lessonslearned Timely Teachers I
When an Army personnel clerk fi nds herself out of her comfort zone in a fi eld exercise, fi ve squadron leaders force her to revise her opinion of combat soldiers.
In 1973, I started my Army career in the Women’s Army Corps as a private serving in the personnel fi eld. During the Vietnam War-era, one of the major tasks of a personnel clerk was processing com- bat arms soldiers’ reclassifi cations into noncombat military occupational special- ties. Being young and ignorant, I came to dislike the whole process and started to have a low opinion of those soldiers. Needless to say, in the 1970s as a female soldier, my experience of “going to the fi eld” was nonexistent, so I could not re- late to them. In 1981, I was appointed as a person-
nel warrant offi cer. I immediately was reassigned to Fort Campbell, Ky., with the 100th Airborne Division, as the leader of a large platoon with fi ve squadrons. Two weeks after my arrival, the company was scheduled for a fi eld exercise to practice defensive po- sitions. The opposing forces, who were tasked with breaching our perimeter, consisted of infantry soldiers from the replacement battalion. I was concerned about my lack of ex- perience in that arena, and I wanted to appear like I had it together. I scheduled a meeting with the platoon sergeant and the fi ve squadron leaders and found out they all had experience with combat arms, infantry, armor, artillery, air de- fense, engineering, and signal. I learned so much from them in one afternoon be- cause they were very eager to share their
68 MILITARY OFFICER JULY 2011
experiences and knowledge. They were proud to be able to use their past experi- ences again and were dedicated to teach- ing me, even though they had known me for only two weeks. It was overwhelming. They were ready to use their past experi- ences for the platoon’s success and — in- directly — for my success. The exercise was a success because our platoon was the only one never to be breached. The infantry soldiers from the replacement battalion never succeeded in passing through our platoon, thanks to all the skills deployed by the squadron leaders. We had a lot of fun in the process and acquired quite a reputation in the bat- talion. In subsequent fi eld exercises, our platoon was always successful. The re-
dedication
placement detachment commander once said, “I don’t know what Miss Haine does, but we can never get through her platoon.” I learned to appreciate how all of our
fi eld exercises allowed us to expand our roles and reinforce our pride in our pasts. Soldiers are priceless when you let them be who they are.
MO
— Fanny J. Haine is a retired Army chief war- rant offi cer. She lives in Sun City Center, Fla. For submission information, see page 18.
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