Photo By Rick Emert | Col. Dan Shanahan (right), 1st Air Cavalry Brigade commander, and 1st Lt. Robert...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
1st ACB, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
TAJI, Iraq – It was quite a jump in position as a 1st Air Cavalry Brigade platoon leader suddenly became the brigade commander, albeit only for one day.
Hadley, Mass., native 1st Lt. Robert Massey shadowed 1st Air Cavalry Brigade Commander Col. Dan Shanahan throughout the day, beginning with physical training and going through many, many meetings into the evening in his role as brigade commander for a day.
"I think I was inspiring battalion commanders, imparting my vast experience on them," Massey joked.
He certainly didn't handle them with kid gloves as he talked to the commanders in the meetings.
"After the second or third meeting, I would defer to him for questions, and he would put his two cents in," Shanahan said. "He asked those battalion commanders some tough questions. I think he had fun with it, and I think the battalion commanders had a little fun with it as well."
Of course, the day was not meant to be all fun and games. Shanahan started the brigade commander for a day program to see what happens at the brigade command level and to help guide junior officers and warrant officers on their career paths, he said.
The day was jam packed with physical training, meetings, some one-on-one conferring between Shanahan and Massey in the commander's office, meetings, visits with Soldiers on the flight line and more meetings.
"His day was full of excitement," Shanahan said. "We started early on doing some PT, and then it was meeting after meeting and engagement after engagement. We did a little bit of [Uniform Code of Military Justice] in there as well. The goodness was that he was able to see a typical day. It was full of some things that could really help him in his career and also give him perspective back in his platoon to say that, hopefully, his leaders are making some pretty good decisions out there."
A look at the big picture was part of what Shanahan, who was an aide de camp to a general at one stage of his career, said he intended to get across to his brigade commander for the day.
"I think young officers in their career, if they can be an aide, if they can do a job like that where they watch somebody and help somebody perform their job better; that's an important aspect and kind of shows some insights that you wouldn't get in a normal job," Shanahan said. "The young warrant officers and young lieutenants – you hear them say every once in a while - 'Wow, if I was brigade commander for a day, I'd change that.'
"I'm trying to reach out to those guys – just give them a little insight on some of the stresses that happen in our day to day life in brigade command."
That message seems to have reached Massey loud and clear.
"I took away from it that there's an awful lot of work to do," Massey said. "There's a lot of organization that needs to happen, and that's really what Colonel Shanahan is doing at that level.
He's pushing information down, and he's responding to battalion commanders who have an awful lot of issues, an awful lot of concerns – not only with personnel, but also the operational structure as a whole. When are guys redeploying? How are the operations that we're doing now influencing ground units out in Baghdad? At my level it's very much focused on the day-to-day missions, the day-to-day flights that we do around the Baghdad area, and obviously there's much more to it than just those pieces of the puzzle."
It may be like one conductor trying to lead several orchestras simultaneously, but Shanahan said he wouldn't change a thing, and that it is something that any officer should aspire toward and look forward to.
"This is something that you can look forward to," Shanahan said. "I can't think of any better job. In fact, I've said many times this is the best job in the Army, and I'm very, very fortunate to have been selected for this. I'm humbled every day as I lead these great troopers.
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2007 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 10062 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 415 |
| Downloads: | 366 |
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