View Full Version : Experience
Question. I retired in 2004. I never changed my line of work since then. I'm basically doing the same thing. At this point I feel I gained more knowledge and experience after SF then when in it. Especially instructing experience.
In what period before or after The Military did you gain the most experience. Or best experience. This question really only applies if you stayed in the same line of work. Is it technology that allows information to travel faster?
Is it better Ideas travel around faster. Combat Marksmanship and CQB has come along MORE in the last 10 years. Then it did since probably WWII to 2000
If anyone wants to steer the subject to the rapid advance in Technology feel free. The speed that phones and interacting on the Web are advancing blow my mind. What use to take 10 years to perfect is done in a year now. Cell phones are the best example.
Kinda makes a difference when your METL is 2 or 3 essential tasks to be as proficient as you can be in vs 20 or 30, doesn't it. ;)
Richard
Peregrino
02-23-2011, 20:24
Richard - I think you pretty much nailed it. Bad news is - from a comfort factor perspective - SF tasks are getting more, not less, complicated. It will get harder and harder to master the spectrum of high level tasks required to meet future missions. It's inevitable but I'm not sure it doesn't run counter to the historic strengths of the "jack of all trades" attitude that fostered what I think of as our greatest successes.
Kinda makes a difference when your METL is 2 or 3 essential tasks to be as proficient as you can be in vs 20 or 30, doesn't it. ;)
Richard
An excellent point and much danger here...beware the one trick pony...IMHO this has happened to our Ranger Bn's to a certain extent.
OTOH the ability to have experts, like yourself, exposed to huge amounts of worldwide info/tech etc allows for a fantastic download when guys come to your course.
On that thread just about every facet of my life, hobbies, politics, everything has sped fwd 10fold in the last 10 years due to the info available. Kinda makes the electronic pulse bomb a bit of a worry.
1stindoor
02-24-2011, 11:08
Since I'm still wearing a uniform my opinion on the subject probably isn't as well defined. I think the technology definitely plays a key role in the ability to grow fast in your chosen profession, but once you retire you can strip away a lot of the other tasks in order to focus on one specific area...i.e. marksmanship/CQB.
When all you have to focus on is the ability to put steel on target you loose sight of the massive amounts of paperwork and time that are sometimes needed to get a range, get a truck, request ammo, draw ammo, get medical support, etc.
When all you have to focus on is the ability to put steel on target you loose sight of the massive amounts of paperwork and time that are sometimes needed to get a range, get a truck, request ammo, draw ammo, get medical support, etc.
That, I'm afraid, ain't gonna change unless you have dedicated ranges for small units (i.e. CAG)...
You know, I'd put my best E8's in the Bn S3 shop (all kicking and screamin) for a spell so they'd learn the drill by heart from the inside out. When they were team sgts guess who was always on a range.
Kinda makes a difference when your METL is 2 or 3 essential tasks to be as proficient as you can be in vs 20 or 30, doesn't it. ;)
Richard
Thats what Twitter is for
I think information exchange is faster in the civilian contractor world than the military. Think about it, if you put a SEAL platoon & an ODA on a fire base together, basically everyone will stick w/ their group. You put one SEAL & one SF guy together on a protective detail surrounded by non meat eating clients, those two guys are going to gravitate together. Plus you work w/ more guys w/ more diverse professional backgrounds in a given time frame. 8 months on an ODA in the box, you get exposed to 11 other guys like your self. 8 months in the box on a civilian contract you probably work w/ three times that many guys who may be cops, Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine. Just my hypothesis.
x/S
There is also a difference in who your peers are, and what you focus on.
For instance, my team has a lot of young guys on it. so my focus is on the mentoring and teaching Basic Army Functions(S1, S3 etc) to 18X-rays. As opposed to a team or group of individuals with all senior guys who are in the "fire and forget" mode. These guys need minor tweaking as they prepare to take over as Team Sergeants and shift from the "doer" to the "supervisor".
The requirements these days just keep growing daily making it hard for an experienced guy keeping up on all the latest stuff in all the areas that we are expected to be masters of, and impossible for the new guys to get a step ahead of the learning curve.
Technology is great when you have power and batteries....... Not too many people can do link analysis on the back of an MRE box with a grease pencil anymore.
While I'll regret not being out running with the boys... I look forward to leaving some of the BS behind and getting my blood pressure back to a normal level when I retire from my Army career.
It's great when a TS has the time to mentor his ODA at all levels - Staff sections to the tactical level.
I think now a days you have guys that are really only looking at being the nest they can at the Job (MOS) outside of doing extra schooling for speciality skills, they don't look at cross training a much. It's IMO that guys like to be off more due to the long deployments and the main reason is RANGES.
Blitzzz (RIP)
02-26-2011, 21:00
As a team sergeant I was forced by the need to prepare "young E7s" to be good team sergeants. Mentoring time was limited to them.