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Importance of SNCOs Mentoring Officers
“Why are you putting this LT with me?” is a question I have heard in various forms from fellow SNCOs. To be honest, I have asked this question before too. It took some time at the SNCOA to truly appreciate the importance of my time with officers. We have all read in the little brown…
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To DSD or not to DSD, That is the Question
The Developmental Special Duty (DSD) selection cycle is upon us yet again. There are many fears and hopes associated with the possibilities of being selected. Speaking from someone who held one of these positions in the past and as a current field training detachment chief, I would like to share some of my experiences. Last…
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Secret to Success: Train Up, Train Down
Here is a concept I adopted a long time ago: Train Up, Train Down. I really wish I could remember where the idea came from, although I am certain I simplified it into this phrase as a teen while training in martial arts. The concept is really quite simple in practice; you train to learn…
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Read More Books Starting Today
My whole life I have valued the benefits of reading. Although, I am such a slow reader, I never really wanted to invest the time it took me to read a book. I would read maybe a book a year into adulthood and this is something I always “wanted” to overcome, but never placed any…
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What Should be on a TSgt’s EPR?
One of the most frequent questions I get as the senior enlisted leader in my unit is how an EPR should read. I love getting this question because it means people are looking out for their subordinate or doing their best to improve themselves. For this article I will go into how I think a…
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After Reading this, You Might Want to Unfollow Me
Over the past year, we have all seen a post on social media that starts off like this or with a “I am ready to clean up my friends list soon.” I see statements like this as pure buffoonery. Nothing more than the childhood version of ‘play my game or I am going home.’ I…
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Metrics Don’t Motivate
I was recently standing in a formation when the speaker said, “We met several of our key metrics…”. Things trailed off after that because my mind wandered to other matters of the day. While that may have motivated others in the formation of probably a few hundred people that day, I suspect it had the…
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Are Leaders Puppets?
The recent inauguration of our 45th President, Donald Trump, has brought about a mixture of opinions of what type of a leader he should be or the type he will be. Many say our elected officials are just puppets who should be toeing the company line and doing what the majority of the population wants.…
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Don’t Miss The Moment
I’ve always been a fan of a good story; that is probably why I’ve always loved to watch and collect movies. A movie with a good story creates a sense of nostalgia in us that makes us turn to our own lives and begin to look introspectively at our life’s course. What makes the story…
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Will Course 15 Make You a Better Leader?
I will start this article with the short answer to avoid the “click-bait” criticism: no, it will not. Recently, I sat on a mentorship panel with a room full of eager NCOs and this topic came up amongst the masses. It should come as no surprise, but not a single person in the room thought…
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