You must be fun to work for/with…
No complaints in 17 years as both NCM and Officer. In fact my troops are sad to see me posted this APS. Thanks for asking.
You feel the need to micromanage every aspect of your subs’ professional life?
Only the aspects that need clear boundaries. Do I give a shit if Bloggins does PT at 0730 or 1430? Absolutely not. Do I enforce proper safety around electricity and RF? You betcha. Do I ensure their pers admin and staff work is done right the first time? Always.
I am here to be a leader and act as such. That means being consistent, fair, and clear on what my expectations are. My intent is just that, a roadmap. I tell folks where I want them to go, not how to get there.
Why? Because it matters greatly when things are chaotic. Knowing what "right" looks like is more important than "Steps One through Eighteen to achieve Right."
How’s innovation in your lines?
Fantastic actually. We have dealt with monumental changes to our doctrine, systems, and force structures and most of it was from the ground up. Like I said above, a left and right of arc is not micromanaging or stifling innovation if you set clear goals and direction.
Direction and orders often leave grey areas on purpose to give that flexibility to local commanders to adapt given their situation.
So a policy that is meant wholly to provide a standard of uniformity in appearance should have grey areas? That worked out well in achieving the Commander's Intent thus far.
Even in orders and policy there are Constraints, Limitations, and Restriants to the situation that prevent interpretation on the ground devolving into anarchy.
That is actually something we absolutely want to ensure mission command is actually effective. If anything, our orders inhibit mission command as authority is kept at the highest levels for often trivial issues.
Mission Command is achieved through
clear intent and
trust in subordinates to achieve that intent. They must act in a way conducive and in harmony with that intent for MC to work.
Trivial issues are not trivial when there are follow on effects that can jeopardize strategic efforts. Dress and deportment is one of those. Our international partners have actually refused working with Canadians that went off the deep end with the regs (Iraq and Poland being two I know of personally). We almost had 3 R 22e R sent home from JRTC in Louisiana because the Americans needed to be talked down off the ledge on their appearance.
You may think me a shrewd and petty subaltern for putting effort into spit and polish, but it is a reflection of every other aspect of my job. Comms are either up or they're down. There is no inbetween. I work hard with my team to make sure they have what they need to get the message passed and that is making sure every detail is addressed and every bleep is blooped in the process.
That is reinforced by maintaining a proper appearance in uniform and that is also for their safety. Its why I check for piercings, rings, watches, metal hair clips, and dog tags before we start the day. Those items are hazards when we start working with high voltage. Does it make me a prick? Maybe. But I sure a shit haven't had a RadHaz or Electrocution incident in my tenure.
I will keep my corner of the CAF as neat and tidy as I can, you can keep yours as such. If that makes me a buzzkill because I am clear with my expectations, so be it.
