Some good points here.
I am an armoured officer, so I will offer you the responsibilities of an Armoured Troop Leader. A troop is the armoured equivalent of an infantry platoon (both are sub-sub-units) and is the first "command" for a qualified junior armoured officer coming out of the schools. A troop can have anywhere from four to eight vehicles and sixteen to thirty soldiers depending on the organization it comes from.
From chapter two of the good book "A troop leader is responsible to the squadron commander for the command, control, organization, fighting effectiveness, training, discipline and welfare of his troop. He understudies both the battle captain and the squadron liaison officer and replaces them when necessary."
While the troop leader is responsible for all those things, he is certainly not alone. The troop warrant officer is the 2ic of the troop and has a wealth of training and experience (the troop leader has some training and usually no experience). Together, the Tp Ldr and Tp WO are a command-team. While the Tp Ldr is responsible for everything, the Tp WO is the one who has the focus on morale and discipline. He is also the one who organizes the troop in the sense of assigning positions to the soldiers in the troop (manning is very much an SSM thing). Fighting effectiveness involves things like maintenance and readiness, in which the Tp WO and Tp Maint Rep (often the Tp MCpl) have a huge hand. Training is also shared. The Tp Ldr may be the one drafting a troop training plan (if there is one), but the Tp WO and NCOs will all contribute and will the ones executing it for the most part.
I think that as long as the troop leader consults with his troop warrant before doing things that have an impact on the troop everything should go OK. For instance, when a task comes from SHQ for your troop to provide a soldier for something do not come up with a name on your own and give it to them. Go to your Tp WO and ask him. If you are tasked to run a rifle range do not cloister yourself in an office and come up with a plan on your own. Go to your Tp WO to devise the way ahead. In the field you may not be able to have a council of war with your Tp WO and other crew commander for every tactical decision, but if you have the time and opportunity it is never a bad idea. When you start out you should be given some time in the field as a troop to "shake out." Take this time to work out troop drills and SOPs as a group, so when you have to do it quickly you've already discussed with them the best way. Crawl, walk run as opposed to our urge to run, stumble fall.
The Tp Ldr who tries to do everything and arrives breathing fire will often fail. The thing to remember as a newly arrived officer is that you are still being trained. Officer training at Gagetown is high-quality, but it is only the start point. Your Tp WO and other NCOs will continue to develop you, as will the officers in your sub-unit.
During my time as reserve troop leader, in garrison I looked after paperwork (UERs etc) for the soldiers, attended meetings, passed on O Gp points to the soldiers, drafted training plans and read the odd Sentinel magazine in the Tp office when hiding from the BC. I taught the odd class (troop tactics etc) and attended hands-on classes given by the NCOs (gunnery, comms, etc). On weekend exercises I would lead the troop in the field, assisted of course by my Tp WO and my Tp MCpl who was also my gunner and or driver. I was the course officer for several courses and attended other courses as well.
I apologize if I gave you too much and if it was armour specific.
Cheers
). Anybody have anything more specific?
