Letter to a Lieutenant
This article, first published in the November 1993 issue of ARMY magazine, is based on a letter the author sent to his son upon his son's commissioning as a second lieutenant. Copyright © 1993 by the Association of the U.S. Army, all rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.
Your commissioning brings back a host of memories that are not only among the best in my life, but, in fact, are the substance of which much in my life was made. I envy you all the experiences that lie ahead and wish that I could go through them with you.
There are those who wish to make out that a second lieutenant is someone about whom jokes are made or one to be belittled by those of more rank. On the contrary, you hold a remarkable position of enormous responsibility; it has, after all, been second lieutenants who have led the men who have done the actual fighting in all our nation's wars.
As I look back, I wish only that upon taking on my responsibilities as a lieutenant I had enjoyed the understanding of the Army that I gained later. It is this understanding that I want to share with you.
The Army is often looked upon as a pyramid structure with the Chief of Staff at the top, privates at the bottom and all other ranks in between. Well, it is a pyramid in shape, but one that stands on its point. At the top is the broad base made up of all the young soldiers who pull triggers and lanyards or turn wrenches. Below these fighters and doers are those of higher rank whose sole purpose is to coordinate, supply and manage those who actually do the fighting.
If it were not for the need to supply and coordinate, American armies could fight very well composed solely of privates, and at times almost have. Keeping the pyramid on its point helps remind one who the important players are and where the priorities should lie.
As for the officer corps, one might picture it as a horizontal bar graph with those in the center doing a solid job, those on one end the sort the Army could do better without, and those on the other end, wonder workers who make the Army the incredible institution that it is. One's own effort is to remain in the right end of the continuum.
In these "pictures" of the Army and the officer corps is an all-important concept: a soldier's status is not determined by his rank, but by his performance of duty. An incompetent of any rank is disdained by all, but a truly professional private fills the hearts of even the most senior officers with pride.
This concept leads immediately to another. It is said that an officer should have ambition--ambition, not for higher rank, but ambition to be the most professional officer possible. This is the difference between a "careerist" and a professional. Truly professional ability will in good time bring rank, but your focus must be on realizing that you could stay in the rank of lieutenant for 30 years and still be learning and growing as a professional officer.
In this connection, I think of Arthur MacArthur, the father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who gave up his rank as a wartime colonel to start over in the post-Civil War Army as a lieutenant. He spent almost his whole career as a company grade officer serving in desolate western Army posts. He was a soldier who never ceased to study his profession and who was ready for high command and greatness when the need came during the Spanish-American War. Had the war with Spain never come, in no way would he have been less of a truly professional officer.
In this matter of status, there is another point the importance of which I realize on looking back. Lieutenants and generals are both commissioned officers of the Army of the United States. The nation expects just as much courage, integrity, loyalty, intelligence and dedication from its lieutenants as it does from its generals. While the general commands greater numbers by virtue of his greater experience, the lieutenant leads at the point of decision. The general plans the battle and commits the forces, but the battle is won or lost by the leadership of the lieutenants.
It behooves officers of all grades to remember that true professional competence is the only yardstick by which they are judged and that the nation expects the same virtues from all. When seen in this manner, it is clear why those who are rank conscious fail to gain the respect of the officer corps and the troops.
Troops are what it is all about. You are going to walk out in front of your platoon with many questions on your mind. But what about the troops? What questions will they have on their minds? Does the new lieutenant know his job? Whose interests does he have at heart, theirs or his? Will he listen? Can he be trusted? Will he stand up for them when appropriate? How much moral courage does he have? Will he cheat?
Yes, there will be endless speculation because you are so enormously important to them. In battle, their lives will depend on your knowledge, intelligence and courage. In peacetime, you will have great bearing on their comfort, happiness and welfare.
More important, these are soldiers, so they thirst for something special. They want pride in themselves, pride in their unit and pride in you. They want "our lieutenant" to be the best. They want him to be godlike. They want someone to write home about. They want someone in whose image they can bask and soak up reflected glory. They want this because they are soldiers.
They want to remember you half a century from now; and when reminiscing with some old Army buddy, still to speak admiringly of "our lieutenant," never stopping to realize that the person they still admire had only just turned 21. It won't matter; he was the lieutenant, who knew his job and took care of the troops.
