaging directly with their main guns.

I used to tell my new PL basicly the same as Skiphadaway, but also once the fight starts you will have the Company CO in your right ear and the Platoon in your left ear and you will be basicly a relay station. Leave the rest to me, until you need a break then come over and look at the situation. If the situation allows you to lead the assault then do it, if not then don't but be desisive.

As a former company 60mm mortar section leader, I second that.

I read an article in Infantry Magazine that pretty much confirms what 04Psyoper said regarding reluctance to use the radio. This article focused on the repeated failure of small units to employ mortars at JRTC. In this case, the observer-controllers noted that PLs tended to not only have a familiarity with radio procedures and messages that could facilitate close air support or indirect fires, but also a reluctance due to lack of familiarity with the mortar system in general.

Who would be confident employing or firing a weapon they knew little about?

The solution, according to the article and from what I found in my own experiences as a section leader was simply incorporating mortars into the platoon's missions to develop cohesion and trust among 11Bs and the company's few 11Cs.

Sounds good in a perfect world. However, in my last unit, the CO and 1SG loved recon patrolling, so my guys received no fire missions and basically pulled a lot of security.

In an infantry outfit, as I am sure is the case with armored cav, the importance of timely, accurate, responsive indirect mortar fire cannot be understated. I am not a mathemetician---just an 11C who did stay at a Holiday Inn once ---but when you quantify a company or a battalion's potential fire power, including its organic mortar systems with a combat load, there is no doubt that 11Cs can contribute more than their fair share of death and destruction, if used properly.

In my experience with working with PLs, the XO, and the CO (no knock on the officer corps) it stems from a zealous willingness to perfect the 7-8 battle drills, like room clearing, break contact, or react to contact. All well and good; I love MOUT training.

But it also stems from a reluctance to use the damn radio and a lack of familiarity with mortars. Most have no interest in attending Infantry Mortar Leader's Course, which is astounding when you consider how lethal mortars are and how easily they can be incorporated into training and missions. A lot of young infantry officers, I have found, have tunnel vision-focus on the Ranger course, Air Assault, and, in my old unit, Mountain Warfare (it was required).

Their world becomes sand tables, troop leading, OPORDERs, and actions on the objective. Mortars? Who needs mortars? In the Guard, we have a lot of PLs who don't have a lot of experience. I have advised numerous PLs that a 60mm mortar squad simply jumps onto the platoon's headcount, moves to the ORP with them, peels off, and sets up a support by fire, almost the same way a 240B would.

Instead, we are given orders to be OPFOR. Which is why I am going to the Reserve drill sergeant unit near my house.

I don't know if it's in the movie or not, but in the book "We Were Soldiers Once, And Young", Hal Moore describes having to pull his FO back down into the hole with him after he called in "troops in the open, fire for effect". The story goes that the FO kept standing up to see the damage and was yelling something like "this is xxxxing great!"

Colonels Hal Moore and the late David Hackworth were two entirely different types of officer.

I asked my PL if 'Steel My Soldiers' Hearts' was on any of his required reading lists during ROTC or IOBC or whatever. He said he had never heard of Colonel Hackworth.

I am no officer, but I am an educated man. I am willing to guess that the Army leadership lessons learned he articulated in 'Steel' and 'About Face' continues to rub brass the wrong way, considering that decorated man's uncerimonious exit from the US Army.

Banning his books may be their way of spitting on his grave, perhaps.

Why not at least consider his strong points of view on the dangers of careerism and becoming a "perfumed prince"? Sounds like there were perfumed princes aplenty during the 50s and 60s---and now that we are a bona fide professional, all-volunteer force, I am sure the number has increased.

I am all about benefits, don't get me wrong, but in my 16 years of service, I have met too many officers (and enlisted) who seem to be more concerned with checking the block and building a resume than they are with genuine, old fashioned leadership from the front.

Either that, or it's the famous "I will do anything---ANYTHING---by hook or by crook to get good bullet comments on my next OER (or NCOER)" type.

If more people considered the Colonel's well-articulated arguments concerning military reform, changes would be made that would affect training and operations.

If you want to be a good officer or leader in today's Army, the bottom line is your men. I read an interview that Steven Ambrose had with Major Dick Winters of Easy Company, 506th. Major Winters commented that a good World War II infantry leader first forgot that he wore a rank and treated his men like men. The Army is asking them to kill, maim, and destroy and commit a number of other acts unimaginable to products of a free society.

At the least, treat them as fellow men, not numbers or dogs or robots. Using this approach to leadership, respect for rank and the person wearing it and obedience to orders covers down as needed, so long as training is tough and realistic.

The alternative would be to be a Captain Sobel, hide behind rank and position, and treat everyone like a piece of $h!t. And look where that got him: Useless in the field and relieved from command (or reassigned or whatever happened to him).

