Platoon Leader time: Complete

After 22 months and 2 platoons, I have finally completed my PL time and have been moved up to staff.  In that time, I've had 3 platoon sergeants and 4 commanders (well, I only had one commander for a month on his way out, but I still learned a lot from him in that one month).  That being said, I've got some experience and I'm fresh off the platoon leading trail.  If you're a cadet out there or a recently commissioned graduate, don't hesitate to email me.  Again, nothing I say is gospel, just what I've seen in my experience.

As for the purpose and direction of this blog, I will now fill it with some stories and situations I recall as a PL.  I hope to impart some advice on what it truly is to be in an entry-level officer position, and some tricks of the trade I've picked up from PLs more senior to me, working with several platoon sergeants and serving under different commanders.

After I'm done exhausting my stories, I will close out this blog.  I will keep it up, as parents and mostly cadets still email me from time to time, and there's a lot that's scary out there for a new Lieutenant starting from the ground up.  However, if after you get started as a Lieutenant and your career takes off, if you still need advice from a blog as you approach Captain, well, I can't help you.  It would take a better man than me, as well as some introspection on your part.

My time as a PL in two platoons was a great experience, and I've definitely matured as a person and as an Officer since taking over. 

If you stumble across my blog, I hope I help you out.  I always remember to throw my disclaimer down as much as possible: this is not doctrine, just my experience.  You talk to another PL, he'll have different stories and different advice to give.  That's what makes that Army a great organization.