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Old 04-27-2005, 05:29   #10
Jack Moroney (RIP)
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Vermont
Posts: 3,093
[QUOTE=lksteve]Colonel Moroney, i agree with you in many ways, but i offer these argumentsQUOTE]


I don't see these as arguments/disagreements of any kind-just different perspectives based on different experiences. Perhaps I misunderstood the question. I thought we were talking about getting a 2lt assigned as a team XO, keeping him here until he was a CPT while he was being "groomed" to become the detachment CDR. CPTs assigned after the Q-course lack some of the necessary tools in their kit bag to conduct UW and FID, hell there are senior officers today that still think the word underground refers to a subway system. My experience, not argument, is that from what I have seen over the years serving twice as an A-Team Cdr, twice as a B-Team Cdr, a SF SMU Cdr, SF BN XO SF Group S3 and running the training group is that the skill sets and broad knowledge base I feel is necessary for an officer to become a detachment cdr does not exist in 2lts and that a 2lt would be better served getting his feet wet in the Infantry (or other basic branch) for several years, complete his Infantry Advanced Course and come to SF with a company command and bn staff experience in his rucksack. That of course would be the ideal, however even folks that have followed that path just don't belong or do well as Detachment Cdrs because they often think of themselves as officers before they think of themselves as soldiers. The selection and the Q-course do not produce Detachment Cdrs but they do provide the raw material for further development and training so that they can become Detachment Cdrs once they slip their foot inside that team room door and subsequent association with their units. I think that we both are looking at situations and drawing on our own experiences, which is what this forum is supposed to provide. I think we both understand that all Detachment Cdrs are not created equally and we obviously have had different experiences with subsequent opinions on what might have been a better path to get there, but recognize that I have no argument with how you see what would/could have been a better way to do things in the time and situation you experienced. As far as what system did/should have/could have produced a better product, I really don't know as some outstanding Detachment Cdrs came from every situation imaginable. Then again you always get a few that sort of muddle through whose total career contribution, if measured in sweat, would not be enough to raise a salt ring on a leather boot. So, while interesting, talking about whose selection criteria was better is sort of like the old argument of whose Ranger class was worse: the summer ranger of the winter ranger. Both graduated and both sport a new tab on their uniform that provides a distinct advantage over the non-ranger. That being that he stays a little dryer longer under the tab.

Jack Moroney
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