This desire soldiers have to admire their officers is truly humbling. No matter how much you do, you will always wish you had done more. You have a great gift to give, and in giving it you will be rewarded more than you can possibly imagine.
You have been taught that a leader does not become familiar with his followers, that familiarity breeds contempt. This is true, but communication is not familiarity. Take every possible opportunity to talk with the troops. It can be small talk about where they are from or what their plans are for later in life or it can be shop talk. Take the time to explain the mission to your jeep driver; give an informal tutoring on map reading or whatever other subject comes to hand. Always be teaching. When your soldiers have special areas of expertise, be wise enough to ask them to teach you. These soldiers will then not be afraid to tell you when you are about to make a mistake, and they will trust you because they know you will listen. If something goes wrong, do not jump to the conclusion that somebody "fouled up" and "tear them off a strip." It is better to quietly ask searching questions as to how the mistake occurred.
In all too many cases you will find that the mistake was caused by something you did or failed to do, possibly as simple a matter as putting an untrained soldier on the wrong job. You will learn why things went wrong, look a lot less silly and be far more respected.
Remember that the troops will scrutinize you endlessly, and everything will be noted--the shine on your boots, your bearing, the way you handle yourself under pressure. Nothing will escape their notice; everything will be discussed. They may use rough language, but they will give the officer who uses profanity a minus score. Why? They expect more of him, particularly in terms of self-discipline.
Most important, they want you to make them feel like soldiers. You can learn to place exactly the right inflection on the words soldier or sergeant and fill them with pride. Your troops want to feel that they are real soldiers and sergeants, not people filling a pay grade.
They wish to think of themselves as players in a John Wayne movie. Your manner will determine how they think of themselves. Give them a stage to act on. Make sure they get to play their part and that each squad leader gets to inspect his own squad--don't do it for him, leaving him as a useless bystander. Don't be one of those officers who thinks the Army is for commissioned ranks and the troops are supernumeraries; it is their Army.
Put them on center stage; let them act their part, and they in turn will put ribbons on your chest, rank on your shoulders and a great fullness in your heart.
You are the intermediary between the troops and higher headquarters. Play your part as a professional. Some officers act as a megaphone by repeating and amplifying any criticism or "flack" that comes down from higher headquarters. When this has been done at several layers of command, what may have started as a simple observation at brigade becomes unbearable pressure by the time it reaches the troops.
Your role is not that of a megaphone but that of a baffle. Let all the pressure ride on your shoulders. You access the problem and you initiate what action you feel is appropriate to resolve it--if indeed any action is required. In this way, your troops will live and work in a stable and calm environment in which they can do their job concerned only by what "the lieutenant" thinks.
This may be a truly difficult role if you are working for a "screamer," but it is the role of the professional. As a professional, remember that war and military life often deal unfairness. Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, one of the greatest leaders to emerge from the Civil War, observed "that injustice must be taken by a military officer as a necessary part of his risks, of the conditions and chances of his service to be suffered in the same way as wounds and sickness, in patience and humility."
When one of your troops does a particularly good job, don't wait for the Army in its good time to reward him; you have it within your power to honor him much more. Write a note to his family telling them of the pride you feel in being able to serve with such an outstanding soldier. Take care in writing the note, for it will almost certainly spend many years in a treasured scrapbook and be the source of conversations among people you will never know.
If you have taken some snapshots of a soldier, make sure his family gets a print. Remember how lonely many of these young soldiers are and how much it means to them to chat with you a few minutes about their home and family.
Time is the most precious commodity of all; give all you can to the troops. Take time to brief, to explain, to teach and to listen.
Don't veer from the highest standards of morality, honesty and selflessness, because if you do, you will rob the troops entrusted to you of something extremely precious, and you will rob yourself.
Nothing you do later in life will be so demanding, so rewarding, or will create more memories than your service as a lieutenant.
To this day I remember the pitch blackness one night inside an ambulance during the Korean War and the feeling that came over me when I heard a voice say, "Lieutenant, we sure had a good platoon."
From ARMY magazine, November 1993. Copyright © 1993 by the Association of the U.S. Army, all rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.