Funny, but I can answer that. I just finished Winters' book "Beyond Band of Brothers" last week. Sobel remained a CPT. He was relieved due to an out and out mutiny on the part of Easy Company's NCOs, who had all written letters to the old man. Sobel was sent to 'command the division's new training center at Chilton Foliat'.

Much later he passed Major Winters and failed to render a salute - for which Winters made an immediate and forceful correction.

Oh yeah. I remember from the book as well as the series that plays on the History Channel from time to time.

Winters was a Major and he told Sobel, "We salute the rank, not the man..." What a cruel irony. In fact, I think the Epilogue of Band of Brothers comments that Sobel went into the insurance business (good work for a by-the-book stickler for rules---I couldn't see Sobel doing manual labor or working in law enforcement). He had a horrible marriage and divorce (sounds like lots of Joes I knew ) and blamed Easy Company for his life's misfortunes until the day he died.

The book says he blew off a few 506th reunions. I would feel out of place, too, if I trained up with those men and was booted from my command right before the big day.

On leadership, I think I recall a few veterans mentioning that they believed that Easy Company became a cohesive, tight-knit force in part through hard, tough training, and, in part because of their hatred of Sobel.

I think that's how it was back then. Didn't Patton pursue a new command by saying, 'They'll lose their fear of the Germans. But they better not lose their fear of me!'

Well, we're more kinder, gentler now. If Patton took over the present-day Third Army, he'd be relieved within a month, I'll bet.

Speaking of the History Channel, MonsterQuest is on at 9. Tropical snakes in the Everglades. They'll spotlight the python some guy dumped in there that swallowed a gator---and exploded like a microwaved hot dog.

Don't ya love irresponsible pet owners---especially people who buy pythons and think they won't grow beyond 15 feet?

The ROLE of a new Infantry Officer is to MASTER his craft in the shortest possible time.

If you are not a good judge of character, I mean if you don't know who to trust, you better do some study and figure out how real quick.

Remember that MOST of the time, the best decision will likely not come from you, but from your senior NCO's. Whatever you think you know, they have done before.

If you feel like you need to make unilateral decisions and routinely go against the opinions of your NCO's you are an ***. You'll get good bullet comments, but the word on the street will follow you.

If you become an officer: Go to schools!

Not the "Badge" schools (abn, aaslt, etc.) WASTE OF F'ING TIME!!!!! But DO go to schools that actually teach you how to do your job and do it well.

Small Arms Master Gunner & Squad Designated Marksman(NG MTC), Sniper Employment Officer, Anti Terrorism Evasive Driver, Javelin, FBCB2, Scout Leaders Course, Ranger, Pathfinder, Fast Rope Master, Close Quarters Marksmanship (USAMU), Combatives 1-4, Combat Lifesaver, EMT Courses, learn how to operate the ANCD, download DAGR tutorial software KNOW that damn DAGR, Download ASIP tutorials KNOW that ASIP...You need to MASTER all of your equipment.

Use the rosetta stone software the army provides you and master a language.

If you find yourself out chasing pu$$Y you are wrong already. Leave that alone till you are a Captain and have some money to actually support her with. You need to be out there doing PT.

Your young single LT buddies are going to want to drink and party like rockstars, but if you TRULY want to be a great officer... and you TRULY give the PL job the almost DIVINE commitment it deserves, you will spend all of your LT time living a monks existence, studying and training. Do it while you're young, MASTER that schit. You will soon find that you are the man on the spot, that people turn to for results because you KNOW what you are doing.

Read books about working for idiots, read books about getting along with impossible bosses. As it seems that part of the process of becoming a good leader requires that at least once you will work for a total assclown.

quote:

Originally posted by A45Shooter:
If you find yourself out chasing pu$$Y.....

You need to be out there doing PT.....

Well, as I recall, with the right woman it was PT!

Life of a Monk, please. People who spend 8 hours on Saturday and Sunday reading FMs are called.............Geeks. I didn't meet a lot of Airborne Ranger Geeks.

My recommendation to single LT. Friday night get drunk and laid, if not both then at least one. Wake up Saturday and run off the booze and/or the girl. Watch football and cook out with a couple of buds. Repeat Friday night and Saturday morning schedule and events. Spend Sunday watching football and getting ready for the week. Most officers spent 4 years in college and 16 weeks in IOBC reading the FMs pretty well. What do they say about all work and no play?

quote:

In combat?

Accomplish the mission

Lead from the front

Lead by example

Take care of your people - keep them alive
Eat last - if there's anything left
Get dirty first
Know your people by name and reputation
Get your people what they need ASAP

Listen to your NCOs

Never be transparent

Even if it's not your fault, it's your responsibility. The buck stops with you.

And when you've done all that, then your people will trust you and follow you. When they are comfortable calling you ElTee instead of Sir, you probably are doing something right.

This is great. Putting this away for a rainy day. Thanks