What did you feel like when you first stepped into the cemetery? My first mission was a spouse dependent funeral, so that, by regulation, involved a much smaller ceremony than a military funeral honor with escort, and, accordingly I relaxed when I realized there werent that many people present. Well, interesting question, because I was dual hatted as both the HHC 1/3 XO and PSB PL when I took over the platoon in April 2021. PDF 2021 Broadening Opportunity Program Catalog - Army operational and strategic level. In the very front is the lead horseman. Great Opportunities for New Officers at the Old Guard Within a company, it was not uncommon for the XO to have been there 16 to 20 months, while the Commander or PLs had just gotten there or been there less than year. And after that, I went to the MI Officer Transition Course and Military Intelligence CCC at Fort Huachuca. To be able to find blank spaces on the calendar and give them the opportunity to shoot live mortar rounds, then, is something that I am very proud of. So Monday, I was in the motorpool, providing purpose, direction, and motivation to not just our mortarmen, but also our mechanics to get them to do just a little bit more maintenance on our vehicles. So sometimes my days not riding could be as demanding as the days where I did ride. The Old Guard and Caisson are ceremonial units whose primary focus is very much not the tactical, so I was a bit concerned about being a bit out of my element when it came to our tradecraft. The core competencies areDODIN operations,. He picks up, and I inform him, based on my understanding of the situation, that were going to have to cancel this funeral because the horses just arent able to perform. broadening or special assignments. Its an eight-week program if you were to go straight through, and the culminating event is the SHOOT where you basically take command of a company in a mock cemetery funeral. The central academic focus is on strategic leadership and national security. Youve assumed command, and now youre in the saddle figuratively and literally. hb```e``Z"}23 0s+4 az3Y /l],/`YPAu pH$FA!n Troy Ward completion, graduates begin operating in the national strategic environment- either directly or as advisors to the senior leadership of the Armed Forces, the Department of Defense, other governmental agencies, or in foreign militaries. Did you feel pressure to be a better horseman, or more involved because you were identified to be the Platoons next PL? The 3rd US Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, is the Armys elite ceremonial unit stationed at Fort Myer, VA, just south of the nations Capital. Two squads of horses will each do a separate funeral at 9:00, 11:00, 13:00, and 15:00 for a total of eight funerals and a pretty long duty day at that. Officers selected for lieutenant colonel and CSL positions must seek Did you have layouts to complete before the handover? When I was an XO for a Bradley Company at 1st Cavalry Division, I had a property book that was about $136 million. Officer Onboarding and Career Planning - USAASC Building future Soldier leadership through broadening assignments %PDF-1.5 % The Army is currently looking to fill a number of broadening assignments and this year a number of them are open to warrant officers. Hailing from a wide variety of backgroundsarmor, field artillery, and infantryeach came to the Old Guard for broadening assignments specific to their branch. By making it through Ranger School, I think I established that as something of a standard for those field artillery officers who may be interested in assuming this position. level partners. Whether future PSB or field artillery PSB PLs will go to Ranger School or be XO, I cant say, but I would say Ranger School is more than likely. Once I learned those, I then had to validate for the Regiment on the OIC position for firing to bring it all together as a leader. A Themify theme or Builder Plugin (free) is recommended to design the pop up layouts. With regards to learning alongside Soldiers I was expected to lead, I definitely wanted to do and learn more. Many options exist for post-KD CPTs for their broadening assignments. Arlington National Cemetery is approaching capacity, believe it or not, and there has been talk of continuing burials, and funerals there, at Fort Sam. Funerals here are rare because its so old, but from time to time we did spouse dependent funerals and it was always cool to be able to spend some time there. Overall, though, it wasnt too much pressure, I just trusted our instructors in the Basic Horsemanship Course, continued to learn more when I started working at the barn at Fort Myer, and quickly became comfortable around horses. What made this role challenging, however, is that you often served as a shadow commander when you were the XO, regardless of company. The acting chief of staff of the Army announces the following officer assignments: Maj. Gen. Michelle A. Schmidt to commanding general, 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. On a much more normal duty day, however, when we were not supporting a state funeral, 1st Battalion was either supporting burials in Arlington National Cemetery or special events, especially retirement ceremonies. Its not just that you cant go into the cemetery, really, its that you cant really help your company during this time, because theyre both training you to pass ROP and having to perform missions in the cemetery while youre just not adding that much value. Somewhat. That experience with decentralization, and not being able to have eyes on all the tasks the platoon was doing, forced me to trust my subordinates and that their training was sufficient for the task. Is there a degree of randomness involved with regards to which battalion you ultimately report? On top of that, youre also feeding SIRs and CCIRs to the Battalion Commander and Regimental Commander, so in some ways I really was performing company commander duties as Platoon Leader. Tuesday and Thursday mornings, we were forgoing PT to do practice firing in Arlington National Cemetery, specifically at Red Springs. Following that is the swing rider. What does the property book for the US Army Caisson Platoon even look like? In fact, I have friends who ETSd from the Old Guard after turning in REFRAD packets, and they were there for about three years, so I would say staying longer than two years is definitely possible. Final, most important question: who is your favorite horse? Where the companies within 1/3 differ, is that each has a distinct responsibility for a state funeral, which is a 1/3 responsibility different from 4/3. Like I said earlier, companies are highly decentralized with platoons doing their own thing, and Caisson was no exception with four different squads performing four highly different missions throughout the day. Broadening assignments allow officers to expand their capabilities and understanding through experiences in and outside of the Army. