Drill Sergeant Leaders
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There isn't a whole lot going on in my military life between Drills. While I was washing my uniforms today (took me long enough to get to them, I know) I was thinking about army life and my career thus far, and thinking back to how things were when I first joined and how they are now. I also go through these thoughts in a way to better myself as a Drill Sergeant. Then I went back to my first day of Drill Sergeant School, and remembered the only time I was absolutely petrified was that first day. My DSL came through the squad, sized me up and then told me to say the Drill Sergeant Creed, which fled for higher ground from my head. I was also asked to rattle off the module for the Position of Attention. That fled my brain as well. My DSL scared the crap out of me. I couldn't think straight, all I could think of was what I could do to stay out of her war path when she immediately dogged me on my hair (my bane in army life) and she didn't even drop me. I'll admit that I swore more curses under my breath at my DSL then I would care to fess up too. She pissed me off in more way then one because she was ALWAYS getting on me for something. Anything she could, really. When she talked to me about how she treated me later, she admitted she was particularly hard on me, but she did it to get me to become better. I realized at DSS that Sergeants have a different mentality then Privates. I had the right mentality when I went to Basic Training because I didn't know any better and I went to Basic with that in mind, I was entering something completely new and different then anything I was used to. And I excelled because I did what I had to do. When I went to DSS, I went with a lot of people and we all knew what to expect out of the army, that we had been in for at least five years (many had been in for ten to fifteen) and 80% were combat war veterans. We knew how the army ran, and to revert back to that mentality of the ignorant private who doesn't know better was extremely hard. I went there initially with the right attitude, just do what they say and don't take it personal (that is the advice to give to any private) but when you are with a lot of fellow soldiers who are all bitching and complaining, it rubs off. And DSS wasn't entirely how I expected it to be. I think I would have gotten more out of it if they had locked us down, put us in bays and made us do Barracks Maintenence instead of giving us maid service and privacy with evenings and weekends off. We had a lot of DSLs there too, and you could take lessons from all of them, based on how or how not to do something. And I have discovered that the poor leader can be as effective a teacher as the strong leader, you can take something from each of them and learn how to effectively lead troops by knowing what works and what doesn't. One thing I learned was the yelling and screaming is only effective for a short period of time. In today's army, which is not the same army as Vietnam (for one, we are all still volunteers), you have to get discipline from your troops but at the same time they need to know that you are approachable and that you care about them. But you still have to maintain that line that you are not their friend, your are their leader. You can't effectively discipline somebody if you are buddy buddy with them, I learned this from a leader who tried too hard to be a friend rather then a sergeant, and mentorship went right out the window. Yelling and screaming are only effective when you are trying to instill discipline those first three weeks, and you should avoid smiling at all. (the drill sergeant solution when soldiers do something funny, which is all the freakin' time, turn away from them or get out of the vicinity so they don't see you busting a gut). After that, you move into the mentorship phase, more of a coach then a strict disciplinarian. When they screw up, you get on their case and revert back to those first three weeks if you need to. But sometimes, all you have to do is set them into a guilt trip. From the soldier who got caught with a cell phone in his pocket which he found in the shoppette that turned out to belong to one of the employees (I don't think I have ever seen a soldier that scared before but that is a prime example of a shark attack) to the soldier caught passing a pornagraphic note to another soldier in First Platoon (and she was one of mine). I have come to accept that there will be private stories from each cycle, that I will remember some of these soldiers all to well while others will pass into the back of my consciousness, and that how you deal with each soldier will vary as the cycle goes. I learned that I didn't jump on one soldier properly when I first went to Fort Jackson, and I tried several methods of working with this soldier, who had great potential but lacked severely in discipline. And I found out that when I talked to him I got my message through a lot better then when I yelled at him and tried to smoke him. I wish I could have stayed through the cycle and watched these soldiers graduate, as I saw a lot of development in the two weeks I was there. I look forward to spending the full solid nine weeks next summer (or ten, if they are still on this ten week program) with these soldiers and watching them go from flabby out of shape civilians to tough and physically fit warriors. Warriors. Hmm. I guess I'd take that over Battle Buddy.
Posted by Erickson on 10:55 AM : (((
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1 Comments:
Comments retrieved for this Post:
It is touching to see how you want to be with them from start to finish.
I always felt that Drill Sargents didn't give a damn but I guess they do.
Rob | 11.22.07 - 1:14 pm | #
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hmm flabby out of shape civvilian, that sounds familiar motivate me seargent!
WA_Tom | 11.27.07 - 4:15 pm | #
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