Photo By Kelly Morris | Col. Travis L. McIntosh, senior aviator and deputy commanding officer for support,...... read more read more
FORT NOVOSEL, Ala. – Just how important is leadership today?
If you ask Col. Travis L. McIntosh, senior aviator and deputy commanding officer for support at the 101st Airborne Division, who spoke to the Aviation Pre-Command Course at Fort Novosel in September, leadership makes all the difference.
“The Soldiers in our Army are hungry for leadership – inspirational leadership. If they will take the time to connect, they’ll find that they’re bringing to their formation a mature level of caring leader that this generation deserves,” McIntosh said.
It also factors into a Soldier’s decision to reenlist.
“I think that will have a greater impact on our recruiting and retention than any other program that we try to formally implement,” McIntosh said. “We need great leadership more than we need great pay raises.”
McIntosh, who most recently served as the Chief of Aviation Force Development at Army-G8 at the Pentagon, has commanded at every level from platoon to brigade and within four different infantry brigades, with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, in his 26 years in uniform.
He shared with Aviation leaders a best practice from his tool kit that he implemented while previously serving as brigade commander for 10th Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Drum, New York.
September of 2020 was a time of no formations, gatherings, in-person meetings, or team fitness events due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in place. How could he quickly get a pulse of his organization?
He saw only three staff duty people per day; the next day it would be three different people. The three people per day represented the main demographics within a brigade: Soldiers E4 and below; Noncommissioned Officers E5 to E7; and Warrant Officer 1 to Officer 3.
“What a missed opportunity if you don’t find some way to interact with those three people,” he said.
While they had some basic office banter, he said, “I realized there was more that they probably wanted to share, more that I wanted to know, and either I’m uncomfortable asking or they’re uncomfortable telling.”
So he had an idea. Back when he was serving in Korea, he was given a writing assignment as part of his staff duty job.
“I remember this old guy wants me to write him an essay. I had various reactions emotionally about this,” he said, smiling.
He recalled thinking it was his one chance to talk to a brigade commander, albeit on a specified topic. So during the pandemic he decided, Why don’t I just give them an opportunity to talk about anything that’s on their minds that they would like to share?
He would try an experiment: Each staff duty person would write him a letter on any topic of their choosing, understanding there were some topics he would be obligated to investigate and action. Daily, he would respond to the three total letters in writing, making comments on their papers, and return to them. Guaranteed confidential, the correspondence would be handled in a manner to ensure he was the only one reading what they wrote. The experiment was intended to last for two months.
The results were eye-opening.
Some took the opportunity to write original poetry and fictional stories, instructions on how to win at video games, relationship advice. He read essays from car enthusiasts and artists, proud parents, students and scholars. There were letters of recommendation and career goal advice.
“Some were hilarious and intriguing; some moving and sad, and some required immediate follow-up,” he said.
But much of what he received were ideas that would make the organization better, including innovative ways to solve maintenance challenges.
One suggestion was to turn a training requirement into a way to help others by filling their ruck sacks with canned goods that would have a drop off point along their routine ruck march, to help families in need during the holidays.
”At one of the training meetings, I said to Sergeant Major, what do y’all think about at the turnaround for our semiannual ruck march if we tell everybody whatever they packed in their ruck that is a nonperishable food item, I’ll have pallets for you to dump your nonperishables in, and you can walk back with whatever else is left in your bag?”
Not only did they have a tremendous turnout for the semiannual ruck march, but they filled pallets that they then dropped off at the donation point in town.
“It was huge, what we donated, because everybody went with their minimum 35 pounds or whatever and walked back empty. An amazing idea, and I was able to give credit to the young man who suggested it in the letter,” he said.
As time passed, he would receive updates about their progress and situations, but he “never once got a letter that said, ‘I want to stop doing these letters’,” he added.
“You have to be mature and aware enough to know when this is someone just needs to vent and doesn’t need help or action. That alone is good therapy for your unit; they knew they were heard,” he said.
Though it was intended for a shorter time period, McIntosh continued implementing the letter-writing for 18 months, until he changed command.
“Why would I stop doing this?” he said. “Gaining a true understanding of the pulse of the unit is priceless.”
The letter writing garnered “nearly 1,500 individual touchpoints, and an irreversible momentum of connectedness,” he said.
