THE SPARTAN LEADER 61st Quartermaster Battalion, 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command A Leadership Development Professional Journal - US Army ...
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Issue 16 – 4 January 2021
THE SPARTAN LEADER
61st Quartermaster Battalion, 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command
A Leadership Development
Professional Journal
Page | 1
Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
From the Commander
Spartans,
In our 16th Issue of the Spartan Leader we have our first
submission from a Spartan Spouse. Cassandra Smith,
the Battalion SFRG Advisor (and my awe-inspiring wife)
adds her take on People First and how to prioritize this
critical idea into all we do here in 2021. CPT Beeson and I
also submitted book reviews, one on Radical Inclusion and
the other on Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free
World.
LTC Paul Smith
Battalion Commander
These works are all very different but when looked at
holistically can help develop us into well rounded leaders that are grounded in a knowledge
of our history, seeking to break down silos and include points of view that differ from our
own, and then finally to keep foremost in our minds that all actions we take should be for
the benefit of our people. I hope you find these works interesting and useful.
I am hopeful that in 2021, The Spartan Leader continues to be a useful tool for self
development. There is a quote attributed to Kenneth Blanchard, “None of us is as smart as
all of us” and that is true here in the 61st QM as well. If we learn from each other, we will all
be better than if we struggled individually. To that end, I am asking that each of you
consider submitting something for publication.
I remain extremely proud to be a part of this Spartan Family and am honored to serve with
each of you! Looking forward to having some fun in 2021.
Sincerely,
Spartan 6
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THE SPARTAN LEADER
4 January 2021
Issue 16
61st Quartermaster Battalion, 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command
In This Edition:
From the Editor
From the
Welcome to the first edition of 2021. We accomplished a lot in
Commander 2020 and 2021 is looking pretty exciting as well.
-LTC Paul Smith
In 2020, we established The Spartan Leader and published 15
From the Editor issues. All of the issues can be found on the battalion’s
-CPT Keith Beeson Facebook page as well as at:
https://home.army.mil/hood/index.php/units-
Articles tenants/13esc/61st-quartermaster-battalion
p. 4 – People, the Most
Valuable Priority On top of The Spartan Leader, and despite the COVID-19
- Mrs. Cassandra Smith Pandemic, we conducted a multitude of Leadership
Professional Development (LPDs) sessions to include our
Virtual LPD with Simon Sinek on how the Spartans can play
Quotes Worth the Infinite Game.
Pondering
p. 5 – Lao Tzu AND Of course, we welcomed CSM Chambers to the family.
-LTC Paul Smith
Unfortunately, our NTC rotation was canceled for January, but
that gives us an opportunity to reset our focus on the
Book Musings Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise (QLLEX) that will take
place here at Fort Hood in June. The QLLEX gives our
and Lessons
battalion the opportunity to transition from a CSSB mindset
Learned back to our designed Petroleum Support Battalion mindset.
p. 6 – Battlegrounds: The
Hosting the QLLEX here at Fort Hood is an amazing
Fight to Defend the Free
opportunity for the Spartans to show off our capabilities.
World By LTG (Ret) H.R.
McMaster
-LTC Paul Smith Additionally, the battalion has multiple LPDs and events
planned for 2021 that should help us continue to get better
p. 7 – Radical Inclusion every day as individuals, as teams, and as an organization.
by Martin Dempsey and
Ori Brafman As LTC Smith already said, we hope to see more submissions
-CPT Keith Beeson from across the battalion. In 2020, the publication was
overrepresented by contributions from officers, followed by the
NCOs. I know that we have extremely intelligent Leaders from
Thank You all ranks across the battalion and look forward to publishing
your work in 2021.
