Last summer, commanders of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, at Fort Moore, Georgia, the unit overseeing the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course, identified several gaps in their program of instruction. At the top of this list was what was considered the key word in the course’s name: Leader.

As the unit’s commanders assessed leader development in the Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course (IBOLC), they realized that formal leadership was not formally being taught. Knowing each future platoon leader would graduate and assume positions of responsibility to direct and influence others to accomplish tasks and missions, the 2nd Battalion updated its program of instruction to better train officers—all second lieutenants—in leadership concepts.

With this context in mind, the battalion assigned leader philosophy lessons to student officers’ curriculum to help them answer the question, “How do I lead?” The new Leadership Course comprises five one-hour classes spread across IBOLC’s 19-week program of instruction.

Gap Identified

Previously, when it came to instruction on how to lead, IBOLC had a significant gap. Students received a short block of instruction on identity, climate and culture as prescribed by Common Core, a curriculum that U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) dictates all Basic Officer Leader Courses conduct.

On the ground, the most effective medium for leader development was mentorship by platoon trainers, who constantly coach and train students throughout the course. Through instruction, after-action reviews and informal, hip-pocket mentorship, these captains are responsible for developing 40 students per class.

While most of these trainers understand this requirement and pursue it with vigor, they are limited by time to thoroughly mentor every student while planning and executing the students’ training. The volume and quality of leader development in the course depended on the level of investment of the cadre.

The new leadership classes are taught by the most senior leaders in the battalion and take the form of interactive Q&A discussions. Each class includes pre-readings on the topic at hand, which prime the students for each discussion. The five hour-long lessons focus on the following topics: leader identity, discipline, responsibility, ownership and Mission Command.

Forming an Identity

Designed to lay the foundation for the rest of the leadership classes, Lesson 1 covers identity; specifically, the identity of an infantry officer.

This lesson is designed to challenge the student officer to reflect on and think about how they know that they know how to lead. Predicated on their oaths of office, the officers are taught the significance of the oath and some of the key phrases conveyed in their committed word.

In Lesson 1, students work through the definition of leadership. They consider and provide examples of counterproductive leadership, and they define what they think will be their leader community—everyone they influence—at their future assignment. The 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, cadre teach and work with students to consider a well-defined and distinct leader identity that their subordinates, peers and seniors will know and not question the type of leader they intend to be.

Anchored in this lesson is a graded writing assignment where students form their leader philosophy. This leader philosophy is one to two non-aspirational character strengths the officer has that they believe can cause leadership to happen.

Instilling Discipline

Lesson 2 discusses the topic of discipline within the framework of “What I do as a leader.” The discussion begins by examining the difference between motivation and discipline. Army Doctrine Publication (ADP) 6-22: Army Leadership and the Profession defines discipline as “the ability to control one’s own behavior—to do the harder right over the easier wrong. Doing tasks to the established Army standard without deviation.” ADP 6-22 defines motivation as “the will and initiative to do what is necessary to accomplish a mission.” By using their own experiences, the students discuss how discipline and motivation are both necessary. Discipline ensures mission success when leaders are faced with adversity.

Students then examine an example of when discipline achieved mission success through the experience outlined in a chapter from former SEAL officer and author Jocko Willink’s 2015 book, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win. In the book, written with Leif Babin, Willink discusses how his unit was able to transform its ability to perform sensitive site exploitation in an effective and efficient manner through rehearsals. The students systematically work through the chapter by understanding how Willink identified a problem, created solutions and implemented the solution through disciplined rehearsals and standard operating procedures.

The key takeaway from this case study is the concept of “discipline equals freedom.” The use of standard operating procedures, rehearsals and good unit discipline allows any unit freedom of maneuver to create decision space.

Learning Responsibility

Lesson 3 highlights officers’ inherent burden of responsibility and how it is tied to the oath of office. Specifically, an officer is expected to “well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter,” according to the oath of commissioned officers. This is different from an oath of enlistment, which is to “obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me.” A basic understanding of the differences in these oaths helps future platoon leaders feel the burden on their soldiers.