It built trust and cohesion. Courageous individuals shared their personal and private questions about diversity, equality, discrimination, harassment, family disputes and work-life balance, he said. They engaged about important issues facing society.
It made him aware that the leader may not be the one that has the best idea, and it was a chance as a leader to hear what’s on the minds of his people, and offer hope and inspiration in some way in his written comments on the page.
McIntosh said time he invested reading the letters each day and writing back paid dividends.
“If you think about the things that maybe I was able to get in front of, I probably generated time available,” he said. “All the things from barracks, the motor pool, simulator efficiencies. The true feelings people had about certain team building events – they’re not going to hold back, they’re going to tell you if this is a good event or this isn’t,” he said.
It boils down to real connection and awareness of what is going on in the unit.
“What I’m trying to convey is, if you aren’t aware of things that are eroding your combat readiness and peace, then your unit will already be at risk of failure before it takes on the hardest task imaginable – which is fighting a war. You will find out, but it will be in a tragic way, and you don’t need to find out at that decisive point when you’re asked to perform in combat,” he said.
“What worked for me in that time and in that environment were three letters,” he said. “It should be a priority for every command to find a way to connect, and multigenerational connections is what’s required for you to have a good understanding of what’s happening in your unit. I think that’s what it showed me.”
McIntosh said the commanders he spoke with in the PCC session will soon realize a new level of “amazing privilege” that comes with promotion in the Army ranks.
“They’re going to realize it in battalion command, it’s sort of that first huge leap, you can truly help someone else now achieve a goal,” McIntosh said.
He asked them to think about the question: “Who wants to be you?” – a practice of self-analysis and reflection that keeps him grounded.
“Hopefully they walk out of there saying, they want to be a brigade commander, they want to be a deputy commander of a division one day,” he said.
He explained it’s human nature to look for someone to emulate.
“We are all always looking for a hero. Doesn’t mean you have to have a one-on-one mentor that you hang onto their coattails. But as far as long-term commitment in the Army and to be attracted to this service requires an inspirational leader that you can observe, that you can identify with, that you can actually see yourself performing in that role, I think,” he said.
He emphasized the importance of being transparent when it comes to their calendars.
“If you’re going to command, then that means you’ve already agreed to a glass house. So why not use some mirrors in that glass house?” he said.
The calendar demonstrates and holds them accountable to their priorities, he added. He includes on his calendar a consistent time that he dedicates to his family, which he believes helps to empower subordinate leaders to generate work-life balance.
At the beginning and end of the session, he challenged them to keep the first things first by focusing on the core tasks that the Army expects of the unit they command.
“We talked a lot of squishy things, but their wartime mission is what we expect of them. That is a no-fail. They’ve got to be impatient to improve their formation to get to that warfighting capability. That’s one I don’t want them to lose sight of,” he said. “I absolutely believe the next large-scale conflict will require vertical envelopment by rotor craft and by parachute.”
A Q&A opportunity with McIntosh and Brig. Gen. Kenneth C. Cole, USAACE deputy commanding general, covered a variety of topics, including about how to make their front office successful.
“In order to bring them to be your voice to represent you, you have to use whatever technique really resonates for you. For me, PT together is an important thing. That’s really where I do my training,” Cole said.
“The best guidance is the simplest. Be a great Soldier first. Be a professional, represent us and this great unit. It’s a constant conversation,” Cole said. “Make sure they don’t do things for you that you don’t want Soldiers doing for their leaders across your formations. It sets a culture. Like, ‘hey, do not bring me a water in front of everybody. That’s not what we do here’.”
The Aviation Pre-Command Course provides an opportunity for students to hear from guest speakers that are primarily retired general officers, and panel sessions of combat aviation brigade leaders, according to Scotty L. Ray, Aviation Pre-Command Course director.
“The benefits and learning from the experience of these successful leaders (Leadership, Command and Life) inspire our future commanders to walk in their shoes, avoid some of their missteps and giving them the reassurance that they can establish quality leadership practices of their own. What worked in command 5, 10, or 15 years ago may not work in command next year at all, but leadership will always be needed to be successful,” Ray said.
The September session marked the third time speaking to PCC for McIntosh, who also spoke at the Aviation Senior Leader Forum here back in January.
“I’m really hoping they take a chance to lead their Soldiers in innovative ways,” McIntosh said.
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2024 05:56 |
| Story ID: | 482484 |
| Location: | FORT NOVOSEL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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