Army ROTC Advance Camp 2017

First off, let me just say that Advanced Camp was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Up until that point, it had been taking 19 credits last summer while Shalene was pregnant. I feel lame for saying camp was hard. Granted, it was meant to be, but nothing individually was actually too difficult. The conditions under which we performed them, however, are what made the entire course overwhelming. But I’m reminded what our Brigade Commander said, and that is they only have 30 days to evaluate us, so they get their evaluations in such a short amount of time by breaking us down and seeing how we do under difficult conditions.

I suffered through disgusting levels of heat and humidity, poison ivy, and sleep deprivation, but the hardest task I was asked to perform was to lead my peers. It’s a much different ballgame when you are given MSIs and MSIIs to lead, as you’re their senior. But for a leader to be yanked out of a group of MSIII strangers, well, that’s when things get especially difficult.

While my “life experience” is still limited, I came from a much different position than most cadets—exchange student, missionary, married, a daughter who spent lots of time in the NICU, and just the fact that I’m 24 when most were turning 21. I had confidence and capability where others were still building their skillset. I was lucky with the platoon and squad I was given, though. I couldn’t have done it without great peers to lead.

The rest of this entry is a compilation of notes from my notebook as well as a timeline of what we did while we were at camp. All of my highlights are in orange text. At the end is a list of documents we were given. Let me know if you have any questions or if you find anything that could be improved upon.

4th Regiment, B Company, 1st Platoon, 2nd Squad

Initial counseling: “There is no limit to what we can accomplish if we do not care who gets the credit”

Commanding General MG Christopher Hughes

Potential topics for discussion within briefing
- The hard right and easy wrong
- The first two years of 2LT
we recognize/honor those who take risk, willing to embarrass themselves
introverts don’t know how to communicate with extroverts
- how do we cooperate, collaborate, and graduate
a successful leader uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to know where to start
- care more about subordinates’ needs than your reputation
rehears responses to compliments/critiques
“Always do what is right realizing that doing what is right is the most difficult way to solve the problem acknowledging that it will be unpopular with those you lead”
“do your dishes” ➔ the unpopular decision is to maintain standards
physical checks on all equipment
“not fair” is never okay for an officer
sunburn can field an Article 15
“A good leader will go out of their way to give their subordinates ‘the why’”
- builds trust and challenges you as a leader
“The cat’s ass” is a phrase that can be interpreted as positive or negative ➔ be clear in how you communicate
Read and understand the Constitution
Last year, about 95% of the 3,300 cadets got top 1-2 choice
Two things from science
- successful in Army if you love fitness
- Good at landnav/can read music means better at utilizing brain (critical thinking)
- 3rd is to take s.o. successful and intuitively say “he’s got it” ➔ PMS review
Read what GEN Mark Milley says. We’ll be at war with either Iran, Russia, North Korea, or China in 10 years
Camp increased intensity due to intense warfare ahead
Train to be miserable. An invasion is such
How does the leader stay motivated?
- “Moral and sacred responsibility” to protect troops
- find yourself in a reflective state
about 1/5 will be as impressive as you think they ought to be ➔ help the other 4!
“jealous regard for the honor of one’s unit” ➔ reg. def. of spirit de corps
Books by Daniel Golman on emotional intelligence (in the following order):
- Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
- Emotional Intelligence 2.0
understand yourself to understand others
find s.o. who doesn’t look like me and understand diversity
share your bear traps and goldmines

List of things I needed from Shalene: Mio energy, Crystal Light energy, electric tape, Twizzlers, Sharpie, pens, socks, gallon ziplock bags, body glide

Arm immersion therapy—dunking bare arms into ice water for 15 seconds to cool core temperature

FLRC AAR—I was SL for Bridge Lane

Sustains
- Communicated well
- Stood aside to assess
- Resilient and calm
Improves
- Delegate to specific individuals
- Don’t delegate to a team

- didn’t understand any of the minute-of-angle stuff
- memorize oaths ➔ “book ends”
  - Oath of Enlistment
  - Flag Funeral Presentation
- LTC [Name]: “The best thing we get to do is lead soldiers”
- Spot request for tampons aka “bullets”. CPT [Name] said, “Cadet, let me make this easy for you. Count how many full magazines you have…Oh, we’re not talking about bullets?”

MTC AAR—Me as PL for 3rd iteration

Sustains
- My RTO suggested figuring out radios
- LDA
- One of our SLs didn’t have a radio ➔ SL to SL for LACE
Improves
- Didn’t talk to previous leadership
- used straight-line pace
- SLLS halt
- SCAT
- Time on OBJ

Mid-Cycle Counseling

Ranked middle of PLT
improve: delegation and improving results
Top third of squad
- trouble formulating plan under stress
- good critical thinker
My goals
- tunnel vision
- fix lack of delegation
- peer leadership
- execution
- follow-through
critical thinking is there, but I need to execute!
- good plan now vs. great plan later
MSG [Name] said I’m a perfect blend of listening, respect, etc. needed for an officer

Company FTX AAR

The CG wanted dirty, wet, and funky
Mission
1. Evaluate leadership
2. crucible for mental fortitude
3. tactics
complex missions allowed for mental agility testing
repeated stimuli answered with SOPs reducing cognitive load. Mental agility for first encounters
domain knowledge was only a single subset of evaluation ➔ competencies
trust but verify (use belt and suspenders)
mission variables (water, maps, etc) add training value in plans in low-risk environment
inflated fire (Ex: MG on file)
no talking with family ➔ econ prospect theory ➔ negative utility from less ↑ than positive utility from gain
- basic needs allow you to relate better to your soldiers
- Book: The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation
“One ‘oh shit’ undoes ten ‘atta boy’s”

Lessons Learned

No plan survives first contact with enemy
Be early! hurry up and wait is a good thing
Violence of action is critical ➔ SCAT
Peer leadership is extremely difficult
20 mins ➔ individual vs. group ➔ think total man hours

Documents

Most of the Cadets I went to camp with did not have these for whatever reason. My Cadre emailed them all to me. They’re stored in my university Google Drive account, and the links take you to the view-only file. You’ll still be able to download them, though.