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The opinions expressed here are those solely of the author The joes themselves are really doing the main job in general, and in Caisson, the riding specifically. PDF Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management - Army Mostly they would just confirm the previous nights schedule. Broadening for JAs I definitely didnt have UCMJ authority, but with how decentralized the platoon was, which is really what companies are like, I felt like I something like a detachment commander. To maintain that high standard of leadership, I think, battalion leadership was vetting me to see if I was interested in going to Ranger School prior to assuming the platoon. And I have a tougher time going into detail on this, but my favorite Gray horse was Cliff and my favorite black horse was Wyatt, because I love mustangs and the history behind them. These graduates will be competent to serve in all sustainment related positions. strategic level in multiple environments. Here you will find information pertaining to the fellowships available to Enlisted Soldiers as well as the Training with Industry (TWI) program. Is an interview part of the selection process? Army Reserve Careers Group CMO NCO Broadening Program - Human Resources Command Whats the development plan for an Infantry Lieutenant at the Old Guard? Could you tell us what you were doing in the Army before joining the Caisson Platoon, and what youve been doing now since departing? Run me through a day in the life of this job. I certainly did myself no favors by refusing to sit down if we were in the cemetery. Thank you for that detailed response. If youre there, youre there for 24 months. I didnt want to put any creases in my pants, so there were days where I would spend ten hours on my feet in steel-plated shoes, catching a few bites of a ham sandwich in between funerals. So I would definitely compare being the Caisson PL to being like a detachment commander. I think the biggest accomplishment that I knocked out was finding time to do our tactical, or secondary mission while remaining just as committed to the primary one. Plus, its covered by trees, so all and all its one of the most verdant picturesque parts of the park. A broadening assignment intends to develop an officer's capability to see, work, learn, and contribute outside their perspective or individual level of understanding to better the individual officer and the institution. How did you grow, and what have you taken with you as youve moved to follow-on assignments? Second, by getting eyes on the situation, especially alongside the herd manager, I could have made a decision informed by expert judgement. So the Caisson Platoon is, to put it technically, is one of the last full-time, mounted equestrian unit in the Department of Defense. But because I took over the HHC XO position before I became the PSB PL and because they didnt have anyone backfilled to replace me, I just continued to do both. The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense. Maybe he was the last to die of his peers or family? hbbd```b``u6k1dI6R &"5 m)XDJKH`- X6y%H .K Z`7 ;DrH` education, development, and broadening. Through experiences or education, officers immerse themselves in different organizational cultures and environments. How would you compare being a Platoon Leader in the Old Guard to being a Platoon Leader in other units? During the month you were in the cemetery, you would rotate one week as primary for funerals and the next for alternate. Obviously, Im proud of how we responded to the challenge, but, still, it was a puzzle I did not enjoy having to solve over a year long period. The result of broadening is a continuum When we examine broadening assignments for 131As we should be open to the idea of characterizing billets traditionally reserved for generalist Officers as Local Broadening Opportunities (LBO). Overall, though, it made sense, especially because the PSB PL role is so maintenance focused. The other squad riding in the cemetery had a 1500 mission that was short and wrapped up extremely early, and because they were so close to memorial chapel for their drop location, they were actually able to assume this mission with no friction at all. Sometimes the schedule would get busy, and we would have to cancel ranges or training. How did you reconcile a desire to innovate with Caisson-specific and other innovative challenges? Are horses on the property book? The only reason I cued in on it was because of the previous leg work I had been doing with Junior Officer Broadening Assignments. Luckily, I had a great AS4 that I had a good working relationship with from being the HHC XO, and he really squared me away with regards to figuring out Caissons property book, because I had never seen anything like it, and I dont think Ill probably see anything like it ever again. Okay, good question. Ceremony month was similar, but much slower than cemetery month. However, youre only closer to the cemetery when you pass ROP, but youre not quite there yet. Pulling the wagon, then, are three horsemen sitting on the left side of the team of horses. So passing and being that much closer to being a positive for your company was a good thing. It made me immensely proud to provide this dignified funeral to someone so he wouldnt be alone in his final moments above earth. Basically, I would say everyone has their own timeline, the Old Guard isnt going to detract from anything you might want to do in the future, so any concerns about promotability or anything like that, in my opinion, are overblown. Being sword and saber qualified is huge. Last but not least, were a mortar platoon at the tactical level, because the Old Guard is an infantry unit at the end of the day. These officers want broadening assignments but accept the reality that officer evaluation reports and time in key developmental (KD) positions still drive promotions and centralized selection lists. If I wasnt riding, I would get down to administrative duties around 0800. I was very busy. I am a 2015 graduate of Western Illinois University, where I majored in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration. And I am tracking that was the situation for my predecessor and my successor as well. Was it a proud moment, to finally pass ROP and earn that buff strap and be able to enter the cemetery and perform funerals? So many processes are established, from the way leather is made to how we ride, that theres an inherent limitation in terms of what I or any leader could or should change. While the horses had freaked out and lost their tack, the riding squad still could have fixed the situation and been good to go. . While its not necessary, then, to have a tab prior to coming to the Old Guard, interested officers should probably accept that theyre expected to earn their tab prior to taking over the platoon. One, specifically, has a very faint Iron Cross stamped into its barrel. They seemed excited about me joining, the feeling was mutual, my orders were cut very quickly, and I PCSd to the DC area in July 2020. You are a field artillery officer and earned your Ranger tab prior to becoming the platoon leader for the Battery. 1. What we specifically do is military funeral honors with escorts, which is the most expansive or formal type of burial ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. Thats the duration of the assignment, and thats how long accepted applicants are expected to be there.
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