Class up for OCS first incr 23 May 2008

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ArtyEngineer Colts 3/25/2008 1:11:41 AM

Thank you for all of your help. My GySgt. told me I better be able to run more than just 3 miles, I change my work outs up often, running 8-10 miles every other day, or running 2 miles a few times daily. And I love backpacking, I can carry a good amount on my back. I really need to keep up on my studies so I can make those decisions and right up reports in the rain.

How can I prepair myself for delegating assignments to people? What is difficult about doing so? I have been reading lots about leadership. The key difference between the great leaders and the meteocre ones is the ability to empower otheres and not worry that they will take your position, I dont think I will have a problem with that. I am really looking forward the leadership training I will be getting and being able to apply much that I have learned. I have read alot of theory, but besides leading my basketball team, I have not done much else.

I am really excited!

Thanks for everything

Schuyler Witt

Colts,

First let me say I am not in the military and have never been, however I do work with the Marine Corps and Army on a daily basis, and have done so for the last few years.

You asked a VERY good question about how to prepare yourself to be able to delegate!!! Ill be honest and say that you cant. The ability to delagate goes hand in hand with the abilit to "Trust". Unfortunately "Trust " is earned and not generally freely given.

However as a Marine Corps Officer you do have a bit of an advantage over us civilians. Those you are delegating to are also Marine Corps personel. All you have to remember is that they are supposed to have the same standards and work ethics as you have had ingrained in you. You dont have to trust the "Person" you have to trust their "Training". Thats your starting point. As you get established in your unit you will learn who you can rely on and who you cannot, and as a result the ability to delegate gets easier.

Now as a young officer you will be expected to "Make Decisions", all i would ask of you is that you think through the implications of every decision you make to the best that the time available allows! Unfortunately I deal with the repurcussions of decisions made by young officers, usually made in the heat of the monment to deal with an immediate situation with absolutely to regards to the wider implications.....lets just say that can get a bit messy!!!!!

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Yimmy 3/25/2008 1:52:01 AM

That is a very fair and true point worth considering.

While in training, when those who can't cut the military haven't yet fallen by the way-side, when undertaking command appointments and delegating taskings you will have to babysit people to make sure they conduct them in an orderly fashion. On the plus side, you will be living with the people you are assessed alongside, making it in your best interests to get to know well those placed in your training section/squad.

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colts Thank you 3/25/2008 12:14:23 PM

Thanks for all your time gentlemen, I appreciate it.

Regards,

Schuyler Witt

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timon_phocas 3/25/2008 12:28:09 PM

>>
How can I prepair myself for delegating assignments to people? What is difficult about doing so?
<<

good questions Colt,

Leadership is a lot like, say, singing. Some people are innately brilliant at it, other people are tone deaf, but rest of us fall somewhere in between. Continuous study and practice makes everybody better at it, even the tone deaf people. Leadership works that way, too. You will have classes on leadership at OCS (both formal and informal). Listen carefully , because leadership is intrinsic to the mission of the Corps. In addition, as your DI's, officer instructors and fellow aspirants give commands, analyze what techniques they are using, why they are using them and how you would approach the same task.

As for delegation, you must realize that you can delegate authority, but never responsibility. You can order somebody to do something, but you are still responsible for its execution. How you adapt to that will make up a large part of your personal leadership style.

I say again, the Corps is a secular religion. You must believe in the Corps, believe its values and believe in our place in the Corps. This will make leadership easier. because (by and large) you will be speaking to fellow believers.

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historynut 3/26/2008 12:52:27 PM

Mental and physical endurance are the main things. You don't need to be the smartest to win a fight just the guy that remembers the details. Like the Germans in WWII, forgot to get that cold weather gear.

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Carl S 3/28/2008 12:27:51 AM

timon_pocus wrote:

One path is for pilots and other aircrew aviators. These officers just progress through pilot training. BTW, the "boot camp" phase of Naval Aviation has Marine Corps Drill Instructors snapping the cadets into a Naval frame of mind.

Ground officers go through OCS and then the Basic Officer Course, which trains the new lieutenants about every aspect of the Corps. Lieutenants who wash out of pilot training are assigned to the Basic Officer Course. Determinations about officer specialties within the Corps are made during the Basic Officer Course.

I'm wondering when that changed? When I went through the OCS & Basic School (TBS) mill back i 1980 - 1982 all the newly commissioned Lts went to the Basic School first. This included those designated for aviation training, who went to the Naval Flight School after TBS just like all other Lts went to their specialty school afterwards. There was no difference between USMC officers or officer candidates as far as 'ground' or 'air' until we completed the Basic School.

"Washed out aviators" who failed flight school were reassigned MOS and sent to other specialty schools, not returned to the Basic School. A couple of my classmates at the Basic Field Artillery Officers Course in 1983 were former Flight School students.

So I'm wondering if you could give me details on when & why this was changed?

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timon_phocas 3/28/2008 9:10:10 AM

Howdy Carl,

>>

So I'm wondering if you could give me details on when & why this was changed?
>>

My best friend in the Corps described himself as a "fallen angel." This was about 1977. He progressed through carrier qualifications, but started getting nausea whenever he was in the cockpit. The way he described it, he was given a temporary assignment to the Maine Corps history museum in Quantico and then sent to the Basic Officer Course. It's certainly possible that I misunderstood him.

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Carl S 3/28/2008 5:44:46 PM

timon... 1977 falls between my enlisted and officer active service. It may be they were sending 2dLts straight to flight school, rather than Basic School first. Tho I have not heard that anywhere else. In WWII the pilot canidates may have been skipping the Basic Shool & itis not impossible later. One of the oddities of the USMC is that all 2dLts were traditionally run through the Basic School, a lengthly course covering the breadth of combat and combat support operations. Half the curiculum is material that orients the Lt to the skills he needs at the company level, Personnel Admin, Supply, radio communications, tanks, Military Law, artillery, motor transport, airsupport. The other half is infantry training from the squad to company level. After that the Lts go on to their specialty schools. Those are usually US Army schools, which cover in a condensed fashion the same material we already had. ie: in the Field Artillery Officers Basic Course the Army officers recived four or five hours in supply and management and how to fill out the multitude of forms. We already had over sixteen hours on the same subject, including exercises in filling out forms correctly (ZZzzzz). We had three weeks learning to shoot the rifle and pistol. The Army guys got exactly one day. of training. When I went though in 1982 the course ran about five & a half months. During the Viet Nam war it was cut to a bit over four months on the calendar, but the hours were longer. (Saturdays are work days Lieutenant.)

It also occurs to me you friend may have got a slot in the Infantry Officers Basic Course. That is the MOS school for Lts headed for a rifle platoon command. It is co-located with the Basic School using the same buildings and training staff. (The FBI academy was two kilometers up the road and also used many of the same training facilities.)

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