During this class, lieutenants are given examples of effective and ineffective teams, at which point they have time for open discussions among themselves of their personal experiences of good or bad leadership, and how they can one day use their leadership philosophy in their own counseling sessions with subordinates.

More importantly, students are challenged with the question of when responsibility begins and when it ends. In many cases, by the end of the class, students have concluded that responsibility begins when taking the oath of office.

However, the weight of responsibility is not necessarily carried alone. Instead, it is shared with their future NCO counterparts, and it is for that reason they must outline their expectations for their NCOs in a written initial counseling. Serving as a good steward of the profession does not need to be overly complicated. It can be achieved through shared understanding, and it begins with the expectations they set with enlisted soldiers through the counseling process.

Taking Ownership

Lesson 4 is the philosophy of ownership; the idea that the leader is responsible for everything their team does. A good leader will take ownership of everything within their sphere of influence. This means a good platoon leader will take responsibility for every failure in their organization, no matter the circumstances.

Lesson 4 leans heavily on the approach espoused by Willink. His books provide a concise and compelling philosophy for this leadership component.

In his 2020 book, Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual, Willink offers the example of a machine-gunner who fires outside their sector of fire. Through the lens of ownership, the responsibility for that mistake lies with the gunner’s chain of command. Each member of the chain (team leader, squad leader, platoon commander) should have done more to set conditions to prevent the machine-gunner from making that mistake. It was their responsibility to train their soldier properly, to communicate guidance to the soldier effectively, to supervise and spot-check the soldier during execution and to identify soldiers who are incapable of meeting standards.

When a leader adopts the ownership mentality, they will proactively seek solutions to problems before they arise. They will put forth effort in planning, remain flexible, create contingency plans and ensure that their organization is adequately trained. When a leader practices individual ownership, they raise their own performance significantly.

Mission Command

The final lesson revisits the virtues and concepts of the previous leader lessons and introduces Mission Command. The introduction to this class highlights identity, discipline, responsibility and ownership as the critical foundation that allows application of the command-and-control approach outlined in ADP 6-0: Mission Command.

An analogy of a rucksack is used to portray this relationship. The ruck symbolizes the weight of leadership. The earlier virtues are the human skeleton. Without them, the rucksack can’t be shouldered. The straps, belts and adjusters on the ruck are the principles of Mission Command. When applied, these tools allow the weight to be carried more easily.

Competence is discussed through the lens of the three learning domains outlined in TRADOC Pamphlet 525-8-2: The U.S. Army Learning Concept for Training and Education: self-development, and institutional and operational development. Students discuss the importance of competence, debate the relationship between competence and performance, and familiarize themselves with techniques to build relative competence as officers.

Mission orders, commander’s intent and shared understanding are introduced with respect to IBOLC patrol experiences and historical examples from Civil War correspondence between Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant and Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. The letters, written in 1864 before Sherman razed the state of Georgia, vaguely describe the actions to be taken, but demonstrate trust and shared understanding between superior and subordinate.

Ultimately, students learn the importance of clear, concise orders enabled by thoughtful and deliberate understanding of situations and subordinates to achieve an end state without stifling initiative.

Mutual trust is discussed using personal experiences from the students. The instructor emphasizes that trust is perishable and requires constant upkeep. Officers must live the Army Values while on and off duty. All aspects of an officer’s character are on display and contribute to maintaining trust within an organization.

Disciplined initiative is demonstrated in the recounting of the World War II German assault on the fortifications at Eben-Emael, Belgium, and the actions of American paratroopers in Sicily. In each instance, plans failed, and soldiers became separated from their leaders. But small groups of junior subordinates acted on their own accord within broad mission parameters and achieved great success.

This lecture segues into risk acceptance, where students participate in a practical exercise, considering variables from the beginning of the lesson.

Leadership is the most important skill taught at IBOLC. It lays the foundation for successful service and prepares officers to accomplish the mission while taking care of their people.

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Lt. Col. Tommy Dull and Capt. Casey Schario contributed to this article.

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Maj. Barkef Osigian IV is a student at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Previously, he was the operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, Fort Moore, Georgia.

Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Guevara is the senior enlisted leader of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment.

Maj. Mike Martino previously served as commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment.