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As a new guy here, I wish I knew about this when I first got to my team (not my as in possessive, by my as in the one I happen to belong to). Anywhom, thankfully I had a great team sergeant to learn from. To any new / prospective TL's out there if I can offer any advice -
Keep your eyes and your ears open, and your mouth shut for AT LEAST the first six months. You learn a lot more. The only time you should open your mouth is when you are stepping forward to take the blame for something that did not quite go as well as it should have. As an aside, I ran into that exact problem not quite a month into team time, while on a deployment...thanks to a great team sergeant, and an understanding DCO, I did manage to last more than one month as a team leader.
Learn from the other 18As. I was lucky to have some good ones in my company...talked to them for the 18A specific things that needed to be done - i.e. what the BC likes during his Backbriefs, good bullet statements for NCOERs (vetted by the TS of course), etc. From the CO / SGM learned a lot of the little things about being SF (not officer, not NCO, just SF) especially how to take care of / look out for / protect the team. And remember, you can learn from the bad ones just as much as you can learn from the good ones. We don't have to make the same mistake to learn.
Use your assets. Never forget the skills of what branch you used to be, nor more importantly the Branch/MOS/Skills of the other guys on the team...you would be surprised at how important a HUMVEE mechanic is, even if you are not in the desert. I believe when we departed the island, the count was 18E - 10, Generator - 1.
Fight for the team - This last piece of advice was given to me by my initial SF Company Commander. Never be afraid to question the boss. Do it professionally, not like an idiot, but never be afraid to question him. The team will realize that you are fighiting for them. You may change the boss's mind...you may not, he can still tell you to execute...but at least you were fighting for the team.
Hope I am not overstepping any bounds, but I hope this is of some help to some new / future 18A...
Comments?
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