Volume 14 Number 2

www.dmna.ny.gov Serving the Army and , , New York Guard and Families FROM THE LEADERSHIP Troops Learn to Balance COVID and Training am Maj. Gen. Thomas Spencer, • I = Inform: By communicat- I am a risk adaptive leader and Ithe new commander of the ing we are informing each other. ask all leaders to accept reasonable 42nd Infantry Division and I’m Information is useless unless it is risks so that we are nimble and happy to share some thoughts on shared with those around us and agile. We must be able to adapt leadership and service with the being informed empowers the to a changing environment by almost 20,000 members of the New organization. accepting new ideas, strategies and York Military Forces. • P = Predictability: Leaders owe options. I was previously the Deputy it to our organizations to be pre- Taking risks enables us to learn. Commander of Support for the di- dictable in actions and emotions. As we assess risk, we will mitigate vision and it was an honor to serve We must understand how well or the negatives while ensuring the with the great Soldiers of the 42nd poorly news will be received and safety of the force. in the Middle East this past year. not be deterred from sharing. We Being risk adaptive does not Before that, I deployed to Iraq must be predictable in our expec- mean accepting unreasonable risks for a year as a member of the tations of our troops. that will bring harm to a Soldier Maj. Gen. Thomas Spencer New Hampshire Army National If we do not give people time to or Airman. Stupidity is not risk Guard and I’ve had the privilege of plan and prepare, they will execute adaptive! And we must be focused on commanding at the battalion and poorly. Our training must be well I am a leader who accepts the mission accomplishment. brigade level. thought out. This means we need 70-80% solution. Never ask for 2020 was a tough year and the As a leader, I like to “walk to plan our training and execute perfection because nothing gets members of the New York Army about” and to just show up where the plan. Nothing irritates me done that way. National Guard, the New York Air troops are working. more than expecting a Soldier or We will face many tough prob- National Guard, the New York When I do this, I do not expect Airman to conduct training with- lems. There is always a solution Naval Militia and the New York “special” treatment. I just want to out the proper preparation time. and we just need to figure it out. Guard have performed admirably see what is going on and have the “Hip Pocket” training is an Challenges present opportunities both here at home dealing with the opportunity to get speak to leaders excuse for either having no, or a to grow – think outside the box COVID-19 pandemic and overseas and their Soldiers to better under- poorly planned training plan. I do and share your thoughts. carrying our nation’s flag. stand their jobs. believe in Sergeant’s Time training, I have been a Soldier for over 33 I look forward to being part of I “walk about” because when but it must be planned and coor- years because I enjoy being in the the team as we move forward into I was a captain getting ready to dinated in order to be effective. Army and having the opportunity 2021. deploy my aviation company to NCOs, you should always have a to get to know so many different Somalia, I had a division com- training plan ready to execute. Idle people, do amazing things and see mander, Maj. Gen. Thomas time is a wasted training oppor- great places. Schwartz, who had that command tunity. Have fun with your time in philosophy and I have used that • S = Sensitivity: We must be uniform. We are a select group of ever since. sensitive to the needs of our Sol- Americans who have the opportu- I advocate that leaders at every diers and Airmen. nity to serve our great country and level across the Army