On top of being left behind, you are also engaged with Soldiers that are trying to stay motivated to serve in the Army after receiving backlash from deployed Soldiers. For me, I encouraged family time and weekend passes. Although no one wants to join a football team to be benched in the first season, as a leader you must find ways to inspire others. Keeping up motivation and giving them a purpose to serve was taxing. On top of the non-deployable medical evaluation board (MEB), chapter, legal, permanent profile, and injured Soldiers, I also had a 40 percent deployable formation that I had to keep proficient and trained to be ready in the event that these Soldiers were needed to replace Soldiers in Afghanistan. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you see the glass filled), Soldiers were taken off the deployment roster, which for many dampened their spirits. Our force manning level on the mission in Afghanistan maxed at roughly 50 percent of the formation.
The unique thing about the 4-2 SBCT R3 rather than a normal rear-detachment organization was that 40-50 percent of our population was deployable Soldiers. Being assigned six months prior to deployment allowed me to focus my energy on personnel readiness rather than getting my feet planted underneath me. Most R3 commanders in my brigade were not selected until almost one month before the brigade deployed, which placed that commander in a “catch up” mode for the beginning of the deployment. This opportunity gave me the chance to gain experience as a commander and, most importantly, gave me an additional six months to prepare before the brigade actually deployed. The initial jump start to my success and what put me ahead of the other rear-detachment battalion commanders was being delegated as the R3 commander for 2-23 IN before the battalion departed for its rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. Once the brigade was informed of the deployment, preparation for the R3 began. The nation called on 4-2 SBCT to deploy to Afghanistan from October 2012 until August 2013. Raiders (and in my case Tomahawks) are ready when the nation calls. The best way to convey my lessons learned as an R3 commander is to utilize this acronym.
DCOMMANDER VS COMMANDER ONE HOW TO
As the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment (Tomahawks) R3 commander, I learned all the pertinent information every commander wishes he knew in order to spend less time on administrative paperwork and more time training.Īs I dwelled on how to accurately describe my experiences, I kept returning back to our brigade commander’s (COL Mike Getchell’s) repetition of the unit’s motto: RAIDERS - ready, accountable, informed, disciplined, experts, resilient, and Soldiers, families, and teams.
DCOMMANDER VS COMMANDER ONE CODE
I feel I have surpassed my peers, not in stature, but in experience and the ability to manage staff, Soldiers, and the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) process as a commander. The difference from most rear detachment commands and my experience was the aspect of being organized with a one-to-11 leader-to-led ratio while transitioning Soldiers and training deployable personnel (which consisted of more than half our formation). My brigade, the 4-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, labeled its rear detachment the Raider Ready Reserve (R3). If given the option, I would not have chosen this duty, but I learned so much more than if I had deployed, which has set me up for success in numerous developmental areas. Rear-detachment duty is no light task, and I would argue it may be one of the most difficult jobs in the Army. You’re going to be the rear-d commander” - the one phrase no officer wants to hear.
A gun team from the Raider Ready Reserve (R3), 4-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, pulls security during a team live-fire exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., on 29 January 2013.(Photo by SGT Ryan Hallock)
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