Another Post About Osama bin Laden

Last week the United States celebrated a huge victory in the current war against terrorist group Al-Qaeda. There has been little else in the news all across the nation. As a member of the military, hearing the news that Osama bin Laden has finally been killed means a multitude of emotions. Much like the victims of the 9/11 attacks, the news became bittersweet. Justice has finally been served for all those people that were killed so tragically. However, even though bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks and the leader of Al-Qaeda, his death does not mean the end of the wars.

There are so many other factors in this war that I fear many Americans may not be aware of due to the lack of substantial coverage on the news. National news filters the war and many firefights and deaths are not reported. Osama bin Laden was the figurehead leader of Al-Qaeda, but Al-Qaeda has many other leaders and there were several clues that more terror attacks on American were in the planning stages at bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan. Al-Qaeda is still a threat to the United States, and troops overseas now are in as much danger now as they ever were during a deployment. The biggest fear right now is a retaliation attack on U.S. forces overseas, or even on our homeland. America is on guard, but we as a country have bonded together once again. The death of Osama bin Laden has also raised our hopes for the end of the war, but we must keep our guard up and not get complacent. We have gone this far, now we must see this war all the way through until it is safe enough that all of our troops can come home safely.

Leadership and Communication

Over the past few years, really since I joined the Army, I have come to know all kinds of leaders and leadership techniques. Some of them good, and some not so good. However, some of the best leadership that I have found are not my leaders in the Army. Don’t get me wrong, I have some awesome leadership to learn from at my Reserve Unit, but I like the style of leadership that I see from some of the management from my civilian job. Leadership is a characteristic that transfers over very easily from military to civilian or civilian to military, and all leaders have their good and bad characteristics. However, the style of leadership that I would like to convey when I get to that position more closely mirrors what I see every day in my civilian job.

Now I am starting to develop my own leadership style by taking on extra responsibilities. I recently took over as Team Captain for my store’s InFocus Team, which is the team that manages shrink and safety issues for each Home Depot store. I have only held this position for about three weeks so I am still in the learning phase, but I have awesome leadership who allow me to ask a million questions and present any idea I have without fear of said idea being stupid. I am basically being allowed to run with anything I come up with, but I am also constantly checking in with the managers above me to make sure that I am on the right track and that everything is still within proper standards.

Communication in leadership is critical, and the communication train must travel both up and down. It is important for subordinates to communicate with their leaders, starting with their immediate supervisor and going up. However, it is just as important for leaders at the top of the chain to ensure that each message travels all the way down. This is often where communication has the most problems in any company or organization. As the message travels down, it often does not get to the bottom of the chain and subordinates are feeling left out of the loop, which often leads to preventable mistakes being made and unnecessary penalties. This is what I would like to change when I am in future leadership positions. I have been under many awesome leaders, but the biggest problem I have seen with most is a lack of communication. Even though communication has never been my strongest characteristic, as I have always been shy and quiet, it is what I would most like to change. Not only for myself, but also for those who may be under me in the future, or for the leaders that I currently have and will have in the future.

Watching General Sarge Grow Through Social Media

Everyone is talking about how great social media is these days. I agree that social media is something exciting and has definitely produced some newsworthy stories. As I continue to learn the tricks and trades of social media by keeping up with the newest trends, I find myself meeting more people than I ever could have without the Internet and social networking. Networking has always been very important to a person’s success, but social networking online is quickly becoming necessary when it comes to job searching and getting your name known within your area of expertise.

I have an amazing example of what social networking can do for one person, or rather a family. Dr. Rus Jeffrey (@DrRus) has been active on Twitter for some time, but after he sent his youngest son off to Army Basic Training, Twitter became something much more than a place to get news updates and have conversations.

For a bit of background information, Ben, Dr. Rus’ youngest, has wanted to join the Army since he was a kid, and when he was 10 he got a trip to Build-A-Bear and built his own Army bear that he named Sarge. Sarge became a very well-loved bear, and last Christmas just before Ben was to ship to Basic Training, Sarge got a new uniform and a promotion to General! Since Ben has been at Basic, General Sarge has been kept busy as well with Dr. Rus taking pictures and blogging everyday about General Sarge's adventures. The blog can be read here. General Sarge has done some cool stuff!

General Sarge waiting for his human owner's return from Basic Training.

It was around this time that I really started paying attention to the post, especially when Dr. Rus mentioned something about his middle son, Ryan, being a Reservist assigned to the Webster Reserve Center. That's also where I go to drill, although we are assigned to different units within the same building.

I began following the blogs everyday, and that also got me thinking about how I might get involved with my own military bear. My mom gave me a bear the Christmas after I first signed my contract with an Army uniform (not from Build-A-Bear, but similar). My bear's name is Buddy, and I tweeted a picture to @DrRus saying something along the lines of "Buddy wants to meet General Sarge". We started talking back and forth through Twitter and a few days later, we met at Eastview Mall in Victor, NY for a couple shots and a new blog post for @GeneralSarge.

Buddy and me meeting General Sarge for this first time!

Dr. Rus and his wife Sandra are currently very busy trying to launch their Families First Campaign that started because of General Sarge. The non-profit is being set up for military families to help offset the costs of travelling to see a soldier's graduation from Basic Combat Training. It is a very important first step in every soldier's career to graduate from Basic, but travel for families can be very expensive, especially in today's economy. There are so many programs for military and their families out there, but none to help a family travel just to see their soldier's graduation. Families First is trying to launch itself to be there for families in need. I am very proud to have gotten to know Dr. Rus and Sandra and to play just a small part in the growth of General Sarge and the launching of the Families First Campaign. It has been exciting to watch General Sarge grow on Twitter and Facebook, and I know that there is much more planned in the future. I can't wait to see where else General Sarge will be taking Dr. Rus, Sandra, and their sons!

Buddy is very proud to be a part of this as well!