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
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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.
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