Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

A Marine’s Afghan AAR (IX): The jobs of squad and platoon NCOs

Here CWO2/Gunner Keith Marine discusses the proper roles of privates, squad leaders and platoon sergeants. One of our more savvy platoon commanders assumed his own AO.  When I went to visit him I noticed that he had a twice-rewarded PFC keeping accountability of chow and water and fixing the UGR-As daily.  I might also add ...

MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Image
MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Image
MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Image

Here CWO2/Gunner Keith Marine discusses the proper roles of privates, squad leaders and platoon sergeants.

Here CWO2/Gunner Keith Marine discusses the proper roles of privates, squad leaders and platoon sergeants.

One of our more savvy platoon commanders assumed his own AO.  When I went to visit him I noticed that he had a twice-rewarded PFC keeping accountability of chow and water and fixing the UGR-As daily.  I might also add that this shitbird probably did it better than most SNCOs.  Here is my point. The platoon sergeant should be the most experienced infantrymen in that platoon.  He is responsible for not only chow and water but most importantly helping train and advise the platoon commander and squad leaders. He can’t do that sleeping 12 hours a day and never going outside the wire.  We are about 50 percent with some doing the right thing and some making a stab at what the shitbird PFC does. If these guys are spending their time sleeping all day and counting chows, they need to be relieved not rewarded with Navy Coms. On the other side of things you need to make sure the squad leaders are able to be squad leaders. Figure if the plt sgt and cmdr are going out with a different squad every other day it should keep things moving in the right direction.  In addition, all hands will have a good grasp on the atmospherics and tactical situation because there is no substitute for seeing things firsthand.

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.