Micromanagement is by definition impossible if the NCO meets all his duties with adequate time effort each.
To micromanage means to spend much time on one or few things, which equals neglect of others because there's so much to do.
This is especially true if said NCO is forced by his supervisor to not exhaust himself (enough sleep on campaign), which is necessary because an exhausted NCO cannot lead by example any more.
I'm not worried about NCOs micromanaging. Most don't...
In US parlance, to micromanage generally involves excessive 'supervision' and failure to trust subordinates. Whether one task or a number, the degree of generally superfluous meddling is the issue.The US problem with micromanagement is, as someone stated elsewhere, generally at the Field Grade and above level. The Generals learned to do it in Korea after the line stabilized and they had little to do; Viet Nam merely made it worse and the current 'wars' have continued that. I recall someone in Afghanistan back in 2005 telling me that one operation required the approval of five General Officers and I'm sure that's worse today...Originally Posted by Fuchs
True -- and a recurring US problem induced by our five day a week, forty hours of work mentality. While that 40 hours is rarely more than a floor in the Armed forces; how productive the usually extra 20 plus hours a week in garrison or on base are happens to be a separate question...This is especially true if said NCO is forced by his supervisor to not exhaust himself (enough sleep on campaign), which is necessary because an exhausted NCO cannot lead by example any more.
We're focused on short term efforts and the normal routine of four five days of field training a couple of weeks a month is not helpful. Everyone can stay awake for most of that so no one sets up rest and sleep plans...
Reminds me of reports how company leaders inadvertently fell asleep in ODS and OIF on the fourth and fifth day, exhausted by not having had enough sleep.
Also reminds me of post-WW2 opinions that infantry and other combat troops should not use a garrison during their training phase, but live in woods for the duration of their training (this may be influenced by German early WW2 training shortages which were caused by a lack of garrisons for the training of more recruits, though).
It doesn't help regarding the weight problem, though.
- A knife: Something this should be standard as long as the same person doesn't already a multi-tool. Oh it already is...
I'm a bit surprised that the German version has no tweezers, as they come in handy (not so toothpick) and no hole in the awl. I would miss the small gut hook which works very well on not too fat and strong game and to quickly cut cord and all sorts of binding material. The long blade is lockable and serrated in the right place, strangely some put the serration exactly where you want a normal edge to do fine work like carving. The long wood saw works well. A scissor could be more useful then the can opener but as so much this depends. Red might be the better colour choice even in military service.
Got my first personal Swiss knife at the age of 6 and never looked back. Multitools are much heavier and could be shared.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
I had a primitive Luftwaffe 'Swiss Officer'-style knife by comparison, but hat was back in the 90's before the world suddenly began to gadget-up everything.
Funny; with all the Pedantry, they forgot to take back said knife in the chaos of my last day in office. They checked the list without getting it. A comrade of mine had to hand it back. Still got it - as a kind of prize.
Related: Brace yourself for an awesome multi tool
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I did mention a ballistic boonie hat (don't think such a thing exists, though):
Does anybody know the weight of a state of the art ballistic helmet with coverage and protection of a 80's helmet and the NVG interface in front? Today's helmets are rated up to NIJ class II, which is in the corresponding German system 2 levels above mere fragment protection of old - necessarily with higher weight per area.
I know the object of the exercise is getting the weight down, but as knifes go I believe that a folder is secondary to a fixed blade. That is, if you are going to have only one of the two, you should ditch the folder and its weight rather than the other way around.- A knife: Something this should be standard as long as the same person doesn't already a multi-tool. Oh it already is...
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. – Mark Twain (attributed)
Fair enough. I'm used to folders like the Victorinox Hunter knife which combine tools of sterling quality and design in a light package of the right dimensions. I carry it pretty much daily and can understand why countries like Germany and Switzerland selected it a similar one as their standard issue knife. But a fixed, not too big blade certainly also has it's merits.
As usually it is all about using a sensible combination of tools. Personally I arguably never saw the use of a big knife as I mostly used/use a Roncola/Billhook/Hippe for the lighter woodstuff or an axe for the heavier stuff. The latter is arguably the more versatile. From skinning and partitioning game, hammering and all sorts of woodwork a universal axe with a lenght of a bit over half a meter does it all. A claw at the back is nice, Saturday I helped to reroof the house of my paternal grandmother and did most of the work with an old carpenter's axe with a claw. Arguably nothing as simple and light is better at getting nails out of lumber.
All in all it depends pretty much on the task ahead but an decent axe per squad/stick might be a sensible thing to carry under various circumstances in certain environments. Knowing when and where is the difficult part.
... "We need officers capable of following systematically the path of logical argument to its conclusion, with disciplined intellect, strong in character and nerve to execute what the intellect dictates"
General Ludwig Beck (1880-1944);
Speech at the Kriegsakademie, 1935
Mett-tc
It's been said before that METT-TC drives the gear, and I'm a strong believer in that. In our perspective (well back in my Army days), Western soldiers tend to overburden themselves with all kinds of things that we wouldn't even consider carrying.
The USMC contingent training with our Marine Corps, for instance, carry twice the load of our Marines when operating in the jungle environment. Now I've never personally cross-trained with US elements but the anecdotal stories my Marine buddies told me were almost all similar: US Marines are big, strong fellows. But damn...they carry a lot of ####! At the end of the day, we're faster.
For us, who almost exclusively operate either in jungles and/or rural/semi-urban/urban areas, its simpler.
In the jungle we'd have:
On the 1st/2nd line:
- Rifle (with RDS for some units. Magnified optics are carried to be used handheld).
- Ammunition (again METT-TC. But for routine border patrols, say, we carry 4 mags. More than enough even if we get into skirmishes with rebels/criminals. Fire discipline is key).
- 2 frags per person. 2/3 smoke per fire team (2 signaling, one the thick white concealment type)
- Some food/MRE (usually stripped. In the thigh pockets)
- Survival kit (snares, fish-hooks, fishing line, etc. You know the drill)
- First Aid Kit (both a small one on the belt, and a somewhat larger one on the LBE/Vest/Chest rig (some units)
- Landnav stuff.
- Personal comms (again, some units)
- Knives. Its plural because we usually carry 2: A small one (folder or fixed) for everyday use (sometimes this is a bayonet), and a machete (very useful in the jungle)
As you can see, this is minimum. You'll note that there is no armor/helmet in the list. Wearing armor and helmet - even if its only a plate carrier - in a hot, humid, wet and closed in environment sucks. It kills SA. It exhausts you before you can do anything. It dehydrates you faster. Heaven help you if you trip and fall into a muddy swamp (happens more than you think). We found that armor in that environment makes Soldiers lazier - because of the exhaustion. You can't move as quietly, you can't hide as quickly.
Of course we also carry rucksacks (like a medium ALICE type) with the rest of the stuff we have to carry like spare clothes, ponchos/shelter halfs, hammocks, more food, small stoves and mission essential equipment, but the basic individual kit is the list above.
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