The relationship between a Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant is incredibly delicate. Typically, the PL has only been in the Army from 1 day- 2 years and the PSG has been in the Army a minimum of probably 12 years. The vast difference in experience is incredible. But, the PL is in charge of the PSG. The PL rates the PSG and can directly affect their promotions, awards, and just overall career progression. The amount of leadership that is put on the Baby LT’s shoulders is incredible, but I guess that is why they are leaders. They are leaders from day one. Soldiers’ lives and welfare is in their hands on day one. Lessons are typically learned the hard way, there doesn’t seem to be a “let’s ease into this” attitude- at least in my experience.
So, my type of leadership is that the PSG is my counterpart.Which we are. There are things that the PSG does to accomplish the mission, and there are things that the PL primarily does to accomplish the mission and therefore, the mission is accomplished together. That is the ideal model. I do not believe that there are ‘NCO’ lanes and there are ‘Officer’ lanes- they are all leader lanes. This viewpoint is not popular in the military. Granted, there are lanes that the NCO will typically walk on, and lanes that are typically filled with Officers, but there are several times in the realm of leadership that these lanes are co-mingled. As long as the mission is accomplished in its most effective and professional manner, then all is well.
Not until I moved to this position as the Contracting Officer had I had the ‘ideal’ professional relationship with my PSG. Though my current counterpart is not my PSG, and I am not his PL, the relationship mirrors that of platoon leadership. We have one Soldier who he primarily takes care of, but that does not mean I do not care for the Soldier or follow up on him. I do not rate my counterpart, but I do not think that would make much of a difference if I did. The only difference is we would sit down quarterly and discuss his work performance and as far as I am concerned, it is outstanding.
The relationship between the PL and the PSG is so vitally important. It can make or break you. It can either cause you to dread going to work or the relationship can assist you throughout the daily madness. And thankfully, my counterpartand I have that second option. The daily madness that we deal with is unbelievable, but we are each other’s confidant. We complain to each other, because sometimes that is the only thing we can say. We discuss professional development and how to deal with difficult leadership. We discuss life in general too, his family, my family, movies, music, cars, just life.
I have learned so much from him, which is also part of the ideal model of this dynamic of a relationship. I think a successful relationship requires both parties to be humble. The PL needs to be humble enough to learn from the NCO because of the experience that they have. The PSG needs to be humble enough to teach them and be content with the structure of the Army, thatis just the way it is. The Baby LT didn’t make the structure to where the 22 year old college graduate is in charge of the 37 year old war veteran with 6 tours under their belt.
So, thank you to my counterpart for having my back. It really is one of the best feelings to know that I can trust the person that I sit next to 12 hours of the day. To know that I can confide in you has really changed my jaded view on the Army. More importantly, thank you for showing me that the NCO’s I thought should exist, really do exist. Thank you for living up to your NCO creed and supporting me as I learn and grow. You have set the standard for the next NCO that I work with and I thank you for that firepower because now I can speak from experience, not just from the books. Thank you for correcting Soldiers for not doing the right thing, and thank you for reminding me that I am doing a good job. Thank you for reminding me on my days of weakness that I need to toughen up. Thank you for encouraging me to go get my Masters Degree, and making sure that mymilitary records are updated. I could go on and on with thanks but I will end it here--Thank you for making these last 6 months of the deployment far more bearable and even at times enjoyable as we laughed through the craziness. Thank you, SFC O’Neal.
