It's Not About You

When I was a candidate going through OCS, the staff there was fond of telling us that there was only one day in our Marines Corps career that was about us: our commissioning day. Every other day, whether as a candidate or as an officer, was about the enlisted Marines we would lead. Every other bit of screening (at OCS) or training (at OCS and beyond) we went through was to enable us to effectively lead them.

I failed my Marines today. I had to file paperwork for seven of my Marines stating that I could not recommend them for promotion because they did not have the required professional military education (PME) courses complete. Unfortunately, having this paperwork in their record books has the potential to negatively affect their careers later down the road. My Marines, understandably, were upset about this. Some of them had been told they had more time to complete the courses; some had the courses complete but have had difficulty getting a proctor for the test.

My platoon sergeant and I hope there's more action we can take to get some of this paperwork reversed, and will work on it tomorrow and in the coming days. Whatever happens, I have certainly learned my lesson.

This is part of the learning curve for new Lieutenants. They teach us plenty about tactics, about leadership traits and principles, about mine detectors and how to plan an obstacle breach. But they don't give us a list of administrative issues to track, or what common pitfalls to avoid, or tell us what's our job vs. our platoon
sergeant's job vs. the company staff's job. Rightfully, this is part of on-the-job training, and depends on your billet and unit. But it's pretty painful training, for me and the Marines.

I'll figure it out soon enough. I have "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU" underlined inside the front cover of my notebook to remind myself on these days--it's not about my abilities, or what my boss thinks of me, it's about my Marines and taking care of their needs. I failed them today, and inevitably I'll do it again over some other issue. But not this.