I have learnt that a PC not only has to plan, but also should be there to show the platoon that we can and will overcome the mission together. During the pre-phase, I was worrying over the plan too much and thought that my PS and SCs would be able to handle the platoon, without considering that morale is as equally important as ensuring that the platoon knew their taskings. I should have focused more in being present in front of my platoon, to in-still confidence in them and to motivate them. 

Another important lesson is to always think ahead and be flexible on the ground. And one key factor in achieving that is to be completely sure of your plan and understand the various TTPs required in your plan. Things like knowing when your vehicles can be pushed forward earlier and when your troops should not be at the Store Dump would greatly factor into being able to amend your plans on the ground. While I did attempt to apply the concept of concurrent activities at the last few obstacles, my lack of proper understanding as to the progress of my team resulted in some of the attempts being futile. This ties back to the first point of communication with your key appt holders as well, whereby we should have agreed on what each stage of progress should entail and when they should inform me of their progress before the mission commenced.

During Ex. Backhoe, I did my best to push away my fatigue throughout the mission which seemed to work rather well. However one very major area of improvement I have is lack of confidence. Both in myself and also from others. I was not confident in my own plans and ideas and trusted my platoon more than myself, resulting in me agreeing with the new ideas that they pointed out instead of following my original plans. In hindsight, while I had thought that the new plans had meant that the platoon was more comfortable in working that way, I should have realised that by allowing all the tweaking of plans, miscommunication would have occured somewhere and result in an even choppier flow of work. I also did not manage to instil confidence into my platoon members by showing them that I was sure in all the steps that I took. Rather, my OPO was presented rather shakily and any doubts my PS and SCs had made me doubt myself in front of them. Hence, I believe that confidence is a rather important aspect I have to work a lot on.

has on any mission

Leaders who are able to lead with effective leadership, exhibit a strong character in their own way/style. Leaders act in line with how they speak and earn the right to be responsible for others’ success in the mission. Strong leadership then involves clear effective communication skills that is able to speak and give off a dependable assurance to everyone in the team.

Something I would do differently would be to step up more in terms of carrying out my task. To be more deliberate in the tasks assigned to me by the appointment holders.

I believe one thing I did well in Ex Backhoe would be constantly motivating and trying to keep my peers spirits high despite the mental fatigue. Also us really keeping each other “tight tgt” and in check. To ensure that we work thru the tasks tgt no matter how difficult or tired we were.