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November 28, 2003

Now we know what makes effective infantry platoon leaders the way they are. Recent research shows that its the same thing that makes fighter pilots aces; situational awareness. That means the ability to quickly sort out your current situation and become aware of the possibilities, and just as quickly act. Fighter pilots have seconds to make complex decisions during aerial combat, and it turns out that infantry platoon leaders are similarly challenged. One interesting thing that came out of the research was that platoon leaders who had good situational awareness of their own troops were less effective than those who concentrated on what the enemy was up to. Kind of makes sense. Your own guys are going to at least try and work with you, while the enemy is trying to kill you.