Fuel the Fight!. Page | 3
Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
People, the Most Valuable Priority
By Cassandra Smith BN SFRG Advisor, & Spouse of a Spartan Soldier
It’s a New Year, everywhere we look are abundant messages about renewal, resolutions,
and change. On the heels of the Internal Review and all that 2020 held; 2021 seems to be
calling out for more intentionality and concerted efforts to improve and in some cases all out
change in our personal and professional lives. The focus on People First will carry us into
this new year and beyond. While many people still embrace their ritual of making New
Year’s Resolutions, many are rejecting the idea all together because of perceived inevitable
failure.
Perhaps some fail not because of a faulty will, but
because we miss the meaning. Perhaps our goals
are shallow, not values based.
A resolution is a “firm decision to do or not to do
something” and if we have more than one area that
we hope to make changes in, we have to prioritize.
A priority is “a fact or condition of being regarded or
treated as more important.” Both definitions are
from the Merriam Webster online dictionary.
People First is a decision, a priority, a goal, and a value. I have noticed that often
“Leaders” and “Soldiers” are delineated in publications and structure. There is wisdom in as
rank is earned, responsibility is increased. Naturally, in this structure we consider these
individuals leaders. I believe the key to succeeding with People First or any of our goals as
individuals, families, and organizations is to know that where rank, position, depth of task,
and the aforementioned structure of leadership is earned, the “People” of people first is
not. It should be recognized as the personhood of each and every member, fuzzy chested
or star crested. We must never overlook the value of the person which is the most
meaningful thing about them and that we as persons
belong to this Spartan Family. We all have a particular
role to play in this family that is uniquely filled by each
person. In our battalion there are important positions
mirrored across each Company, and the PERSON
filling that role brings to it something only they can. In
the Smith house, we say “Share the Roof, Share the
Responsibility.” So, let us make a collective decision
to recognize the most valuable priority and take
responsibility for doing our work well. The truth is we
are all leaders, and we all contribute to or degrade the
direction the Spartans go based on how we live our
values. Someone is depending on and learning from
you, Spartan. Your kids, your barracks mate, your
“leadership”. You are the most important ”person” to
someone, and to us, you are certainly family. Page |
Page
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Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
Quotes Worth Pondering
By LTC Paul Smith, 61st Quartermaster Battalion Commander
A leader is best
When people barely know he exists
Of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will say, “We did this ourselves.”
-Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu
As you inevitably move from unit to unit, reflect on this:
Maybe your presence mattered. But you really won’t
know until your absence doesn’t.
-COL Sean Finnan
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Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
Book Musings and Lessons Learned
By LTC Paul Smith, 61st Quartermaster Battalion Commander
Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World
By –LTG (Ret) H.R. McMaster
For readers look for insights into the White House or maybe
even hoping for a salacious tear down of the current
administration this book is absolutely not for you. Instead,
Battlegrounds offers a review of international relations
focusing on potential flash points across the globe. The
chapters read like subsets of the national defense strategy,
discussing Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
The resounding theme carried throughout the novel is what
McMaster refers to as “strategic narcissism” which is the
tendency to view the world only in relation to the United States and to assume that the
future course of all events depend primarily on U.S. decisions or plans. McMaster states
that much of this narcissism came after the Cold War ended and the United States was left
as the world’s sole superpower. Policy makers tended to overestimate the amount of
influence we had over disputes across the globe, with this we tended to discard historical
rivalries, independent state interests, and more.
I enjoyed McMaster’s take on the regional crises and the return of great power competition
between the U.S. and rivals like Russia and China. Each chapter leverages the author’s
experience as not only a career military officer but also a historian. The overview is very
informative and gives those not familiar with the challenges we face globally a thorough
analysis of each hotspot including stories from McMaster’s time in uniform or as the
National Security Advisor to President Trump.
My favorite chapter, however, was Entering the Arena which discussed upcoming
challenges and called for greater cooperation between the government and the private
sector. As a logistician, this is critical as we must have support from the industrial base
during large scale combat operations to meet the demands for materiel on the front lines.
Additionally, he calls for education reform in this chapter which I thought was interesting
and truly highlights the need for well informed, historically grounded individuals to address
the concerns facing the nation.
