CT's All in Advice Thread

Trust me, I made that mistake once, and only once. I also made the mistake of touching my Drill Sergeants campaign hat.
 
Make your ambition level clear to yourself and others.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]From day one, make yourself and your superiors aware of your ambitions, you will get more acceptance and understanding of who you are as a person, where you want to go and what you want to achieve. This makes it easier for yourself to be stable in your performance, and reconcile your superior's expectations of you with your own expectations. [/FONT][/FONT]

Behave like a soldier, from day one.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]Something that means a lot to both your sergeant and your platoon commander's view of you, is how fast you are going to look like and act like a real soldier. It´s important that you are constantly showing that you are willing to learn from the mistakes you make - because you will make mistakes. [/FONT][/FONT]

Do things right the first time - every time.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]In the army there is generally a very consistent mentality among NCO´s and officers. Therefore, you will find that half measures often leads to a "do it again" if they are discovered - and they often are. Therefore, make life easy for yourself and your comrades and do things properly the first time, every time. It also has a really strong signal value and it shows that you have the right mentality. Especially in the context of the daily inspections you can really get into trouble. So it´s simply not worthwhile to attempt with partial solutions. [/FONT]

Be steady in your performance.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]It´s often different NCO´s who evaluate you in connection with various activities. Therefore, it would be very unfortunate if you normally perform really well, that your own sergeant coincidentally always see you on those days when you do not perform well. So you should be incredibly stable in your performance to get a good rating. [/FONT]


Make sure that your platoon commander and squad leader has a good impression of you.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]Your platoon commander writes an assessment on you. Your sergeant will have much to say in relation to your score and your platoon commander will ask him if he has the slightest doubt about anything. Therefore, they are the two people that are most important for you to make a really good impression on. But you have to try to impress them in a sincere and honest way - i.e. by being yourself and perform 110% percent. No one likes a bum-sucker - neither those you must impress, nor your mates. Therefore, don´t excessively try to make that good impression on your superiors. You have to impress through your performance. [/FONT]
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Take the lead and cut through - but be fair.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]The concept of "having good attitude" is something that will be noticed by your sergeant and your platoon commander. To have "a good attitude" is very much about how good you perform as a soldier, but also on whether you are one of those who take the lead and contribute to the community with your mates. However, it is a balancing act, and you must always remember to only cut through if there is a good reason for it. Always be positive and encouraging towards your comrades. [/FONT][/FONT]

Come up with solutions when you see room for improvement - but accept a no[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]To show that you are a mature and independent-minded soldier, you may want to provide solutions for both the NCO´s and the officers you meet on your way. This will help to ensure that they see you as a capable and mature soldier. But remember not to present these proposals to make them sound as hernia or skepticism towards your superiors' decisions.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]One thing you must never do is to present a problem for your superiors without presenting a solution. This mentality is a huge part of the military culture, and you would do well to take it to you from day one. Imagine, for example. The platoon commander says that the entire platoon must wait for Sergeant X to come down from the office and then take them down to the armory. If you know that sergeant X has already gone down to the armory, it would be sensible to make the Platoon commanders attention to it, and also suggest that you go down to the armory and ask sergeant X if he is ready to receive the rest of the platoon down there, or whether you should wait. In this way you present new information for the platoon commander and also propose a reasonable solution to the problem. But remember - respect his reply. [/FONT]

[/FONT]Make sure to be in good physical shape before and during your military service.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]It offers a huge surplus to be in good shape. Further, it is a fact that many do not implement basic training due to injuries. These injuries come, partly because they are not in good enough shape before they start in the Army, and because they train the wrong way. Be sure to train yourself properly before starting in the Army, and be sure to follow the instructions given to you by your instructors in connection with PT. [/FONT][/FONT]

Give you 110% under particularly harsh activities - this is where you can distinguish yourself.
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]A place where you can really set you apart from the crowd and show your sergeants and officers that you are made of the right stuff is during the exercises you participate in. Here you will be tired, wet, hungry and cold. Precisely for these reasons it´s possible to distinguish yourself as a strong and enduring soldier. It´s important that you persevere and give yourself 110% during these exercises, even if you feel tired and slightly ill – it´s not always fun to be on exercise but it is a good way to measure if you have what it takes to be a good soldier. At the same time it must be said that you obviously must clearly state if you have a real injury, have severe pain or being sick. In these cases, your disease naturally will be accepted by both peers and superiors. [/FONT]
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Remember that while your DS/I ate there to teach you, there will be times that they set you up to fail. There's two reasons for this: 1) is an excuse for extra PT. You don't get enough PT to get into shape. And 2) watching you squirm is amusing.
 
Come up with solutions when you see room for improvement - but accept a no[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Verdana][FONT=Verdana,Verdana]To show that you are a mature and independent-minded soldier, you may want to provide solutions for both the NCO´s and the officers you meet on your way. This will help to ensure that they see you as a capable and mature soldier. But remember not to present these proposals to make them sound as hernia or skepticism towards your superiors' decisions.[/FONT][/FONT]

This.

And if you think that you are smarter and better than they are, then work towards becoming an officer yourself or you're just wasting your time and everyone else's time.
 
This.

And if you think that you are smarter and better than they are, then work towards becoming an officer yourself or you're just wasting your time and everyone else's time.

Perhaps in the US Army.
In the Danish Army you actually encourage recruits in basic training to be critical and come up with constructive suggestions.
It's part of the evaluation of the recruits.
 
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