#3--Dilan Swift

Controversy & Clarity

*What Dilan learned about company command from his time as a combined-anti-armor platoon commander and company executive officer

*What he learned about company command from his company commanders

*Dilan’s thoughts on what makes the ideal company commander and why

*What makes the company commander from hell

*The challenges and opportunities (leadership and otherwise) Dilan encountered in commanding a weapons company

*How Dilan attempted to get his lieutenants to interact competently and confidently with other leaders in the battalion

Dilan’s philosophy of command and how it worked in practice

The most important thing company commanders do or should do

How well the Marine Corps prepared Dilan for company command

Dilan’s thoughts on the Marine Corps having its own company commanders course

What excited Dilan most about being a company commander

What concerned Dilan most about being a company commander

What the relationship should be like between the weapons company commander and their operations chief and first sergeant

Dilan’s two deployments with his company

The designs, plans, or programs that Dilan implemented in his company and how they worked out

How Dilan tried to balance feeding the military bureaucracy with preparing his company for combat

The steps Dilan took to prepare for company command

Some of the books Dilan read while preparing for company command

The one thing Dilan wish he had known about his company before he took command

Where Dilan thinks he excelled as a company commander and where he fell short

The one thing Dilan would have changed about his time commanding his company

How Dilan attempted to practice maneuver warfare in garrison

Tips on physically and intellectually preparing for company command

Dilan’s expectation for his

*Executive officer

*Platoon commanders

*Squad leaders

*Junior Marines

*Battalion commander

*Battalion executive officer

*Operations officer

*Fellow company commanders

Links

Flames of War Miniature Wargame: https://www.flamesofwar.com

Team Yankee Miniature Wargame: https://www.team-yankee.com/

The Enlightened Soldier by Charles Edward White: https://www.amazon.com/Enlightened-Soldier-Scharnhorst-Militarische-Gesellschaft/dp/0275929361

Command Culture: https://www.amazon.com/Command-Culture-Education-1901-1940-Consequences/dp/1574415336

The Forgotten Soldier: https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864

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