The “Meet the Staff” initiative is an opportunity for staff officers to explain who you are and what you do to all the Field Grade Officers that never had the chance to learn why they need you. 

When you signed up for the military, you probably weren’t picturing cubicles, PowerPoint slides, or the daily office grind. However, most of us find ourselves on staff within the first few years, if not immediately upon joining a unit. The Army’s first taste of staff work is usually at the Battalion level (~400-700 Soldiers). These staff sections are Soldiers, NCOs, and officers who specialize in necessary functions, i.e., logistics, communications, operations, etc. Staffs grow in complexity and size; for example, a division staff is several hundred people! 

The dynamics of the staff can be daunting, complicated, and often can create friction. Upon entering the field grade ranks, many officers will find themselves as the Executive Officer (XO), Chief of Staff (CoS), or the Operations Officer (S3) within a Battalion, or a staff primary at a higher echelon. This initiative is an opportunity for those staff officers to tell their new XO and S3 what they bring to the fight. What would you want to say to those newly minted FGOs about your staff section to make not only you but the organization successful? If you’ve been on staff for a while, you’ve probably had someone ask for a capability brief or worked with someone who didn’t know how to work with you. Look at this as an opportunity to rectify that. Just keep it unclassified – looking at you S2!

We want to hear from all of you!
S1 – Personnel
S2 – Intelligence
S3 – Operations
S4 – Sustainment
S6 – Communications
CHEMO – Chemical Officer

Don’t be shy about submitting something else, either. We’re looking at you, Chaplain, G3/5/7, S2X, G8, G9, IO, Cyber, Space, and all other staff sections.  Let’s hear what you bring to the fight!

Interested in submitting an article? Shoot us an email with the topic at fieldgradeleader@gmail.com. Here are some additional notes: 

• The target for submissions is approximately 1,000 words, though longer and shorter articles are acceptable. 

• Please notify us of your intent to write a piece NLT 13DEC.  
• All pieces will need to be submitted NLT 28DEC.
• Please include a title for your article. 
• If interested, please include a high-quality photograph (approximately 100K), with photographer attribution and photo date, to accompany your article. If unavailable, we will provide a photo to accompany your article. 
• Please include a short bio to accompany your submission. Here is an example: 

MAJ XXX is currently a PhD Student at the Colorado School of Mines. An Armor officer, he/she has served in Armor and Infantry Brigade Combat Teams with operational experience in Iraq and Africa. He completed his KD time in 3/1AD (ABCT) and recently redeployed from Iraq as the Joint Command Inspector General for CJFLCC-OIR and 1st Armored Division. 

• Articles will be selected for publication based on readability and relevance to the Field Grade Leader audience. 
• Articles should be submitted via email to fieldgradeleader@gmail.com in Microsoft Word format. 
• Please include hyperlinks and footnotes as required.