Personal Narrative: My Iraqi Staff Meeting

The book Black Hearts by Jim Frederick is an in-depth narrative about the 1st platoon, Bravo Company 1-502nd Infantry 101st Airborne Division deployed to Iraq in 2005. The leadership failures documented in this book range all the way from the general officer level down to the lowest private. LT general Ricardo Sanchez failed to understand the climate his command group was entering as they were deployed into Iraq. From then on the entire leadership failures continued to compound upon each other with improper time to plan. It is customary to have a six month lead time to have a proper battle hand off when preparing to take over an AO from another unit. To compound this problem, the entire time the 502nd was in pre-deployment training, they

When analyzing the mishaps of 1st platoon, one cannot help but to point out the many errors that resulted from poor leadership qualities. The Army publication ADP 6-22 characterizes leadership as “a complex mix of organizational, situational, and mission demands on a leader who applies personal qualities, abilities, and experiences to exert influence on the organization, its people, the situation, and the unfolding mission. Difficult and complex situations are the proving ground for leaders expected to make consistent timely, effective and just decisions. (Army Leader Defined, 2012)” A lack of effective leadership was the main cause, among many others, which led to the downfall of 1st platoon and can be said to be major contributors to the gruesome incident that occurred. One example of ineffective leadership can be directed towards 3rd squad leader SGT Tony Yribe; despite all the respect and consideration of being so hooah and godlike in the eyes of younger soldiers, Yribe still has something that every human on this planet has…imperfections. To illustrate, Yribe was known

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the real world consequences of when Army leaders become complacent dealing with foreign national soldiers, and the day to day operations while in a combat theatre. To gather lessons learned from the example discussed in order to lower the probability of a reoccurrence among the force. Through the example demonstrate the need for Army leaders to constantly fight against complacency, and the extreme importance that leaders know their soldiers, and place their soldiers’ needs before their own. The scenario discussed was a real incident that took place in Iraq in 2009, at a Coalition Outpost (COP) approximately 30 kilometers south of Mosul, in a city called Hammam al-Alil.

I could not imagine myself socializing with these people. I was hoping they did not think I am one of them. As the meeting is about to begin this tall guy was about to read out of this book. He began to say the purpose of the meeting is… that is when I spaced out. I was so lost in my thoughts all I can remember him saying,“ purpose of recovery from the disease of addiction.” I still could not believe that I was sitting in a room filled with strangers. He stated the third tradition, “ the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using.” I always put myself in my sister’s shoes; she has been attending NA meetings for 5 or 6 years now. I could not imagine what she felt like attending her first meeting. I believe I would feel cheated

For my book report, I read the book War Heroes Voices from Iraq by Allan Zullo. The author interviewed ten soldiers about the time they spent in Iraq. The book tells ten different real life stories of soldiers and what amazing things they did in Iraq. The one thing all of these soldiers have in common is that they thought they were just doing their jobs. These soldiers are true heroes because each of them risked their own lives to save others and to protect our country. Even though a lot of soldiers would do that, not all survive to tell about it.

In their infancy, my problem solving skills were limited to seeking out guidance and having others assist with resolving conflict. As a young sergeant, I remember allowing conflict to brew around me instead of confronting issues. This served no purpose, and caused the work environment and team morale to decline. During my three years at United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), I had multiple analytic and leadership disagreements with colleagues. I learned that through open discussion and communication a majority of conflicts could be resolved immediately. As a platoon sergeant, I handle conflict between soldiers, peers, and leadership regularly. I employ tact, patience, and understanding in order to help the involved parties to overcome their

The 4th Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) has a proud history of accomplishments. It has served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Historically, the morale across the brigade was high; leaders took care of their Soldiers, and all of them did their best to train them, accomplish missions successfully, and support them in any way. The 4th ABCT HQ, as well as each of the battalions, were highly efficient and effective, and most of them were jubilant to be part of the brigade. Three years ago, one of the best maneuver brigades in FORSCOM was the 4th ABCT. The brigade had focus; leaders and soldiers were dedicated, and there was a strong work ethics. However, the 4th is facing some challenges ahead that are going to make difficult to reach its full potential. Amongst several leadership problems, there is a major one. There is not an organizational vision in the brigade, and if there is, it is unclear and poorly evident.

