A Reflection on our Troops

We hear, on occasion, of heroic deeds of our troops - about those who put their lives on the line for their teammates in a display of unbelievable courage.?We need heroes like that, and for reasons of necessity, we do indeed love our heroes.?However, there are also many more stories of ordinary troops who, along with their teammates, accomplish unimaginable feats.

I began my time in the U.S. Army as a Private, the lowest rank; I was a simple foot Soldier.?Over the years, I would learn much from America’s best Sergeants in charge.?I took away something important from that experience and what they taught me.?I will never forget those Sergeants, for they are the ones who do the heavy lifting and are exposed most to danger and death.?

In my very first active duty assignment, early that first morning, our company First Sergeant took 25 of us outside for a ‘police call’ to clean up in front of our unit’s orderly room.?“Line up here,” he said, and we did as we were told.?“All sergeants take one step to the rear.”?This was done so our leaders could adequately supervise the cleanup.?When I looked to my right and left, only two stood there, me and another Private.

This would be my first lesson in leadership.?

I made up my mind that I wanted to be a Sergeant right there.?I also quickly learned that to do a job right, you had to have the right people and insightful strong leaders to make it happen.?I knew I could help because I understood what needed doing and the right way to do it.?

Private Jerome Marshall and I finished the police call on that frosty January morning in the backcountry of West Germany, just outside the small village Siegelsbach of Baden-Württemberg.?Jerome, like me, would wish that one day he would be a “three striper,” a leader of other foot Soldiers.

Many leaders today, especially those in the most senior positions, have forgotten the foot Soldier, Marine, Airman, Sailor, or Coastie.?Leaders of our troops are caught up in the day-to-day affairs of their job, the frequent emails, the meetings, the workshops, getting that corner office, going out to lunch with their boss, and even rubbing elbows with politicians.

Many years later, after college and commissioning as an Officer, the Army sent me to Iraq.?I arrived as an experienced officer of senior military rank.?Yet I will never forgot the promise I made to myself that I would help safeguard those foot Soldiers, the warfighters.?That is precisely what I did.

My leadership philosophy demanded I get to know our troops.

There was nothing more humbling than to be in their presence and experience what they see and endure their hardships.?Regardless of rank, they will tell you the truth right away if you ask.?It is the Sergeant that makes things work.?It is the Private doing the hardest work, and they are also the most brutally honest.?Working with them is refreshing.

One of our senior leaders said it best. ?“The easy way to tell the true power of an army is to see how much authority and power it gives to its Sergeants and Privates.?The more they are trusted and the more authority they have, the better the army and the more dangerous it will be in war.”?Hard to argue with that kind of thinking.

Frequent talks with our troops also reinforced my optimistic view of them.?

They had decided to place themselves in harm’s way in combat because their country called and to protect their battle buddies.?Our troops do this every day, and they do it also for the bond of brotherhood.?

We can only understand this camaraderie by being there with those troops and being part of their day.?What they do and how they act is what courage looks like; there is no substitute.

I hope, if you have the inspiration to meet with our troops, you can reflect on that experience.?Along the way, you will get the bonus of getting to know what historians will never tell you.?And, you will see for yourself those troops that willingly stand, putting themselves in harm’s way to protect our precious freedoms.

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Retiring from the U.S. Army in 2014, Brigadier General Doug Satterfield originally entered the military in 1974 on active duty as a Private.?Seven years later, he completed his service as an Infantry Staff Sergeant.?Returning to college and after completing the ROTC program, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Infantry.?In 2021, he published an account of his combat tour of duty in Iraq; “Our Longest Year in Iraq.”?Doug is an American patriot, family man, Christian, and advocate for homeless Veterans.