Basic officer training

L

!LH@N

Active member
Hi everybody!
I need some help with this issue I'm having. This question might be a little weird, and I'm sorry if it so.
I'm playing with the thought of joining the Turkish military, this might not be possible for me though because I have eye issues. However, I will have to serve for 15 months and I'll probably be a 2nd Lieutenant (if you have a college degree you serve as an officer).
My problem is this: I'm extremely interested in the profession of the (combat) officer. And even if I can't do it I want to know a lot about it. What I'm looking for are things like textbooks etc. that accompany the education of an officer. I mean, when a civilian goes into, say, Annapolis or Westpoint and "transforms" into an officer, there are certain textbooks used, like about tactics, strategy, you name it.
I was wondering if anybody had any useful tips in this direction.
Thanks a lot!

Regards,
Il
 
Merhaba kardesim!
I am glad that you are willing to put in time for your country.
The only way you will know is to join. Only there can you truly learn. Take it from all of us who have put in some time. You can explain the world inside to death and you can study but to truly know it you must join.
For some, adjusting in takes longer time. For others adjusting out takes even longer.
Also, a lot of the information you asked for is stuff we don't want flying around all over the internet and I'm not sure how Turkish formations are organized.
 
Merhaba kardesim!
Wow you speak Turkish :D I've been told South Koreans like Turkey a lot, is that true?

Thank you for answering my question. The problem is this though...I have very bad eyes. To be a combat officer in the Turkish Armed Forces you have to go to one of the military colleges in Turkey (Air, Army, or Naval Military College). As far as my knowledge goes there's no other way of becoming a combat officer. The problem is that even if I can get my eyes lasered I cannot join any of the military colleges. Now, I can stay in the military after my military service is done, but then I'm probably going to be a military engineer or something (since I will study aerospace engineering) and that's not what I want, I want to be a combat officer. I can't go in as NCO and get promoted to officer, because NCOs don't have the possibility of becoming officers.
So if I can't become one, I wanna get as close as possible. And I thought maybe there are those basic officer (text-)books like FM 21-75 (Combat Skills of the Soldier).

Thanks for your answer!

Regards,
Il
 
Hehe, I only know bad words. I used to play football with Turkish dudes, Hagi was my football hero and I spent a lot of weekends at Turkish restaurants watching live Galatasaray matches. The Galatsaray vs Fenerbahce was always the best. Fenerbahce fans have this song they sing whenever they beat Galatasaray... I think it was 2001 and it was a Turkish Cup match or something. I think it ended 4-4 after a great comeback from GS but lost on penalties (Fener fans were cheering when Hasan Sas stepped up to take a penalty.. you know he will always miss).
Actually, it's winter here and I was wearing my Galatsaray scarf outside.

BACK ON TOPIC!
Those laws on eyesight need to be reviewed. My eyes were laser corrected and I served in a rifle company and I never had issues with my eyes. But the rules are the rules. Every country's policy and MOS requirements are different so I think you're better off looking in Turkish forums or maybe your Military Manpower Office (Turkey's equivalent anyway).

Yes, Turks have a good reputation in Korea due to their oustanding combat record during the Korean War. And also because of the World Cup.

All I can say is when you do become an officer, whatever your MOS, make sure you become an officer the enlistedmen deserve (i.e. a good one). I once served under a horrible Captain who was thicker than the earth's crust and it made me regret joining. Then I switched units (partly because I couldn't stand that incompetent little ****) and life was good. By good officer... the list goes on and on. But if I had to choose only three, I'd say know your material, lead by example and give easy to understand instructions. Combat unit or no combat unit, just be a good officer. There are very few bad soldiers. 95% of the time it's poor leadership. But along the line you will come across useless pieces of **** that you just have to get rid of someway or somehow.
 
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WOW! Dude, that's awesome! Galatasaray is my favorite team too!
We have a song here we sang two years ago, when we lost against Fenerbahce but we won the Championship, because Fenerbahce lost against Denizli Spor: "Bir baba hindi, eeeey Allah, fenerede bindi, eeeey Allah!" (One turkey godfather, heeey God, rode Fener too, heeey God! The animal turkey is the mascot of Denizli :D)

Yeah, back to topic :D Yeah, I know they need review and there's some time until I need to do my service, I've got even one more year before I'd finally have to join the military college, so I hope those rules are going to change.
And Turks are not big on information, I mean those Turkish books I don't think you can get them anyways. I was more wondering about, you know, those kind of books the US or someone uses, that are not classified.
Thanks for your help!

Regards,
Il

PS: Sorry for the off-topic, but I was looking for information on how the Turks did during the Korean War, but I couldn't find a lot in the net. So I was wondering if you had any info about that.


EDIT: I totally agree with the last part you said. I think I do have a leadership ability, and I totally agree with what you said. Good leadership is essential! Ataturk is the best example for that (he was the only Turkish general to score successes against the allies during WW1)
 
The details are lost to me but apparently their bravery was second to none. And there was a lot of countries over here back then.

It's strange that there wouldn't be many publications on this in Turkey. Or better yet, why don't you go and see if anyone you know knows someone who is or was an officer? They might have an idea. Keep trying man. And don't count on the laws to change in your favor. It's great if it does but don't count on it.
Again, every military is different and you'll have a better idea on what you need to learn to become a better officer once you are in.
Us foreign guys here won't be able to help you very much but a high level of fitness is a must. If you're not doing it already, I suggest you start doing weights and run. Don't overdo it. Pain doesn't necessarily mean you're improving and you may just slip into injury. Be disciplined and stretch a lot.
Things like tactics etc... they will come later. Learning our tactics aren't any good and we're not going to post them here anyway. Going on Amazon.com may give you some returns but what's the point if you don't get to go out in the field with your platoon and actually rehearse it several times over?
 
Yeah, thanks a lot for the info!
I think I'm going to do that. Next time I'm in Turkey I'm first gonna go to Izmir, somebody I know was in the Army Academy and he knows all those big dudes (the headquarters of the 4th Army are in Izmir), and my cousin knows a colonel. So yeah, thanks for the tip, I'm going to do that :D

Regards,
Il

PS: I'm already very athletic, I'm playing American football and doing all kinds of sports (weight lifting too, but I don't lift that much except when I'm doing squats or deadlifts and my stamina is not great, I'm more of a sprinter). I'll work on that part. Thanks a lot!
 
There you go. Knowing people is usually the best way to get a lot of information. You'll see what's on paper and what actually happens can be very different.
Work on stamina. You'll rarely have to sprint but you'll have to run long distances often over hills.
 
I saw in another thread that you have been reading Sun Tzu.
I´d recommend you to read more current books as well.
Don´t take others accounts as gospel though.
Read a few different books on each subject and try to form your own opinion on what might be good lessons to learn.
Remember when you read that the information have already been filtered through someone elses (in most cases more then one set of) eyes and mind.


You might even want to start a thread in the books forum asking the members here for good books on combat leadership and tactical decision making by leaders during past conflicts?
Just a suggestion.

The only way to truly know is to do it yourself.

//KJ.
 
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