Platoon

During the middle of my second year in JROTC, I earned a promotion to the rank of platoon leader. Although excited to begin, I had to face the hard challenge of speaking in front of people, establishing my own authority, and battling my own indecisiveness. During my installation as a platoon leader, I made a collection of minor mistakes, particularly in where I stood, how to march in, and what to do with my platoon. When giving commands, I had a severe stutter. I failed to voice my authority to a chaotic and noisy platoon, which consisted mainly of experienced cadets and some of my friends. On top of that, my jealous platoon sergeant wanted to establish himself above my authority. My instructors felt disappointed in my first time as a platoon leader that at one point they considered firing me on the spot. Luckily class ended, however my senior instructor berated my first performance. Although I was chewed out by my senior instructor, he gave me a chance to redeem myself next week.…

Soldier X’s main character is Erik Brandt. Erik is a German soldier, but he is half Russian. He enlisted into the German army. He is sent to Russia. He travels by train. Then he gets on a truck, that is in a convoy. The convoy is attacked by Russian fighter planes. He pulled a bullet out of Hals Kessler. They quickly became friends. They then head off to the front lines, where they go in a bunker. They learn that people die often there. They learn the Russians will attack soon after Erik helps…

within our new Area of Operation (AO). It was during my Platoon’s execution of this mission at an unavoidably predictable location that the enemy in our AO cashed in their vote with catastrophic results. In living my “worst case scenario,” I would have to blindly depend on our collective planning and preparation, my training and instincts, and an ability to operate despite temporary but complete loss of outcome control. We had just under a month in theater and the same amount of time with a…

However, this was most interaction I have experience with OPFOR. During the school year, we rarely practiced communicating with them. Whether it be hostage negotiation or interacting with “villagers” during a mission, learning to relate with various personnel is important at CLC. Surely on campus, we could work more on this matter. We can have the MS4s and Cadre act as OPFOR, but not just as hostile force ready to engage the cadets during a mission. We could set up situations where MS3s would…

structured with cooks and distribution platoon arriving on the advance party and the mechanics trailing a few weeks behind. BN Leadership allowed us to integrate as needed, which proved to be invaluable by allowing my senior platoon sergeants to push the BN with equipment, feeding and logistical needs. Over the next week, it became evident that the BN Commander relied too heavily on our company. Our required training moved quickly to support Alpha thru Delta Company METLs and became over…

jungles. Remember, this is a scavenging mission. Do not engage. Stay frosty. The maze of mangroves. The hot and humid air. Only the half shape banana lit the sky with a spotlight. Whilst they ranged through the grass jungle, needle-sharp creatures fly and land on the lump of muscles. The eerie sounds of the rainforest animals filled the skies. Pellets of rain drops raced down towards the earth. The platoon leader tells Lemon to clean his glasses as they crossed the muddy river north…

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honest). An important aspect of this definition is that honesty is not just being truthful, but being free of deceit. You could lose more respect from your subordinates by being truthful and deceitful than being solely untruthful. As I learned at cadet troop leadership training, soldiers can easily identify deceit. The platoon leader I followed was extremely honest with his soldiers. If he messed up, he admitted to it. However, another platoon leader in the company…

change in O’Brien’s book was called Rat Kiley. The platoon of soldiers went through numerous changes, especially Kiley. Rat Kiley was very vital part of their platoon. First of all, he carried a satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books. Being the medic, he had to carry all those things, among various other things that medics carried. He also carried M&M’s for especially bad wounds, his satchel totalling out to 20 pounds. He was also known to…

He is a great base of knowledge for the infantry branch and despite his initial attitude, he really wants to better the Army anyway he can; including talking to cadets about the Army. With this in mind, my next question to Sergeant Houle was, what is the best recommendation that you could give to a cadet who is about to commission as an infantry officer? His answer was to not "come in all headstrong". To elaborate, he hit again on the fact that the majority of people in the unit that I will…

He served as a Senior Lieutenant, commanding his own motorised rifle platoon. He was probably the most decorated soldier of my entire family, and I looked up to him very much. He earned the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Red Star. Almost everyone in my family was involved in the army. My great-grandfather…