I’ve added two more of my articles, “The Burden of Command”, and “The Truth May Hurt, But Lack of Honesty is More Harmful.” Both of these articles were very personal to me as they represent the TSN turning point in my career.

Dan’s death rocked my professional world. As a Second-in-Command (2IC), you rarely have to quite literally take over, even though that is the primary reason why we have 2ICs. I had only really just come to terms with accepting that where the military saw me going, and what I had as a goal, were not going to align. And then suddenly, I was commanding the unit they told me I didn’t have the potential to command, and in pretty shitty circumstances.

After the dust settled, I felt more adrift in the military than I had ever felt. The positive to come from this period of time was that though I might not have come any closer to knowing what I wanted enough in my life/career that I would deal with the bullshit to get it, it did reveal what I no longer wanted enough that I was willing to put up with the bullshit, pain and frustration to get – promotion and title.

I suppose if I had bothered to put any amount of real honest reflection into myself prior to this point, or had taken positive control over my professional satisfaction, I might not have ended up in the circumstances that I did. But I didn’t. I was complacent. Plenty about my career kept me happy and satisfied, and so I carried on. I stayed on the path that I was on, and didn’t really question whether it was the right path or not, and I was happy to chase the dream that the military told me I was supposed to chase.

Despite this, and in hindsight, I still say that I had a good career. I loved a lot about what I did. Yet it still baffles me that I never questioned myself or was willing to take a little more risk to explore other options. I hope it’s not too late, or it perhaps makes the ultimate goal of this blog a little pointless for me.

Please take a read of the articles. Feel free to share, or comment. I do truly appreciate you taking the time to read my writings.