lessonslearned The Other Shoe T
A new second lieutenant successfully leads his platoon to achieve a short-term goal. But no good deed goes unpunished, and the long-term consequences are not what he expects.
The 6th Infantry Regiment was re- constituted in Germany in 1950 and was moved into West Berlin. I was a new second lieutenant facing my fi rst leadership assignment as an offi cer, ap- pointed as the platoon leader of the regi- mental intelligence and reconnaissance (I&R) platoon.
Our I&R platoon’s mission was to re- connoiter locations for observation posts (OPs), which would be manned, when necessary, in case of problems emanating from the East (Soviet-occupied) sector of Berlin.
The platoon had lots of jeeps to help us with this mission. But similar to the budget problems we see today, at the time, there was a shortage of money — and one item that could be saved was gasoline. A contest was announced to see which unit could save the most gasoline dur- ing the following month. I was sure my platoon could win that contest. I de- cided to have walk- ing patrols reconnoiter for potential OPs in the vicinity of our quarters dur- ing the month of the contest. Meanwhile, I postponed reconnaissance patrols at more distant locations until the fol- lowing months. Of course, by conducting all of our
patrols on foot, we used hardly any gas during the month of the contest. Sure
88 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2015
enough, my platoon won the contest, and I got an attaboy slap on my back from the regimental commander. I was very proud of my accomplish- ment; I had helped to save money for the U.S. Army in Berlin! But then came the following month’s allocation of gasoline — and my platoon was cut down from what had been a comfortable fuel allowance to a strin- gently meager one. That, I had not expected. We wound
up having to do a lot more walking pa- trols, including many to more distant locations, before my appeals were heard to increase the platoon’s now too-limited gasoline allowance. From this experience, I learned a les- son that I would not forget for the rest of my Army career: You always need to look at the far horizon.
consequences There are short-term goals, and there
are long-term goals, and it’s vitally im- portant to evaluate both before you make any decision that could adversely aff ect either one.
MO
— Frank Cohn is a retired Army colonel in Alexandria, Va. He is a Life Member and be- longs to the Mount Vernon (Va.) Chapter. For submission information, see page 6.
Tell Your Story Submit your lessons learned by email to
profseries@moaa.org or by mail to MOAA Professional Series, 201 N. Washington St., Al- exandria, VA 22314. All submissions will be con- sidered for publication.
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