Since my departure from the brigade and completing Army War College, the brigade has changed in the wrong direction. While I was assigned, it functioned as a cohesive brigade working together as a team, and free of malicious competition. Thinking back our leadership was phenomenal, moral was high among all ranks, peers frequently shared information, resources, lesson learned and we were considered among the best maneuver BDE in FORSCOM. The 4th ABCT recently returned from a challenging deployment in Afghanistan after losing key Command Team elements and now experiencing additional challenges in READINESS phase. These challenges initiated potential ethical and morale concerns by setting a vacuum in leadership that caused leaders and Division Commander to lose confidence of the BDE CDR to effectively command the brigade.
My assessment of the 4th ABCT Brigade’s Afghanistan mission, strengths and weakness of the officers and senior non- commissioned officers were provided by the Center for Army Lessons Learned(CALL) report. After reviewing the CALL report there are significant challenges and changes that will occur within the organization. By using the Kotter Model it will help address the challenges and shortages of the unit and create a cohesive atmosphere.