I enjoyed this book and was glad to start of 2021
with it. I think it’s an excellent tool to build
foundational knowledge of global affairs and the
challenges we face militarily.
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Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
Book Musings and Lessons Learned
By CPT Keith Beeson, 61st Quartermaster Battalion S3
Radical Inclusion
-by Ori Brafman and GEN(RET) Martin Dempsey
I first read Radical Inclusion in 2018 and honestly, was not overly impressed
with the book. Don’t get me wrong, there are valuable lessons throughout the
book. Something about it felt obvious and I didn’t feel that I obtained the value
compared to the time spent reading it. However, after the results of the Fort
Hood Independent Review I went searching for some books on how we can do
better. Radical Inclusion is one of them and I wanted to share some of the
highlights I took away while re-reading this book and reviewing my notes.
“Although the world has changed, the way we think about leadership has not
kept pace.”
The Inclusive Leader knows:
• Belonging isn’t optional: give them memories.
• Connect effort with meaning: make it matter.
• Think about what you’re not thinking about: learn to imagine.
• Prevent decision paralysis: develop a bias for action.
• Collaborate at every level of the organization: co-create context.
• Expand the circle: relinquish control to build and sustain power.
Ultimately, Radical Inclusion boils down to building an empowered
team on the foundation of trust, empathy, and inclusion.
A significant concern in today’s
leadership environment is the Digital
Echo. We’ve all heard of ‘Fake News’
and seen fake facts permeate society.
The internet allows Karen in Alabama to
be perceived as an expert on something
because she posts loudly and frequently
enough that those who want to believe
what she says believe she’s right and
then re-share her ‘expert’ posts widely. In reality, she’s just Karen from
Alabama and isn’t an expert on anything except for her cat Petunia’s favorite
flavor of canned food.
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Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
Radical Inclusion (Continued)
Our enemies attempt to seed these untruths any chance they get. Whether it
be during an election to sow distrust in the voting system or ISIS sharing
mistruths about U.S. military actions thus eroding support military operations in
the region. These digital echoes challenge our ability to lead. Media has always
had the ability to shape public opinion, but now the internet has put that power
in the hands of anyone (see Karen above). This can create a ‘Fog of War’
amongst our own people we lead. It can cause our people to stray from the
team and feel they aren’t part of the team.
To be successful, we must Control
the Narrative where we can. In our
case, that’s within our team. That
begins with trust and trust begins
with doing the right thing.
Building your team through the Power of Belonging. When people feel they
belong, they engage more and are more productive. When people lack a sense
of belonging, they instinctively seek it in unhealthy ways that may be
destructive to your organization. This is why the inprocessing of new Soldiers
to our units is extremely important. It’s our opportunity to bring them into our
Team, strengthen the bonds among members of the Team, and ensure our new
Soldiers know their value.
As Leaders, we must commit a certain amount of every day, every month,
every year to ensuring that people feel a sense of belonging in our
organizations.
Page
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Issue 16, 4 January 2021 THE SPARTAN LEADER
Thank You
Thank you for reading this edition of The Spartan Leader.
Request for Submissions: In order to make this the best resource
possible for developing Leaders, we ask that if you have any content
you would like to share that will help to develop others in the Battalion
that you send them to the S3/editor (CPT Keith Beeson).
Resources:
You can see our LPD with Simon Sinek on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/g3meBOq_YAw
All of the issues can be found on the battalion’s Facebook
page as well as at:
https://home.army.mil/hood/index.php/units-tenants/13esc/61st-
quartermaster-battalion
Editor
CPT Keith Beeson, 61st Quartermaster Battalion S3
Keith.D.Beeson.mil@mail.mil @keithbeeson
Contributors
LTC Paul Smith, 61st QM Battalion Commander
Cassandra Smith, Battalion SFRG Advisor
CPT Keith Beeson, BN S3
61st Quartermaster Battalion Leadership
Battalion Commander Battalion Command Sergeant Major
LTC Paul W. Smith CSM Keysa L. Chambers
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