Leadership Billets

[reapergm]

Ok, so my worries are narrowing down. I know that all in all, OCS will be a b***h, but I want to atleast think I am prepared. So... the more I find out about billets, the more I hear they throw you into them. Thats all well and good.. but bless the net for having people like you to help us wannabes out. So the question I have is can you Lts, who have made it through, give us some pointers on what to do (and not to do) during our billet assignments. Aslo.. what do each billets duties consist of? The more info the better.

 

[Taxman2A]

delegate, delegate, delegate. As a billet holder you will be expected to carry out the plan of the day. If you are a platoon commander or platoon sergeant don't think you can run the platoon on your own, count on your squad leaders and hold them accountable to take care of their squad. Ideally, as a platoon billet holder, you should only really be managing 3 people: 1st, 2nd and 3d squad leader. If you are a squad leader, the same principle applies, hold your fireteam leaders accountable for their fireteam. If you are a fireteam leader, don't blow it off, your squad leaders are depending on you. What usually happens is that fireteam leaders blow off their billet, causing the squad leaders to have to manage an entire squad of candidates on their own. Convince your fireteam leaders to not blow off their responsibilities and your life will be easier.

 

[smileyl]

Well I'm not a Ltn, but I just came back from PLC's Jr's and all I can say is "accountability, accountability, accountability." What Taxman said is very true, but remember as a billetholder it all comes down to you. So if somebody screws up, guess who's fault it is? YOURS. Also, remember to NEVER EVER leave a weapon behind. Its easy to forget someone behind but its even easier not to remember to take off an M16A2 off the racks. One the platoons in my company did that once and they basically failed whatever events were for that day and got they a***s chewed so bad I think they still hear it to this day. Also, like Taxman said, there are gonna be those ass****s who wouldn't want to listen to the command and to their job, try to work around them, rely on other people that you trust more than others. I know it sounds not fair, but life is not fair and that's just how things work...if you want to get at least a 'marginal' or 'favorable' on your billet. Basically, know where everyone is at ALL times- sick call, head call, whatever it may be and you'll be good to go.

 

[EA-6B1]

Yea, you'll see it. Just like the posts above said, make sure the candidate rank structure is working. If you're Platoon Commander, make sure you're Plt Sgt and 3 Squad Leaders are on point. Our staff called it "gaffing" one another off when someone would screw the person in a billet just because they didn't like being told what to do by someone they're age. Advice: Leave that crap at the airport when you get there. You've got to be able to take orders, and to give them. Remember to use Tact when the platoon is at its worst and is jacking everything up. They set you up to fail everywhere and everything you do, so just be able to stay calm and collective when it gets stressful. Also, remember this is everyone's first shot at this. So you're going to mess up. Learn from it, and move on.

 

[JJEXP]

Its easy to forget someone behind but its even easier not to remember to take off an M16A2 off the racks. One the platoons in my company did that once and they basically failed whatever events were for that day and got they a***s chewed so bad I think they still hear it to this day.

My rifle, oorah. Damn rackmate didnt feel like taking it after I had already gone to medical. Be very very careful with that stuff. Always do an accurate weapons count. Had the candidate platoon sergeant done a weapons count before stepping off, they would have realized there was a missing weapon, and none of the ensuing bs would have happened.

 

[UORBulldog]

A few tips for candidate platoon sergeant:

First of all this billet sucks, especially if you have it the last week before they give it to the honor candidates or whatever becuase i had it from Friday morning until tuesday afternoon.

-Definitely keep a good rapport with your squad leaders that is a must
-If your in the squad bay and you know when you are leaving, delegate to a squad leader the sweeping and swabbing of the center and another squad leader to do the head and/or laundry room. Try to vary which squad does this so everyone doesn't get pissed. Do this ahead of time so you can just give the word to the squad leaders to start doing that **** and get it done so you can get the hell out. I also usually had a squad leader pick one of the swabbers and have them stay behind after everyones gone and do one more quick swab thru the center to get rid of all the footprints.
- I liked to send the candidate guide outside first to be in charge of getting everybody lined up and ready to go, so that I didn't have to be out there first. The guide would then start making preliminary counts of candidates and weapons. You want updated counts all the time, or you will have the candidate company staff annoying the hell out of you
- I had one of the squad leaders make sure he was the last one out of the squad bay to make sure there was no weapons left behind and everyone is out. That way in addition to not being the first one out, you don't have to be the last one out either.
-make sure you keep good records of who is on/off light duty, who didn't participate in what events and so on. Your handy pocket notebook will be very useful.
-keep your platoon updated on what is going on, I hated when everybody was just sitting around not knowing what to do or when anything was going to happen. Tell your platoon what is about to happen, and when it is happening. Your platoon will expect you to know everything about what is going on and you rarely will ever know much more than they do. IF you dont know whats going on just say your waiting for orders or something and you will keep them updated, and get your candidate platoon commander to find out the info.

thats all i can think of, if anybody has any questions about being candidate platoon sergeant I could probalby answer most of them

 

[smileyl]

My rifle, oorah. Damn rackmate didnt feel like taking it after I had already gone to medical.

What's your name?

 

[SLU_fly_girl]

accountability is everything!!! personnel and rifle counts are huge!! I was Co GySgt when a rifle from 2nd Plt was left behind in the squad bay. The Cand Plt Sgt didn't realize he was missing a rifle and told me he was "up" (meaning he had all the rifles accounted for). We got to chow and I had to count the rifles for the Duty Instructor. I counted each rifle in the company at least 3 times, coming up short one rifle each time. Of course the Duty Instructor knew where the "missing" rifle was, but I ended up failing my billet because I gave a false report. 2nd Plt definitely learned their lesson, though. From that day on, they had to have their rifles on their person at ALL times..... yes, even when they were just in the squad bay, they had to have the rifle slung across their backs. I heard they also had to write a 300 word essay every night on "weapons accountability"... don't know how true that is.

Moral of the story: Accountability is HUGE!! If you don't have an ACCURATE count, don't say you do. I don't care if you're freakin holding up the company. You better know EXACTLY how many bodies and rifles you have before you step off ANYWHERE!

 

[JJEXP]

What's your name?

Jacober, who's this?

Also, we never had to wear our rifles on our backs in the squad bay, nor did we write an essay. We did play alot of games though (such as field daying the house 3 or 4 times before lights out).

 

[SLU_fly_girl]

I was talking about G Co, 2nd Plt, 2nd Inc...... our hot chow was being served from their squad bay. when I went in to get a tray, they all had their rifles slung on their back. I heard it was because they lost a rifle. I'm sure that got old after awhile!!