Six leadership takeaways I learned as a Marine combat logistician in Afghanistan

By Jeff Clement


Best Defense guest
columnist

After training as a
U.S. Marine Corps logistics officer, I deployed to Afghanistan as a truck platoon
commander with a Combat Logistics Battalion, running logistics convoys across
the Helmand Province to a support units from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Afghan
National Army and Afghan National Police. My book The
Lieutenant Don't Know tells my story and the story of my platoon in a narrative style. It's not written like a how-to manual, but
Mr. Ricks asked me to distill some of the lessons that I learned. The list that
follows might seem obvious -- but if they are so obvious, why are they so often
ignored? 

"Water Cooler" Chatter Matters -- I can't even put a number on how
many times I found out about a potential showstopper for an upcoming mission
while talking with someone (often a low-ranking someone) waiting in the chow
line or getting a drink of water. "How
are things?" would occasionally elicit a response like "Eh, sir, we're having
some delays getting cargo loaded," that needed my attention.  For junior personnel to feel comfortable
bringing these issues up relies on them having trust and confidence in you.

Seek Out Superior, Peer, and Subordinate
Mentors -- If you don't have
at least one mentor who is a peer, one who is a superior, and one who is a
subordinate, you won't be getting the full picture you need.  Ideally, you'll have at least one mentor not
in your chain of command who can serve as a sounding board.

Take
Time to Explain Things As Often As You Can -- I am constantly surprised
with how little information flows more than two steps down the chain. Seek out backbriefs from your most junior
people and see what info they're getting, and what isn't making it to their
level. NCOs and junior officers usually
don't fail to pass all the information because they are deliberately
withholding it -- they're busy, and thinking about other things, so a harsh
reprimand is usually not in order. 
Briefly take the time to correct misunderstandings one on one, fill in
the gaps in information, and constantly remind leaders to push info down the
chain. 

Think About All Stakeholders and Make Sure
They're at the Table When Decisions Are Being Made -- At all levels, make sure that every
stakeholder is represented at the table. 
We ran into many situations where our unit, which had been tasked with
supporting an operation, had not been included in the planning process. "Well,
the plan requires your convoys to travel at 25 mph to meet the Required
Delivery Date."  Nobody making the plan
was aware that our convoys averaged 3-5 mph as a result of the rough terrain
and frequent IED strikes. The result was
that our capacity was often grossly overestimated and that our obligations to
other units were not considered.

Risk
and Uncertainty Must Be Accepted -- Senior leaders sometimes obsess
over "risk management." I had to prepare
an operational risk management worksheet for every combat operation, and
quickly learned that no operation would be approved unless it was "medium risk"
or less. Knowing that we were going to
be in a "medium risk firefight"...medium risk... the idea is laughable. You can do more harm than good as a leader if
you saddle subordinates with equipment and restrictions meant to reduce
risk. Train your people well -- and if they
are willing to accept a risk, then you should consider accepting it.

As a
Leader, Never Be Satisfied With Yourself -- This one, especially, bears
repeating. The best company commander I
know was always asking questions of juniors and seniors, reading books, and
privately admitted that he was upset with how little he felt he knew -- even as he
was well aware that he was far more knowledgeable than any of his peers. As soon as you think you know every inch of
your unit and its operations, talk to your most junior personnel about the
things they do. You will find at least
one thing you didn't know and at least one thing to fix.

Jeff
Clement commissioned as a logistics officer in the
United States Marine Corps and deployed to Afghanistan twice. He currently is
pursuing an MBA University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. He
lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Alison. His first book, The
Lieutenant Don't Know, was published in April.