When I picked up my dad's sword, I felt invincible. It was almost as if nothing in the world could harm me. Then, all of a sudden a blade cut through my arm. I had arrived at Camp Half-Blood on my eleventh birthday. I was placed in cabin eleven since I was undetermined. After I became determined I was placed in cabin five. Now I am fifteen, and my life is just getting started. I am the demigod daughter of Ares. I am decisive, fearless, and determined.

If you go down, you will find a way to get back up and thank whoever brought you down because he just made you that much stronger.

It was March 17, 2003, when my world got a bit worse. The older I get, the more I realize how terrible our economy is. People in Iraq are destitute, they don’t have access to clean water, electricity, and enough clothing. A fifteen year old girl should not be able to tell you everything there is to know about Saddam Hussein, but I can. Though my dad told me society prefers that I am oblivious to all the riots and shootings, I prefer to listen to every adult conversation when I have the chance. It interests me to hear about life only a few blocks away. People assume I am miserable, but that is not true. Although terrible situations are around me, I wouldn’t necessarily say my life is “bad”. Life is never bad unless you experience war. I personally

Entered inside the Pentagon today. ;) I met Sgt Major of the Army as he first mistakenly called me out and thought I was someone else, and as he was trying to crack open his own office. lol I had a nice conversation with him and the woman he was with. He shook my hand and said it was a pleasure to meet me. I feel truly

May, 2006 was a month that I will not soon forget. My platoon and I were stationed in Baghdad; our mission was to eliminate the leader of a terrorist organization widely known as the Leumi. The Leumi consisted of thousands of bloodthirsty savages who were known for their radical methods of torture. Members of the Leumi would murder for either the satisfaction of taking another man’s breath or the perception that someone was trying to interfere with the Leumi’s cause. The objective of the Leumi is to rid the world of all impurity, which they deem to be those who do not follow Allah. At the time that I was stationed in Baghdad, their leader, Muhadi, was rumored to be hiding in a compound in No Man’s Land. No Man's Land was the headquarters for

And really expects a lot from us, and a lot of soldiers keep messing up doing things that shouldn’t be done… That’s why… again verbal accountability, and counseling is good to make it to the last formation so that you can get a safety briefing from your 1sg sergeant, company commander, squad leader or battalion commander. If you do something wrong after getting a safety briefing it’s no one fault but yours again. Because of Regulation 600-2 0 discipline you were told not to do something wrong and did it anyway, then appropriate actions must be taken. For example. 4856 counseling, also 600-8-2 which covers suspension of favorable personnel actions, better known as flags.

During arduous combat operations coinciding with a high OPTEMPO unit cohesion may flux toward a detriment of mission success. This report will focus on the 56TH Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) in order to address the critical leadership problem. In addition, focus will center on relevant facts and assumptions that led to the critical leadership problem and rectify the issues. Furthermore, a new ABCT vision will be published in order to restructure the organizational culture toward a unified purpose and an increase in esprit de corps. (Verify with lesson for correct purpose)

I did the right thing after not going to formation in the first palce by calling who had already been done with pt. Which is were some realized that I am not a good Soldier and that I need to start being the responsible that the Army needs. In doing so I will be going to pt with a fellow Soldier that is pretty squared away and insuring that I have a way to and from work as well as pt and any other things that may occur. I have thought about these things and realize that this is not how I want to spend mym time in the Army. If people are not responsible for the things that they do then we are all doomed for failure on the battlefield or in an office environment that I work in now we all have the simple responsibilities. By showing this type of irresponsibility on the battlefield it could have costed lives and I know that I would not have been able to handle that. I have determined that due to my recent actions I will not let things like this happen to myself, I am going to take care of my business and get things done the Army way not the shamming Specialist way. Responsibility is not to be taken lightly it is put there to make you a better person and in my case