FYI

For those of you that don't read Steve's blog, I thought I'd share his latest post... helps make the Army a little more clear.

Well, these last two weeks have certainly been weeks to remember. There have been many changes in my life, but I would have to say that the highlight was this past Sunday. SGT Shawn Smith was able to be baptized out here in the little font in the local FOB Falcon chapel. It is amazing to see the change that has come into his life due to learning and accepting the gospel. He has kept his commitments and continued to learn and grow and read in the scriptures. He accepted each challenge as they were handed out with Faith knowing that he was doing the Lord's will. It was great to go over the whole plan of Salvation with him and teach him all of the basic doctrines of the gospel and to also introduce him to the gospel and church resources and those things that we have available for help. We had pretty much daily discussions clear up through his baptism and we are going to sit down probably tomorrow and continue our after baptism lessons. I think Brother Hardy, our group leader, summed it up perfectly: "Of all of the significant events that have happened while our unit has been deployed out here, this baptism and the commitment that Brother Smith is making today is the most significant by far". It is true, the eternal welfare of souls is so important. To make it all the more sweet, his wife Dawn and daughters Brandy and Bonnie also accepted the challenge to have the missionaries over a couple of weeks ago and they too accepted baptism and they had their baptisms this past Sunday as well back in the Junction City ward there in Kansas. This past week we contacted the Stake President in charge of Iraq and asked him for permission to baptize him and be able to interview him as well. So I did the teaching and Brother Hardy did the interview this past Friday. He was found worthy and then we set up a program, coordinated with the head chaplain over at the chapel to get water into the font and were all set for the service on Sunday. We had a great turn out for church, around 22. In our little supply trunk that we keep for our services, we have 2 large baptismal jump suits. They were a bit snug on Shawn and me, but they worked just fine. It was awesome to be able to put those on and feel the wonderful Spirit there in the chapel that always accompanies baptisms. Everyone was smiling and there was definitely excitement in the air. Shawn brought a camera so we were able to take a few shots of the chapel and of us before and after the baptism. We had a great talk on faith and baptism from Wes Theurer before the baptism and then we went into the waters and performed the ordinance. Shawn came out with gritting teeth because the water was quite cold, but the feeling was amazing. We then had a talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Shawn was then confirmed a new member of the Church. By far the best thing that has happened in both of my deployments thus far. It was wonderful that he could do this at the same time as his family even though they are literally thousands of miles apart. They have a goal to reach the temple in a year and there in Salt Lake be sealed as a family and I plan to be there with them if at all possible. Shawn will receive the Aaronic priesthood this next Sunday as well.

Additionally this past week was my change of command. I'm now the Commander of C Co, 4-1 BSTB, 4 IBCT, 1ID. Translation: Charlie Company, 4th of the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. I was quite nervous going into the ceremony, as I usually am with most new things that I do. We did a practice this past Sunday and then had the Change of Command Monday morning. There was quite a large crowd that came to it as well which was nice. My company was lined up off to the side with 1SG (the 1st Sergeant is the head Non Commissioned Officer in the Company) and the company colors (guidon) out in front. I, the Battalion Commander, and the outgoing commander (CPT Kollin Taylor) were lined up about 75 feet in front of them facing them. We started the ceremony and had a prayer--one thing that is nice about Army tradition and having a Chaplain's Corps. Then we did the actual change while a narrator read the significance of the changing of the guidon. We walked forward and stood in front of the Company 1SG and then he retrieved the colors from the guidon bearer and passed them to CPT Taylor who then passed them to the BN Commander who passed them to me and then I passed them back to 1SG who then gave them back to the guidon bearer. We three then turned around and marched back to where we were and as we did so, I swapped places with CPT Taylor so as to be on the right hand side of the Battalion Commander indicating that I'm now the acting Commander. We then turned back around and faced the Company once again and then we went into the speeches. The Battalion Commander, LTC Birchmeier spoke first and then Kollin spoke and I spoke last. It is tradition that the incoming commander speak very little, so I followed in tradition and just thanked everyone mostly and then at the end went to say the Company Motto and went blank! So I sat there for about 5 awkward seconds before it came back to me. Luckily, I spent those 5 seconds looking at the Company so in the minds of the onlookers it was as though I was expecting the Company to say the motto for me...so anyway...it all worked out in the end. Then we sang the Big Red One song (the 1st ID song) at which point two helicopters flew over head of the Company, we honestly couldn't have timed it better had we tried! And then we all sang the Army song. After that I walked forward half way to the Company and told 1SG to take charge of the unit and saluted and then walked off to the left. And that ended the ceremony. It went well overall. Afterward there was a meet and greet up in the Battalion Conference room where mostly people from 610 Came and congratulated me which was nice.

Key:

Branches of the Army: The operational specialty to which an officer is commissioned or a Soldier is trained. Examples are:
Infantry: Ground troops, the ones that go out and fight and are currently doing the raids in Baghdad and killing and arresting the bad guys
Armor: Ground troops that ride in armored track vehicles
Artillery: Ground troops that specialize in large weapons that lob explosives onto the enemy
Air Defense Artillery: They shoot down stuff in the sky like incoming missiles or planes
Aviation: Helicopter pilots and the Soldiers that take care of them
Military Police: self explanatory
Medical: Self explanatory, but there are all kinds of specialties in this branch
Signal: Communications and networking (this is what I am)
Quarter Master: Logistics (I was just in a logistics unit called the BSB or Brigade Support Battalion)
Transportation: The ones that move all of the logistics, troops, equipment around the battlefield
Finance: self explanatory
Judge Advocate General (JAG): Military law
Adjutant General: Personnel management
Chemical: chemical experts on chem warfare and prevention

There are others and quite a few smaller specialties out there that you can become and get affiliated with, but these are the most common.

