Madness in Mogadishu: Commanding the 10th Mountain Division's Quick Reaction Company during Black Hawk Down by Whetstone Michael

Author:Whetstone, Michael
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2015-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Calm before the Storm

Three days later I found myself staring at the dawn of an Indian Ocean sunrise. Fresh, clean air passed over my bristly barracks-cut hair as I pondered why C/2-14 Infantry was so good.

The white noise of the breeze passing over my ears helped to isolate my thoughts. Two battles fought; a mindset linking death with life; facing the realities of casualties. Leadership is driven into the heart of the commander by the crucible of combat, the ferocity of action, and the choices made in the situation. Memories are seared into the deepest recesses of the brain and very little is forgotten. The calm I felt after living through it again was settling, maturing, and bringing forth thoughts of wisdom from my readings of past combat and fighters, the winners and the losers.

Charlie Company once again found itself at Range 10—The Beach—locked eternally in Colonel David's cycle. After three days of support duty, we wanted to train. You would think that soldiers would find training mundane or anticlimactic after combat, but the reverse was actually true. Professional soldiers want to hone their skills to perfection, knowing that perfection enhances survival odds. Thus, my officers and NCOs calmly led the men in a training round-robin of marksmanship, combat lifesaving, actions on contact, fire and movement, reconnaissance, leadership role-playing to the lowest man, and weapons cross training, enjoying, along with the men, the toils of the infantryman.

You never can tell when a private will have to become a squad leader or a platoon leader will have to assume company command. Over and over for three whole days we prepared for the next confrontation with the enemy and decompressed in our own thoughts.

As I watched my men, I thought of how much we had gone through since the change of command on a blue-matted gym floor on that cold January day. Around me I saw professional warriors practicing their trade. The sense that we were a team was profound. I trusted each man to do his job and each trusted me to do mine. While bearing the burden of hardship, these men knew that I would never let them die or be maimed in vain. I don't know if you can call it love but I longed to protect my men and to keep them safe, not from harm but from waste.

In a strong unit, a bond develops that is so precious men are willing to die for it. When that bond forms, it is the key to success. Forever strive for it; never toy with it; never doubt its existence. The bond between a commander and his unit, the one that makes them work effortlessly together, accomplishing the seemingly impossible, making the right calls, not complaining, and working through every obstacle as a team, is the dream and crowning achievement of every commander's career.

Like a good marriage, forging a strong unit takes time, understanding, flexibility, latitude, and patience. You must be allowed to make mistakes and grow your way

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