|
Home
Profits
from sales of Hazardous
Duty, Brave
Men, Vietnam
Primer and Price
of Honor go to SFTT © Copyright 1996-2005 by David H. Hackworth All Rights Reserved |
Preparations These could fill
a book; a few items: 1. Read military
history. Read small unit actions. Personality of a big battle is often
formed by a small unit action 2. Visit historic
battlefields with maps, books in hand. 3. Install the
WILL TO WIN in your unit. There are NO 2nd Place trophies in a Trophy
Case. 4. Build unit discipline,
teamwork. A team of fighters 5. Prepare your
unit for your death (or being gravely wounded and evacuated) and for
your subordinate leader's loss also. A Squad Leader must be ready to
command a platoon or the company. PRACTICE THIS! 6. Squad leaders
and Fire Team leaders must know how to adjust artillery/mortar fire.
Live fire is not always necessary. You can do this with marbles and
a sand-table; or golf balls and a small piece of ground. 7. Prepare for
wounded men yelling for "Medic" or screaming for "Mom".
Practice reducing the enemy fire and neutralizing it BEFORE going out
for the wounded. Train for this. It will happen. Conduct in battle: The Four Principles: 1. Three strikes
and you're NOT out!. Two things a leader can do. Either contaminate
his environment and his unit with his attitude and actions, or he can
inspire confidence. · Must be
visible on the battlefield. Must be in the battle. Battalion Commander
on down - Brigade and Division Commander on occasion. Self confident.
Positive attitude. Must exhibit his determination to prevail no matter
what the odds or how desperate the situation. Must have and display
the WILL TO WIN by his actions, his words, his tone of voice on the
radio and face to face, his appearance, his demeanor, his countenance,
the look in his eyes. He must remain calm and cool. NO fear. Must ignore
the noise, dust, smoke, explosions, screams of the wounded, the yells,
the dead lying around him. That is all NORMAL! · Must never
give off any hint or evidence that he is uncertain about a positive
outcome, even in the most desperate of situations. · Again,
the principle which must be driven into your own head and the heads
of your men is: Three strikes and
you're NOT out! 2. The corollary
principle which is inter-reactive with the above: · There
is always one more thing you can do to influence any situation in your
favor!- and after that one more thing - and after that one more thing,
etc., etc. · In battle,
I periodically detached myself mentally for a few seconds from the noise,
the screams of the wounded, the explosions, the yelling, the smoke and
dust, the intensity of it all and asked myself" "What am I
doing that I SHOULD NOT be doing, and what am I not doing that I SHOULD
BE DOING to influence the situation in my favor? 1. "When there
is nothing wrong - there's nothing wrong except - THERE'S NOTHING WRONG!
That's exactly when a leader must be most alert. 2. "Trust
your instincts." In critical, fast moving battlefield situations,
instincts and intuition amount to an instant Estimate of the Situation.
Your instincts are the product of your education, training, reading,
personality, and experience. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS When seconds count,
instincts and decisiveness come into play. In quick-developing situations
the leader must act fast, impart confidence to all around him, must
not second guess a decision - MAKE IT HAPPEN! In the process, he cannot
stand around slack-jawed when he's hit with the unexpected. He must
face up to the facts, deal with them, and MOVE ON.
|
