Background The following is a case study, consisting of situations encountered while serving as Officer in Charge of a Navy EOD platoon. They occurred during my first tour, so I was not that far removed from the “shoes” of Midshipmen. I believe this case study will be an enlightening experience, and when presented in the correct fashion, extremely informative. I will give detailed scenarios and hit stopping points to spur discussion, and encourage Midshipmen to give me their opinions on how they would handle the situation while projecting ways forward. Midshipmen yearn to know what is going on in the fleet and this is a valuable study that involves many instances they can relate to, including alcohol use and tough leadership challenges. …show more content…
• Do you feel that you need to do more than just get him help, for example, stay with him or have him stay with you? • What is the timeline of your decisions? In this situation, you realize, that every second matters towards your sailor’s health and well-being. Conclusion Midshipmen haven chosen a noble path, one in which they will have to make life and death decisions. These decisions will touch other lives, including the ones of family members and loved ones. An officer’s choices have to be timely, and well informed. Some decisions you cannot prepare for, and it will be intuition and free-thinking that Midshipmen will have to rely upon. The presented scenarios are real-life, tough, and required significant thought. If the scenarios are presented to 4/C and 3/C, it can get them thinking about the future, and hopefully interested in delving deeper into their career paths. If presented to 2/C and 1/C, all the better, for they are about two to three years removed from being fleet officers and should be mentally preparing for these problematic situations. Although tough, I enjoy sharing my experiences with Midshipmen, it is the reason I came back here. The more informed, the more prepared Midshipmen will be to lead. Naval and Marine Corps officers are pillars of strength, for those they lead and our nation. I have nothing but respect for them and believe they will be stronger leaders because of situations and shared experiences, like these scenarios, encountered here at the Naval