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Old 11-14-2014, 17:52   #16
Astronomy
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First reports are usually bullshit...
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Old 11-16-2014, 01:24   #17
Surgicalcric
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 11Ber View Post
Never ignore your family. When the Army is done with you they are all you will have left. My last BC said that and it has changed the way live.
I totally concur.

The people that I moistly ignored on my march to becoming a great SF soldier were the ones there or me when I took one too many steps in the right direction.

That said, be a man of principal. Think of the mission and men; if you do that your career will sort itself out. Being too eager to be promoted leaves you without the experience and knowledge necessary to function at a higher level and will cause your subordinates to question your [lack of] leadership.
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Last edited by Surgicalcric; 11-16-2014 at 01:28.
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Old 11-16-2014, 08:01   #18
Trapper John
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IMO, Rudyard Kipling said it best:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Striving for this everyday

Failing in that then "Shoot, move, and communicate" is pretty good advice.
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Old 11-16-2014, 15:29   #19
WarriorDiplomat
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The loud too cool for school ego maniacs that most people see and associate as SF are not the guys you want to emulate.

The best teams are the teams you have never heard of and the above only exist because of the true quiet professionals that exist in our ranks these are the true Green Berets the rock stars you guys see are SF qualified but could not carry the jockstraps of the quiet professional whose hard work and silent un-media provoking operations provide a majority of our success.

True QP's don't like the rockstars but for us they are useful idiots and provide the enemies of freedom a distraction and a false illusion that they are our best foot forward. This allows the true QP's to continue working in the shadows under the radar.
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Old 11-30-2014, 00:58   #20
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Learn to listen to what people are saying.Don't be too quick to judge.
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Old 12-01-2014, 09:53   #21
NC6J
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other SF soldiers:
new 18A: Remember, the first day you walk into your first team room, that ODA has a combined 35 to 85 years of SF experience to your 0 days. Any idea that you come up with has already been vetted at least once by at least one team member. The average team guy is always looking for the right way, not the easy way. If you willingly incorporate that experience into your planning and execution, you will be the most successful TL in that BN.

new 18Z: The team is counting on you. Regardless of how good your mentor was, seek knowledge from other TM SGTs and former TM SGTs (Co and BN SGMs, and WOs) whenever you can, keep learning every day. The journey didn't end when you pinned on E8 and got a team.

new 180A: see 18A and 18Z.

new team guy: SFQC didn't teach you your job, it gave you the MOS and the tools you needed to learn your job on your team. Ask questions and listen. Learn everything you can about your MOS, your goal here should be that everyone else in the company in your MOS will come to you before Google when they have a question.
And learn what the other MOS's on your team can teach you. Your goal here should be that the other MOS's on your team are confident that you can back them up in their absence.

"I don't know how" or "not my job" is not how we operate. Learn it and do it , whether it is writing a CONOP, re-writing a FID POI from scratch, submitting an award, writing an NCOER, or completing your DTS.
Shooting bad guys is about 1% of the job. If you can't hack the other 99% of the job, SF isn't for you. And the Army probably isn't for you...

Wannabes: Don't quit. Don't stop learning. See above for the rest when you get there.

Conventional soldiers: The SF guy you are dealing with came into the Army to be SF, just like you came in the Army to be your MOS. MOS's are not inherently "better" or "worse". They are just jobs. We are going to be working together more frequently in the future, so let's just treat each other like professionals and get better at the new joint thinig.

Spouses: If he is going to cheat on you, or if you are going to cheat on him, it was going to happen if he was an 18B or a tax attorney.
It's not a job thing, it's a character flaw. So quit blaming the job and start dealing with the character flaw.

Kids (and Spouses): This job cannot always be scheduled around birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and Christmas. It's the quality of time you spend together, not the quantity or specific dates on a calendar.
Don't bind yourself to that arbitrary date on the calendar, be flexible and celebrate those big events early or late on the days that you can when you're all together.
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Last edited by NC6J; 12-01-2014 at 09:57.
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Old 12-02-2014, 06:15   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NC6J View Post
other SF soldiers:
new 18A: Remember, the first day you walk into your first team room, that ODA has a combined 35 to 85 years of SF experience to your 0 days. Any idea that you come up with has already been vetted at least once by at least one team member. The average team guy is always looking for the right way, not the easy way. If you willingly incorporate that experience into your planning and execution, you will be the most successful TL in that BN.

new 18Z: The team is counting on you. Regardless of how good your mentor was, seek knowledge from other TM SGTs and former TM SGTs (Co and BN SGMs, and WOs) whenever you can, keep learning every day. The journey didn't end when you pinned on E8 and got a team.

new 180A: see 18A and 18Z.

new team guy: SFQC didn't teach you your job, it gave you the MOS and the tools you needed to learn your job on your team. Ask questions and listen. Learn everything you can about your MOS, your goal here should be that everyone else in the company in your MOS will come to you before Google when they have a question.
And learn what the other MOS's on your team can teach you. Your goal here should be that the other MOS's on your team are confident that you can back them up in their absence.

"I don't know how" or "not my job" is not how we operate. Learn it and do it , whether it is writing a CONOP, re-writing a FID POI from scratch, submitting an award, writing an NCOER, or completing your DTS.
Shooting bad guys is about 1% of the job. If you can't hack the other 99% of the job, SF isn't for you. And the Army probably isn't for you...

Wannabes: Don't quit. Don't stop learning. See above for the rest when you get there.

Conventional soldiers: The SF guy you are dealing with came into the Army to be SF, just like you came in the Army to be your MOS. MOS's are not inherently "better" or "worse". They are just jobs. We are going to be working together more frequently in the future, so let's just treat each other like professionals and get better at the new joint thinig.

Spouses: If he is going to cheat on you, or if you are going to cheat on him, it was going to happen if he was an 18B or a tax attorney.
It's not a job thing, it's a character flaw. So quit blaming the job and start dealing with the character flaw.

Kids (and Spouses): This job cannot always be scheduled around birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and Christmas. It's the quality of time you spend together, not the quantity or specific dates on a calendar.
Don't bind yourself to that arbitrary date on the calendar, be flexible and celebrate those big events early or late on the days that you can when you're all together.
Alot of good advice, this one is great, from different tm position perspectives.. good post...
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Old 01-06-2015, 23:47   #23
fasteddie565
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A single Twig will break, a bundle of twigs is strong.

Its never about you, Its always about the team. If it is about you, its because the team said so.

Honor is pure, as the standard is both established and maintained by the group. The more difficult the standard, the sweeter the taste of the honor

Pride is easily corruptible as the standard is never absolute

A man who loses his dignity will lose his will to live.
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Old 01-07-2015, 06:19   #24
miclo18d
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fasteddie565 View Post
A single Twig will break, a bundle of twigs is strong.

Its never about you, Its always about the team. If it is about you, its because the team said so.
This symbol is from Etruscan origins and used in the Roman Republic. It is called a FASCES. It is a bundle of sticks that denotes strength in unity and is seen everywhere in US Government buildings. This picture is from the U.S. House Of Representatives, there is one on either side of the U.S. Flag that sits behind the Speaker's chair.

Thanks fasteddie for reminding me of this!
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Old 01-10-2015, 18:28   #25
StRaTeGy_
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When...

When you feel like quitting, remember why you started!
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