What makes a good officer?
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I’m not in the military. I’m considering going through officer training after I’ve completed my BA. I like the idea of working as an infantry officer particularly.
From what I’ve heard (and I don’t know many soldiers, so this may not be the full picture) it seems quite common that the higher ups don’t really know what’s happening on the ground. I also often hear junior officers being described as incompetent. There seems to be more complaints made about officers the higher up the chain they move.
Now obviously there’s going to be some personality clashes, and there are always going to be shitty people in management who seem to inexplicably get promoted. But putting aside those guys for a moment, I want to understand what makes a good officer, particularly a platoon commander, in the eyes of the guys in the platoon.
So here are my questions:
What are the most common mistakes you see a junior officer make?
What makes you want to be in a particular officer’s platoon?
What can an officer do that shows you he is a competent leader?
What can an officer do to show that he has the best interests of his soldiers at heart?
What’s the right way of going about forming a relationship with platoon sergeants and section commanders? When those relationships are working well, what do they look like?
I’m not the kind of leader who won’t listen to what one of my team has to say. It it’s a good idea, I want to hear about it. How can I encourage my guys to share their ideas with me about how things could work without them fearing a reprisal of some kind?
And for the officers, particularly those who have moved past the platoon commander level who are reading this post: How do you assess another officer’s competence and leadership?
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