Msg Leadership Examples

MSG Rick The third of my leader examples is my first Team Sergeant, Master Sergeant (MSG) Rick. Rick was his first name and on an Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA), we called each other by our first names. Rick was a scruffy looking person with a “porn stasche” and an abrasive personality. Regardless of appearance and personality, he was still a good leader and mentor, even if he would not admit it. From the first day I showed up to the ODA Rick displayed many of the Special Forces Leadership principles outlined in the US Army Special Forces Small Unit Tactics Handbook by (SFSUT handbook), by Paul LeFavor. The trait that stands out the most, for Rick, was develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates (LeFavor, 2013. p. 161). Rick would always just tell us what needed to be done or the mission, from there we would complete it. He would always check up on us but never interjected unless we were doing …show more content…
He set many examples for me to go by in my career as a Green Beret. This helped me tremendously when I would become an instructor during the Small Unit Tactics (SUT) phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course. Learning from MSG Rick helped me to be a better instructor. I learned from him how to teach, coach, and mentor future Green Berets. Since the SUT phase not only emphasized tactics, but leadership as well, this payed off for me and my students. Many of my students praised my teaching and mentoring style. I would teach them, let them come up with plans and execute them. If they were bad or did not pass the common sense test, I would let them know. From there I would guide them on how to do it right and let them re-execute. Just as Rick did for me. Many of the officers I mentored and taught in SUT even told me that they hope to get a Team Sergeant like me to mentor them on their first team. Although it made me feel proud, I was always thanking Rick’s mentorship that allowed that to