COMPANY COMMANDER AFTER ACTION REPORT

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

UNITED STATES ARMY ROTC BATTALION

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY 

1144 WEST LOYOLA AVE

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60626

 

 

 

 

ATTCC-CCI-LUC                                                                                                        11 DEC 2021

            

 

INFORMATION PAPER

 

SUBJECT: ANALYSIS OF ADP 6-22 LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES AND COMPETENCITES IN CHARLES MACDONALD’S COMPANY COMMANDER

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                              MELINA TESTIN

                                                                              Student

                                                                              Rambler Battalion ROTC  

SUMMARY

BOOK ONE: COMPANY I

            CPT Charles B. “Mac” MacDonald served as the commander of I Company, 3d Battalion, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division from the fall of 1944 until early 1945 when he was wounded and separated from his unit. Recovered by the spring of 1945, Mac returned to combat as the commander of G Company, 2d Battalion through the end of the war. In his half year as a company commander, Mac, just 21 in 1944, grew into his role as an Army leader.

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            Joining the battle-hardened veteran force of I Company, self-consciousness consumed Mac with doubts of his ability to win the respect of soldiers who had fought valiantly in Normandy, St. Lô, and Brest. The legendary platoon leaders­–1LTs Goffigan, Brock, Antey, and “Scotty” Glasgow–enjoyed the bond Mac so coveted of close comradeship won through the shared experience of battle. Mac’s first mission was to lead I Company to a position along the Siegfried Line. The war revealed itself in the form of shell holes and corpses Mac encountered on his reconnaissance of the position. When the rest of I Company followed, Mac steeled himself to put forth a brave face in front of the men, though his guise of assuredness fell apart quickly as, when confronted by 1SG Savage, Mac quickly admitted his fear. Fear convinced Mac to establish his Company CP inside a pillbox, despite the warnings of the previous company to beware German flamethrowers. The rest of the company moved into foxholes and arranged cover where they could find it, remaining connected to the CP through telephone lines and frequent visits from Mac, who wished to both to check on the men, and to prove that he was willing to put himself in the same danger. Mac had a fitful first night, kept up with anxiety over the enemy and pride in his company, though he had yet to see his men do anything particularly special. He found himself filled with the spirit that his company was the best in the Army.

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            Mac’s first contact with the enemy came in the form of an unidentified vehicle. Mac handled the situation with trembling voice, securing the position with 57mm ATGs to fend off future vehicular threats. For nine days, Mac and I Company fell into an uneasy, paranoid routine of weathering German artillery barrages and repulsing German patrols. I Company experienced its first casualty under Mac’s command the night the latrine was shelled. Shelling intensified, and rounds from a railroad gun destroyed phone lines the day the Germans finally attacked. Mac, unable to communicate with his platoon leaders, felt he could only “impersonate an officer.”1 Despite his self-doubt, Mac saved the day by radioing accurate artillery concentrations that resulted in a German retreat. Mac played the same role in the following days and successfully repulsed a 200 German assault. Mac happily gushed about the bravery of his men to a war correspondent, to whom the other men responded coolly. 

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             The order for I Company to move off the line carried a bittersweet mix of elation and paranoia; it would be a tragedy to sustain casualties in the last hours. Mac bit his tongue as he watched the relieving company establish command differently. Soon enough, I Company moved to a quiet position in Heckhalenfeld along the 27 miles that became the 3d Battalion’s winter quarters. The lull in the fighting, unbeknownst to the soldiers, was due to German preparations for what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge, but, for the time being, their quiet routine was interrupted only by the torment of patrols. Mac found himself critical of officers, MAJ and up, who visited the ‘front’ during this lull. Mac did what he could to maintain morale, visiting his platoons and sharing his officers’ whiskey ration.

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            The turning point for Mac’s belief in his abilities as a company commander came during his 48 hour leave to Vielsalm. Mac overheard one of his men describe him as, “the company commander we’ve been looking for…damn young…but doesn’t seem scared to come around and see you once in a while, no matter where the hell you are. He seems to care what happens to you.”2 Mac received further assurance of his men’s respect for him when they planned his 22nd birthday celebration. 

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            Mac, heavy with the knowledge that he had yet to lose a single man, but certain that the day was not far off, led I Company to their fate in the Monschau Forest in early December 1944. The 393d Regiment, 99th Infantry Division was pinned down somewhere near Rocherath, but without their exact position, artillery support had been impossible. Mac surveyed the oversized position I Company was commanded to defend with little confidence that their force would be sufficient to hold off any enemy, especially as an open flank and rear and loss in tank support left them particularly vulnerable. The order was to simply dig in and hold the position at all costs.

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             Mac found that, despite the gravity of the situation, he was fairly calm, an optimistic sign that he was acclimating to his role and learning to better lead a company. As the Germans chased the 393d out of the woods, the bulk of their attack hit I Company’s position. Mac’s composure quickly deteriorated, and he wanted to cry when he saw his men shot to pieces and overrun as the Germans, after seven repulsions, came within 10 yards of the frontmost foxholes. Out of ammo, 1st Platoon began the retreat, and soon Mac ordered the whole company to retreat. So incensed at the doomed position in which Battalion had placed I Company, Mac felt no remorse or cowardice for ordering the retreat.

