Leadership Memorandum

1. The purpose of this memorandum is to discuss and reflect upon my experiences as a leader with leadership to date.

2. Firstly, the characteristics that encompass who I am as a leader today are as follows: conviction, integrity, consistency, direction, and empathy. The traits represent facets of leadership by which I extend my command climate and philosophy of credibility and trust. Altogether, my philosophy and characteristics encapsulate and reinforce who I am as a leader today.

3. Moreover, as a leader today is critical to understand perspective and propriety; however, it took the course of 4 years to truly mold that paradigm. For example, perspective is integral during decision-making, and by practice considers all positions and biases
More importantly, each of my mentors instilled in me a sense of pride in carrying out my duties to the best of my ability. Prior to attending Field Training my motivation for conducting my duties and responsibilities was simply to accomplish the task. However, Field Training exemplifies the substance behind each task whether large or small. The metaphor that best illustrates is the idea of throwing a rock in the pond, and that the ripple effect grows larger the further away from the center; the metaphor conveys how ones actions can affect the course of the organization.

7. Additionally, this semester I plan on accomplishing two tasks with regards to the Corps of Cadets and Air Force ROTC. The first task I wish to accomplish is eliminating the class superiority that exists in the company; or rather the idea that no matter rank the most senior person has authority or privilege to disobey authority. In the military this would be blatant insubordination; however, it is a staple of culture here at The Citadel, and what I believe to be the cause of leadership-followership tension. Essentially, if the chain of command is diluted in authority then responsibility and accountability of administration, operations, and health and the welfare of the unit is ultimately neglected. Moreover, I plan to eliminate the threat of that culture
Correspondingly, I believe that Air Force ROTC leadership should engage in the same level of care for subordinates as the Corps does. For example, given the limited amount of time compared to the Corps, I believe that cohesiveness and retention will improve if at all levels of cadet leadership were involved at a greater depth than they are currently. Therefore, it is critical that cadet leadership continue to communicate with subordinates at greater depths and possibly use more time during LLAB for the Flights. In particular, better delineation should be made between flights and squadrons. Moreover, with emphasis on “Flight pride” under the lens that they are unique but still apart of one Wing. Through competition, I believe that we can inspire and motivate the GMC to take pride in not only their Flights but also the Wing as a