Army Organization:
Platoon (20-40 Soldiers) < Company (30-200 Soldiers) < Battalion (300-800 Soldiers) < Brigade (1500-4000 Soldiers) < Division (4-6 Brigades) < Corps (2-4 Divisions)< Army

Rank Structure:

Officer: 2nd Lieutenant (2LT) < 1st Lieutenant (1LT) < Captain (CPT) < Major (MAJ) < Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) < Colonel (COL) < Brigadier General (BG=1 star) < Major General (MG=2 stars) < Lieutenant General (LTG= 3 stars) < General ( GEN = 4 stars)

Enlisted (When an enlisted makes the rank of SGT he/she becomes a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO)): Private (PVT) < Private 2nd Class (PV2) < Private 1st Class (PFC) < Specialist (SPC) = Corporal (CPL) < Sergeant (SGT) < Staff Sergeant (SSG) < Sergeant First Class (SFC) < Master Sergeant (MSG) = First Sergeant (1SG) < Sergeant Major (SGM) = Command Sergeant Major (CSM)

Note: those ones that are "=" mean that they are the same pay grade, but they are in leadership positions and thus outrank the non-leadership ranks.

Note 2: A 2nd Lieutenant outranks the highest enlisted in the Army, however, respect is shown accordingly both ways.


A lot of people out of the military are wondering what a Commander is or what this job means, whether it is a promotion or what. Technically, it isn't a promotion. Currently, I'm a Captain (CPT). In the military, promotions happen when you gain Rank, e.g. when you go from LT to CPT or from CPT to MAJ etc. When you are promoted you also get a raise etc. Becoming a Commander is just changing jobs. You don't get a pay raise or anything like that. At any point in your career, you can hold any number of jobs or areas of responsibility. There are certain jobs that are designated for LTs, Platoon leader being a key developmental job as well as maybe being an executive officer of a Company (XO=2nd in Command). There are also certain jobs for CPTs and MAJs and LTCs and COLs and Generals. Some jobs are of greater responsibility than others and as such are often sought out more or perhaps even esteemed more than others. Being a Staff officer is required by most due to the need to learn various areas of the Army Organization and their purpose is to support Commanders and help them make decisions and help the unit run smoothly. Staff officers are usually only in charge of a handful of Soldiers that work for them directly so their area of influence is limited and their scope of expertise is focused in a specific area. For instance I have served as an Assistant Brigade S1 in charge of personnel operations in a unit and as an assistant Brigade S4 in charge of unit logistics. Both of those times I had only a handful of Soldiers working for me. My most recent job was a Battalion S6 where I was the primary Staff Officer for Communications in charge of the all of the data and radio networks for the entire Battalion of over 870 Soldiers, 300 computers, 5 different networks, and tons of other digital and radio equipment so my technical scope of influence and responsibility was huge, but I still only had about 10 NCOs and Soldiers that worked for me directly. Staff officers support the Commander at the level they are staff. The lowest level that has a staff is a Battalion, Companies do not have staffs.

The smallest unit in the army that is considered a "Command" is a Company. Company Command is one of those jobs that is more "esteemed" or sought after than other jobs that you can get as a CPT. Traditionally Company Command is a crowning job for a CPT. It used to be required by all Branches of the Army in order to be promotable to MAJ and is still required by most branches. Commanders are solely in charge of their unit and all the good or bad that comes from it. They make all of the decisions for its welfare and it every day operation. They are in charge of how things run and how to delegate responsibility. They are in charge of policies and procedures. They are in charge of all equipment in the Company and sign for it all and then have their subordinates sign for it and take responsibility for it at their level. I'm currently signed for about $5 Million in assets and responsible for maintaining it all and keeping track of it. I am also the lowest judicial level in the Army meaning that I hold discipline boards and can assign punishments legally based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is the most responsibility that you can have as a Captain and that is why it is such an important leadership developmental position. In the Signal Corps, being a commander is no longer required to continue on and make the rank of MAJ and beyond, but it is still highly encouraged if you can take the position. In our current Brigade, there is only one Signal Company and 5 Battalion S6 slots and they usually pick the next Commander from one of those S6's so I was blessed to get the job.

So far the job has been great. I have very competent subordinate leaders and my 1SG, 1SG Meadows is outstanding at taking charge of tasks and requirements and being successful at making things happen. Normally I would have 3 Platoon leaders (3 LTs) that would be in charge of my 3 Platoons, but I currently don't have any. The only other officer I have in the company is my XO, 1LT Christensen. He is also a graduate from West Point and thankfully, he is very competent and a hard worker. This past week has been spent learning my new job, signing mounds of paperwork and getting to know my leaders and Soldiers. So far so good. We work hard, but we also have a good time. I'm also blessed because my direct boss, the Battalion (BN) Commander, LTC Birchmeier is very "hands off" in allowing me to have full autonomy of how to run the Company. I'm not used to this, in fact, most of the leaders that I have worked for are opposite-- very demanding and micro managed extensively. The atmosphere in my company is very positive and the Soldiers are all very hard workers. I really couldn't have asked for a better Command.

I'm going to give my "Command Philosophy" to the Soldiers tomorrow evening which is sort of my vision and expectations to the Soldiers and it will also be my first formal introduction to them other than just seeing them in passing. I hope to make a good and firm impression so they know where I stand and my expectations for them. I have a good feeling about this job and hope to be able to influence these young Soldiers for good while I'm in this position.