Msg Leadership Examples

MSG Rick The third of my leader examples is my first Team Sergeant, Master Sergeant (MSG) Rick. Rick was his first name and on an Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA), we called each other by our first names. Rick was a scruffy looking person with a “porn stasche” and an abrasive personality. Regardless of appearance and personality, he was still a good leader and mentor, even if he would not admit it. From the first day I showed up to the ODA Rick displayed many of the Special Forces Leadership principles outlined in the US Army Special Forces Small Unit Tactics Handbook by (SFSUT handbook), by Paul LeFavor. The trait that stands out the most, for Rick, was develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates (LeFavor, 2013. p. 161). Rick would always just tell us what needed to be done or the mission, from there we would complete it. He would always check up on us but never interjected unless we were doing something wrong or asked for his guidance. Even when helping us, he still made sure we did the work and understood what and why. This was unlike many leaders who just get frustrated and do the work or help but never explain why. Even my first time as a Green Beret in combat, Rick let me run all my responsibilities myself. I guess I did a good job because he never chewed me out and would give me guidance when I asked for it. Rick was big on team work. He knew the importance of an ODA working as a team. He ensured we were cross trained regularly so we could help each other in specific jobs. He also made it mandatory that we do Physical Training (PT) as a team at least 3 times per week. This was unlike many of the other ODAs, which did not do this. Pretty soon we were all eating as a team and even started doing PT as a team all week. This would pay off when our ODA had a bad team leader, a Captain, come on the team. Because we were such a tight team, we did not let the Captain’s toxic leadership affect how we operated and maintained a high standard. Of course Rick would protect us also, by keeping the officer out of our business and messing things up, this is a sign of a good leader to be able to do that for 12 months. Many other members of the company even noticed this and would mention how they wished their team had the cohesion ours did. MSG Rick was also a big believer in the fifth principal of patrolling, common sense. Before you presented him with your plan or idea, he would ask, “Does it pass the common sense test”? If it did not, he would sure as hell let you know. Of course he would make you do it over again and guide you if needed, but not doing all the work. He was also good at offering advice. I remember one of the best pieces of advice he gave me. I don’t remember the exact situation, but the advice stuck with me throughout my whole Special Forces career. Rick said, “George, we must be good at everything, but …show more content…
He set many examples for me to go by in my career as a Green Beret. This helped me tremendously when I would become an instructor during the Small Unit Tactics (SUT) phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course. Learning from MSG Rick helped me to be a better instructor. I learned from him how to teach, coach, and mentor future Green Berets. Since the SUT phase not only emphasized tactics, but leadership as well, this payed off for me and my students. Many of my students praised my teaching and mentoring style. I would teach them, let them come up with plans and execute them. If they were bad or did not pass the common sense test, I would let them know. From there I would guide them on how to do it right and let them re-execute. Just as Rick did for me. Many of the officers I mentored and taught in SUT even told me that they hope to get a Team Sergeant like me to mentor them on their first team. Although it made me feel proud, I was always thanking Rick’s mentorship that allowed that to