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Gainey: Styker Brigade Extension Offers Lessons to All Commanders

Aug-18-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2006 – The most important thing military leaders can offer their people is an up-front assessment of what they're facing, as exemplified by the way the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team's leaders informed the troops about their extension in Iraq, DoD's top enlisted adviser told American Forces Press Service.

Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shared his thoughts after returning from Alaska, home of the "Arctic Wolves."

The Defense Department announced July 27 that the brigade, which was in the midst of wrapping up its 12-month deployment in Iraq, would remain up to four additional months. The announcement came two days after President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to send more U.S. and Iraqi troops to Baghdad to curb sectarian violence.

Earlier this week, Army officials announced that 301 of the 378 brigade soldiers who had already returned to Alaska in June and July would return to Iraq this week.

The affected soldiers knew what was ahead for them before the official announcement thanks to the open communication from their leaders, Gainey said. "They already knew the announcement was coming that they would go back," he said of troops he met with during his visit to Fort Wainwright.

Gainey said that's a sea change from the military he joined 31 years ago, when leaders kept information to themselves. "I remember when you didn't get news," he said. "News wasn't for you to have."

But, Gainey said, sharing information -- the bad as well as the good -- is critical and enables troops to build trust in their leaders.

Gainey said he was amazed at how well the Stryker Brigade troops digested the news their leaders delivered.

He said he told the soldiers that their unit would be hard to replace because their training level was so high after a year in Iraq "I told them, 'I'm sorry you got extended, but it's bad being the best," he said. "It's really bad being the top dog.'"

"And I was shocked when they said, 'Sergeant Major, we will go back tomorrow. We are ready to go back because our buddies are over there,'" Gainey said. "And that really set well in my heart that they were ready to go. If we had a bus and a plane that day, they would have flown that day."

Gainey emphasized that despite their commitment, it was evident that the soldiers felt torn between their families at home and their comrades in Iraq. "That's human nature," he said, recalling similar personal conflicts during his own career. "I experienced the same thing when I left my family, but I also experienced (knowing that) my buddy is over there," he said. "And where our buddies are, we need to be."

As Gainey prepared to leave Alaska, he got the opportunity to meet two of the soldiers' wives, along with their children, to explain why their husbands were needed in Iraq. "And again, I was very pleased when they said, 'Sergeant Major, we understand. We don't like it, but we understand. We are Army wives,'" Gainey said. [...]


Comments For "Gainey: Styker Brigade Extension Offers Lessons to All Commanders":

I'm very proud of them all. My son said "It's not like we're sleeping in foxholes outside of Bastogne, in the snow."

What would the world look like if it werent for the US armed forces?

Posted by: doc3558 [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 18, 2006 4:46 AM

This particular story from the American Forces Press Service (Donna Miles) has got to be an embarassment for the Army -- and for Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey.

This article makes the point that "The most important thing military leaders can offer their people is an up-front assessment of what they're facing, as exemplified by the way the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team's leaders informed the troops about their extension in Iraq..."

Exemplified? I have read way too many voices from soldiers themselves who found out about their own extension on the internet, or from their families, and not from the chain of command.

There is ABC news video showing 172nd troops asking Gen. Chairelli, "Why did you take so long to tell us?"

Almost all of the attention to this brigade was given *because* the decision to extend was made so suddenly. How this article manages to avoid that fact truly makes me shake my head in disbelief.

"Gainey said, 'They already knew the announcement was coming that they would go back,' he said of troops" ...

Really? Is that why the Army had hundreds of the brigade members waiting to board homebound planes in Kuwait ... because they 'knew the announcement was coming that they would go back' ??

The story goes on to quote Army Sgt. Major Gainey saying, "It's about getting the information out as quickly as we get it," he said. "Bad news does not get better with time."

Perhaps the most ironic part of the article is the title. Title: "Styker Brigade Extension Offers Lessons to All Commanders".

Really? What is that lesson? Is the lesson that if you have to extend a major combat unit, make sure that they have already sent everything home, have turned in the trucks and armored vehicles, already sent home a tenth of the brigade, with hundreds more waiting on planes to fly home also. Then extend them." Is that the lesson?

Is that the "lesson for all commanders?" ...

Honestly, I do wonder sometimes if there is any 'connect' at all between the Pentagon and the rest of the world.

Posted by: mightright [TypeKey Profile Page] | August 18, 2006 7:20 PM

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