Who I Have Transformed Over 15 Years

I have held multiple positions within the United States Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol, including the position of First Sergeant of the Valkyrie Cadet Squadron. My job was to provide a dedicated focal point for all readiness, to watch the health of cadets, boost the morale, ensure that operations flowed smoothly, and make sure the orders of the commander were carried out by the support staff. After nine months of being a First Sergeant, I was promoted to be the Executive Officer, which is the third in command of the 52-cadet squadron. Furthermore, the leadership skills I have attained in the Civil Air Patrol carries out to various parts of my life. Specifically, my job at Western Steel Inc., where I've been tasked to train employees

As leaders, we must maintain a clear separation between ourselves and those we lead, both, on and off duty. I’m not saying that you and I are better than anyone else; however, as leaders we are charged with tremendous responsibilities and are held to higher standards. To put in bluntly, “we cannot lead soldiers and act like the soldiers”. Do not be a soldier’s buddy! We cannot get away with the indiscretions that out soldiers may because we must lead by example.

Twenty-six years ago I a 17-year-old boy joined the United States Army. I served my country faithfully for 22 years, two months and four days; I served in the Transportation Corps. My time in the army was a special period in my life. I gain a lot of life experiences as well as professional ones; the military shaped and molded me into the husband, father son, and brother that I am today. During my service, I grew up and learned several life lessons that would serve me well in and out of the army. To get a real understand on how the military shaped me into the person, I am today; I must first give you some insight into the person I was before I left for basic training. I graduated high school in 1991 just four months’ shy of my 18th birthday;

I quote straight from the Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer, “My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind, accomplishment of my mission and the welfare of my soldiers.” I am disgraced to admit that I failed to comply with this line of the very outline of my role as a noncommissioned officer. I believe that every noncommissioned officer should do more than recite the words for a board. They should live by those words. If there is ever any doubt as to what my responsibilities are as a leader I always refer back to the Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer. I find there are no better words to describe a good leader than those found within that creed. The fact that I did not live by those words shames me as a leader. However, it also strengthens me. It shows me where my faults lie and what I need to improve upon to ensure I am always doing my very best as a leader.

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

When I went on mobilization to Fort Lewis, Washington and left my son in the care of my parents, I thought my parental duties would be set aside until I returned home. Unfortunately, the soldiers of 351st Ordnance Company would prove me wrong with their excessive alcohol consumption, commonly term “binge drinking,” and destructive behaviors. I would then spend the next year sharing the responsibility with four other junior noncommission officers in the task of taking care of soldiers. Despite the efforts of myself and the others we were not fully prepared to handle some of the outrageous events and lack of engagement from the leadership that would challenge us during the tour. My abilities as a junior noncommission officer and the understanding of leadership were redefined and I learned exactly what it meant to ensure soldiers have proper guidance, leadership, positive morale, and well-being.

This is our job as NCO’s to keep the culture and climate of our profession at its peak. We cannot be the ones that “talk the talk” but not “walk the walk” bring that culture down. It is one of our areas of expertise to take care and nurture young soldiers. They are the future of the profession, the future experts that will keep the profession strong and thriving. We as NCO’s must do our best to shield our young soldiers from “toxic” leadership, to show what good leadership is, and mold young soldiers into the professionals of

In this paper, I will be explaining what a legacy leader is and the impact one specific leader had on my career and the Army. In December of 2011 I reported to Joint Base Lewis-McCord and was assigned to 1/17 IN BN part of 2nd Striker BDE Combat Team. I had arrived at a unit that was preparing for a hard deployment to Afghanistan after a vigorous training cycle. I had walked in to my office to meet the team I would be leading into a combat zone that had zero experience, except for SSG Frazier that had a “been there done that” attitude. SSG Frazier was not as focused as a leader should be when prepping for a deployment with new Soldiers. The area that our unit would move to was the area that the Taliban was founded by Mullah Omar in Zhari District Southern Afghanistan (RC South). I had to quickly adjust to a high operation temp of a unit getting ready to deploy with little to no experience. After meeting SSG Frazier, I decided to meet the BN Commander and CSM to get a better understanding of the mission and expectation from the leadership. When I

Throughout my military career I have had the distinguished opportunity to work with some of the Army's finest officers. My last platoon leader in particular, LT Adams, was a major influence in my decision to pursue a career as an officer. There was always something about the way he carried himself. He was the symbol of integrity and confidence and truly lived the Army Values. With the help of his impeccable leadership I was able to achieve feats not many have. I was able to attend and graduate the United States Army Sniper School, an honor not bestowed upon many. I truly contribute my successes at that school, and others like it, to the guidance given to me by LT Adams. In coming to this realization, I now am confident and motivated to give

The Long Gray Line from West Point has done more than serve as college educated workers in America’s workforce and officers in the United States Military. The men and women who have attended the United States Military Academy have shaped and led our nation throughout its history, and I want to be a part of the next chapter. I want to give all that I can and more to the academy and afterwards to the Army. West Point is, without a doubt, the place where I belong.

I attend a military school and i have been a part of many leadership roles at Fork union Military Academy. One of my unique experiences was when we were drilling my company to prepare for a parade. I am a day student which places us in our own platoon. In my day student platoon there were no cadets with rank at the time which means we had no particular leader. This was the perfect opportunity for me to take charge and become the temporary leader for the drill. I had no real experience with drilling besides the steps i have learned while being at FUMA for 2 years at that time. . I drilled the cadets in front of the 120 cadets in my company. I did particularly well besides one mistake on a facing movement. Taking this leadership role earned me

Though serving in a highly disciplined, well trained, and well equipped force, I faced mental and physical adversity, a numerically superior enemy, and a dynamic battlefield. I served with fellow Noncommissioned Officers and leaders with vast tactical combat experience, but we were operating in highly restrictive terrain behind enemy lines. As we worked to create breathing room for the Battle Space Owner and defeat the insurgents on their own turf, we took several casualties and would be tested in our ability to remain equally dynamic to the battlefield, bring every asset to bare to accomplish the mission, and adapt our common tactics in order to survive.

Throughout history our country has had many leaders. Whether you’re the leader of a business, military platoon, or the leader of our great nation you were withheld with the honor and trust to govern the actions and best interests of fellow Americans. But just because you have achieved the title of a leader does not by default make you a good leader. A good leader is a person who has risen above and beyond to show cooperation, perseverance, and respect to decisions made by those still above you at one point in time. “As a seasoned member of the military, you’ve risen through the ranks because you understood your mission and performed your duties with distinction. At this stage of your career, your most important contribution may be how well you take care of the service members and

I know that my inability to leadership could later affect a promotion and it affects the trust that my leadership has towards me. I know in order to be a successful soldier I must show leadership qualities at all times. I know by me not showing up for work made it look like I don’t have selfless service. I know that I must put my nations, my units, and my battle buddies needs before my own in order to accomplish the mission successfully and smoothly. I know that when I failed to show up for duty that I not only showed lack of responsibility but also a lack of discipline.

I grew up as a young man in Lagos Nigeria, learning the values of hard work, contentment, focus and integrity from my mum, who singlehandedly raised I and my two sisters, having lost our dad when she was just twenty eight and just as I neared my third birthday. However, as I grew up, it was discovered that I was a very absentminded and forgetful kid, who secretly hated schooling, but was very vocal, inquisitive, loved to read autobiographies write articles and debate with classmates and teachers and quite surprisingly, I did quite well in elementary School and even was best student in the entrance examination into secondary school. I learnt from childhood that to succeed in life I should study hard, graduate, get a good job and work at