Why I don't enjoy command

The Army Times announced today that the next separation board will be in September -- this time, for officers in the 2009 cohort [Source]. This will include me.

My wife asked me if I'm nervous; in 2014, 1188 captains and 550 majors had their careers cut short by just such a board. Promotion to major was further constricted by a roughly 67 percent selection rate.

Yet my answer was an emphatic *no*. I am not worried about being downsized by the Army, for two reasons. First, there are significant benefits to involuntary separation. Second, at this stage in my Army career, I wouldn't really mind looking for something else.

The formula for separation pay is: Base Pay * .1 * years of service, less 20-25% for taxes. So for a captain with seven years of service, the net value is about $35,000. Plus, the service obligation I incurred for transferring Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to my children would be waived. And considering the fact that I'll be company command-complete by the time I would have to look for a job, I think I'd be in a good position.

There's also a "push" element to this. I'm not really having fun in my current position, and I wonder if it's not just a temporary problem.

First there are the command climate issues. My battalion has got to be one of -- if not *the* -- smallest in the Army. There are fewer Army personnel in the battalion right now than my boss had in his company back when he was a company commander. That looks to change soon, but up to that point my boss has the ability to address a very wide range of minor issues. This forces me to either risk insubordination though confrontation or accommodate the interventions that subvert my own authority.

As a company commander in a line unit, I'd lean toward the former, but as an HHC commander I'm forced toward the latter.

In the same vein, I still struggle with what my own responsibilities are, versus those of the battalion executive officer and the S3 operations officer. Am I responsible for training or is the S3? Ever since I took command, the S3 has directed movements for the various large exercises we've done. I'd be fine with that, but if I'm going to be evaluated on the strength of my leadership in this area, I need to know if this is my responsibility -- turf wars and duplication of work do no one any good.

Other officers on staff have compared the command climate in the unit to a fraternity. My boss tends to work through who he wants rather than through established areas of responsibility, and proximity to his office seems to affect one's influence. This environment makes me very nervous because 1.) I've never been in a fraternity; I don't know how to play that game, and 2.) I've always measured my performance more by my usefulness than my ability to influence.

So when my boss gave me a copy of his most recent "initial counseling" revision, a lot of it didn't seem to relate to me -- it sounded like the expectations of a line commander. For example, one requirement is that "Leaders of all elements must be proficient in land navigation, mounted and dismounted." Would this include the HQ's section OICs, and if so, how much of their time can I take away from their field grade officers' missions?

Questions that I frequently wonder about are:

• Should I push for change in areas that are important for me, or should I yield to others' higher ranking priorities?
• In the absence of guidance, do I have license to effect changes, and if so, in what areas?
• What is the role of an HHC commander relative to the XO's? For instance, who's responsible for making sure officers show up to formations on time?
• Am I responsible for establishing the systems for enforcement of my boss's policies?
• To what extent can I hold my superior leaders accountable for fulfilling their regulatory responsibilities? For example, AR 623-3 says I'm supposed to receive my senior rater's evaluation support form outlining what their job is. How long should I hassle them about getting it?

In short, I've struggled for a long time to find my proper place in my own organization.

Other problems, specific to the unit and the U.S. Army in Korea, make my job more difficult. For one, I have no company level executive officer and only a sergeant first class for a first sergeant. That's typical for a logistics HHC manning document, but that's not because my job is any easier. And while command of an HHC is generally reserved for an experienced commander as a second command opportunity, this is my first, in a battalion where I did not serve on staff.

Other difficulties specific to my unit include having to deal with property left over from a deactivation last year, assuming property responsibility for a civilian maintenance organization, and dealing with three other off-site activities. Maintaining proper accountability is a job in itself.

Plus, the mission pace in Korea means a continuous string of major training events. Shortly after I took command, I was tasked out for Ulchi Freedom Guardian. Following that, we had a company deactivation, during which we also had a convoy live fire exercise in November. After the holidays, I had a month and a half to focus on some inventory issues before Key Resolve started. Once that was done, we started working on the CJLOTS exercise we're now in the middle of.

After this, we'll do Ulchi Freedom Guardian again, followed another period of time to focus on inventory matters before my change of command. But that's it -- apart from inventories, there's been very little time to focus on any other significant projects.

The final reason I'm not really enjoying my command time is that I just don't have the personality for it. I've heard of people whose best years in the army are their company command time, but I knew that wouldn't be me even before I started.

Of course, there are things that I like -- learning how things work and establishing standards that will help the next guy adjust better -- but on the whole I don't really like my command. Maybe it's that I don't like being responsible for other people's mistakes, or that I don't know who to trust because I'm not a terribly good judge of character.

Regardless, I think I'll be quite happy, when this job is done, to go back to being a staff officer.