Command (Not) at Sea

High on the list of things I do not want to do is command a submarine at sea. I would count myself a failure if I reached the pinnacle of my career and still lived in a walk-in closet. Some people love the idea, and good on them. I'm just not wired for it. It is very stressful and I just can't see the huge reward. Say what you will about command at sea, one thing is certain: the buck stops with you. There is no one for thousands of miles to make the decisions, and all of the responsibility lies on you.

Command ashore has many of the same aspects, but a commander in todays world of high tech communications gear is never truly alone. I guess that is why commanders here feel they can take leave. I was taken aback when I heard that commanders here could do that. I still think it sounds wrong to leave your troops in a combat zone, but what do I know - I've been in the Army for less than six months.

There is clearly still stress that goes with command, even command ashore. Our XO is a laid-back, easy going guy, not at all like the designated bad cop that an XO is on a ship. When our commander left on leave, he just got short and snappy with people. Downright grouchy, I would say. I wondered if it was something I had done, but then it just hit me that he is the responsible party now. What's more, during his first taste of command he doesn't even have an XO to turn to. He is more on his own than even the commander is normally. A couple of days before the commander got back, there was some of that commonplace, things-didn't-go-as-planned bad news. Normally I wouldn't have minded telling him, but he had been so cranky lately that I just would rather not have had to explain the mundane details of dealing with civilian contractors.

But I had to, so I did. I went and explained the situation, and he shrugged and said, "No problem, buddy." I'm sure I did a double take, but I just told him I wanted to let him know and walked away. It was like our old XO was back. :) Then I realized that he was going to be giving command back to the commander soon. Funny how that works - take away the stress and the nice guy comes back. Almost makes me wonder what some of the commanders I have had would be like under different circumstances.