Lessons in leadership: Guidance to the Operations Officer (4 of 4)

Keeping the “trains running on time” is a challenge in any organization, but is exponentially more difficult at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD). There are often up to 12 Training Companies competing for access to the same resources and your training schedule is forced to dynamically adjust to weather conditions and resource availability. Despite these challenges, it was essential that we provided a consistent training experience for every recruit who steps on the famous yellow footprints because it is expected that all Marines share a similar rite of passage to earning the title US Marine. My Operations Officer (often pronounced as “Ops O” and also referred to as the S3) was charged with being the lead blocker to enable the training companies to perform their job. He or she was also expected to improvise, adapt, and overcome to set conditions for the Training Companies to execute their mission. The epitome of a behind the scenes enabler, the OpsO needed to always be 3-4 steps ahead of a problem so it could be resolved prior to recruits conducting a training event. This was the guidance I provided these incredibly capable professionals.

1. Drive the Battalion.

Like anything that moves, someone should probably have their hands on the controls at all times. For a Recruit Training Battalion, this is the OpsO’s job. I found that clearly framing this responsibility was the best way to avoid accidents.

2. You’re MY OpsO. If you need to talk with me, walk down the hall.

If you don’t overtly make yourself accessible, subordinates will at times go out of their way not to interrupt the boss. This has the potential to allow minor stuff to balloon into major stuff. I always wanted my OpsO to feel confident his priorities were important to me and that I was at his disposal if he required my involvement.

3. Be thinking 3-4 moves ahead of the Battalion. Get out in front of the issue to prevent problems before they occur. The goal is to minimize surprises to the maximum extent possible.

Stephen Covey, a well-known leadership author, has an excellent model that he refers to as the Time Management Matrix. This model bins out things that are important/ not important and urgent/ not urgent in a quadrant format. If not familiar I’d encourage you to research it. I wanted my OpsO focused on the “important/not urgent” quadrant as much as possible. This allowed him to think through challenges we were likely to face and create options to mitigate.

4. Training Companies are the main effort and our focus is down.

The military uses the terms “main effort” and “supporting effort” to ensure zero ambiguity on which organization is the priority for resources and attention. Our mission was to train recruits to becoming U.S. Marines which ONLY occurred within our Training Companies.

5. Bad news doesn’t get better with time. Keep me in the loop as you see challenges ahead and identify options on how to resolve the issue at hand.

6. Develop relationships with sister units and use their experience to enhance 3d Battalion’s mission.

We had two sister units which had an identical mission to ours. Having a great rapport with one’s counterparts was essential to sharing hard learned lessons, maintaining situational awareness on trends throughout the Recruit Depot, and helping with resource shortfalls if/when they manifested themselves on short or no notice.

7. Better, Faster, Smarter, and Stronger. Self-improvement is essential to success in the Marine Corps and life in general.

8. Attention to detail. Do your administration and planning correctly the first time. It both saves time in the long run and protects the unit’s reputation.

It is both demoralizing and embarrassing when the Regiment or the Depot staffs route incomplete or inaccurate administrative work back to the Battalion for rework. This paperwork often was a pre-requisite to taking HR related actions such as adding or dropping a recruit to or from a Training Company and came at the expense of significant amounts of time, as well as chipped away at the unit’s credibility.

9. Always try and say yes. This goes for both the Training Company requests, as well as those from sister units. If we cannot support and must say “no,” ensure you involve me in the decision.

Inserting myself into the decision authority for “no” responses naturally trended our organization’s response to that of yes, which was precisely what I was going forJ.

10. Get to know the Marines of headquarters Company and ensure they are engaged in fruitful activities. Bored Marines are dangerous Marines. Know their priorities/goals and mentor them. 

11. Lead by example. If the task is arduous or unpleasant, ensure you are first in line.

12. Use the Sergeant Major as a sounding board. He has a wealth of knowledge and is a resource that can enhance your decision-making.

It is not uncommon for young Marine officers to take self-reliance to the extreme. This doesn’t happen by accident as the training they go through forces them to be decisive when faced with challenging situations. The Recruit Depot has a bright spotlight both for successes and failures and the SgtMaj was an excellent resource to ensure one got acknowledged for the former versus the latter if leveraged appropriately.

This concludes the Commander's guidance series and I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and sharing!