limited knowledge expanded.

Quote Originally Posted by tankersteve View Post
My BN CDR was pretty good about managing missions with his companies, but sometimes things came down that didn't get a lot of mental muscle from the staff. I was always taught that you didn't say you couldn't do something, you said that I can do the mission but here is what I won't be able to do or do at the same level. In Iraq, you have many directed missions, but so many that you pick up on your own, due to variances in each company AO, that the battalion doesn't always realize how busy you are.
Understand all the missions and can visualize most ( I hate Chai... ). Thanks. Only comment to that is that IMO your Bn doesn't need to know what you're doing in anything near total knowledge but should be enough aware that barring an urgent situation, they wouldn't task you to do things that degrade the total mission. I didn't say that well but I'm sure you know what I mean -- adding that I wasn't there so that's just a generic comment.
Sorry for my long post, but I found it rather cathartic. There is the haunting that every commander lives with after his combat tour, about what he did and didn't do, and how he could have done things differently.
I know. Some things 42, 58 years ago I still wonder about -- and know what I should've done in others. I appreciate the length and detail.
Being at NTC, and reliving Iraq every month, can be a mixed bag for this.
I can imagine but my spies tell me you guys are doing good stuff out there now. Units still try to do too much and I'm sure Joe gets as much jerk around due to that as ever but it's better than its ever been. You guys do good work.

Thanks again for the education.