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            In the chaos, Mac lost touch with I Company. He convinced K and L Companies to join the retreat, and knew he would be held responsible for the retreat of all of 3d Battalion. Mac wondered if it might be better to be killed in the battle. Arriving at Battalion CP, Mac sobbed over a cigarette while COL Tuttle assured that he did a fine job in holding off the Germans long enough for reinforcements to arrive. In Elsenborn, Mac reunited with 1SG Savage and 100 I Company men. The 3d Battalion earned the Distinguished Unit Citation, and Mac accepted the Silver Star, finally convinced he had not disgraced the battalion.

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            By mid-January, replacements brought I Company to full strength, and Mac was ordered to lead an attack on Iveldingen. I and L Companies were to position themselves in the woods overnight, but without time for reconnaissance, the companies became lost, and Mac led both units into a tangle of Germans. Confused small arms fire erupted and Mac took a bullet to the leg, which put him in a French hospital for two months, during which he felt “like a deserter.”3

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BOOK TWO: COMPANY G

            March 1945, Mac returned from the hospital to the 23d Regiment, 2d Division, and was assigned as commander of G Company, 2d Battalion. To the platoon leaders of G Company–1LT Bagby, SSG Patton, TSG Barnes, 2LT Speed–Mac possessed the established ethos of a respected veteran commander. Everything about the war seemed to be looking up: the weather had improved, and the fighting had recentered itself around the Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen as the First Army raced the Third across the Rhine. The pervasive company activity of the spring was the pacification of Southern Germany, village-by-village, often facing minimal resistance, and collecting Wehrmacht prisoners. The relative ease with which most villages were captured was interrupted by occasional intense stand-offs with the enemy.

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            Fire opened on G Company as they advanced toward Bendorf. Mac felt calm under fire after his experiences with I Company, and scrambled into the town to find a concealed vantage point from which he could assess the situation. Prevented from deciding what to do, COL Smith of 2d Battalion sent E Company into the hills to eliminate the German threat. Optimism that the war was ending persisted through the company, and Mac felt morale could be boosted further by taking the offensive in an attack. 

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            G Company was ordered to cross the Weser River overnight and lead an attack on Hameln before the Germans realized they had crossed, thus applying the principle of surprise. As Mac led G Company through the underbrush, 1LT Whitman, who had just arrived from leave in Paris, helpfully pointed out that they were in the wrong position. Mac cursed that “nothing ever seemed to go right in the infantry,”4 and retraced his steps. Bivouacking near a farmhouse, Mac inspected his map only to realize they were still in the wrong position, but decided not to address the mistake until morning. 

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            Wanting to maintain momentum and make up for lost time spent wandering the woods, COL Smith encouraged G Company to capture a crossroads immediately. COL Smith’s urgency and attitude of “the farther we go tonight, the less we’ll have to do tomorrow,”5 became a source of frustration for Mac who believed several casualties could have been averted if proper time had been taken to assess situations. In this case, a German trench system waited at the crossroads, and G Company had to establish a base of fire before they could advance under marching fire to overrun the trench. 

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            Mac finally got his wish for a perfect attack at Ellershausen. With textbook precision, artillery, armor, CAS, and infantry worked in tandem to capture the city and some 200 Wehrmacht prisoners. Mac and the men rejoiced that “the last time we had seen an attack like this was in the training films back in the States. They didn’t make attacks this way in actual battle.”6 To COL Smith’s praise of his achievement, Mac assured that he was “just tagging along”7 with the platoons.

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            As G Company approached Lauchstedt, they began receiving flak from an 88mm AAG, an unusual experience for the infantry. Needing to make it to the objective of Schkopau by the next morning, G Company was tasked with destroying the guns. Luckily, the Germans did much of the work of destroying their own weapons as G Company approached, and they were able to catch up with 2d Battalion at the Merseburg Canal. G Company was once again called to silence a battery of AAGs. This time the Germans were persuaded to retreat by American artillery. 

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            Mac became aware that G Company moved more slowly than E and F Companies, and worried that his wariness had worn off on the whole company. Mac hoped G Company would be moved to the reserve to rest their nerves. C’est la guerre, one of G Company’s most intense encounters with the enemy was soon to come. 1LT Whitman’s 2d Platoon became surrounded in a basement outside Gundorf by an entire German regiment. Whispering so as not to alert the Germans in the upper levels of the house, 1LT Whitman radioed for artillery on his own position. Hoping he was not murdering an entire platoon of his own men, Mac relayed the concentrations and crossed his fingers. In something of a miracle, only three men remained missing when the dust settled.

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            G Company was immediately sent to take three railroad bridges over three canals in the Leipzig Valley of Ashes. Encountering German resistance at a garbage dump, Mac observed an overly cautious frontal advance led by 2d and 3d Platoons until he was hounded by Battalion to send a flanking maneuver. The fatigue of the men did not go unnoticed by Mac. When 1LT Whitman and his accomplice in mischief PFC Weylandt came to Mac with a German LT who claimed he had 600 men and potentially “the whole goddamn city”8 primed to surrender if only Mac would come into town, Mac felt pressured to accept the to-good-to-be-true proposition. At the Gohlis Police Station, it became apparent that the men fixing to surrender were not Wehrmacht Troops, just the Leipzig Police Force trying to soften the violent conquest slated for their city. Afraid to reject the surrender while in a vulnerable position, Mac allowed himself to be wined and dined around the city, and finally took a German LT back to the American lines with him as something of a hostage to ensure his safe passage through the city. The next day, G Company occupied the Gohlis Police Station as an enclosure for German prisoners of war. 

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            G Company continued east from Leipzig, with the intention of a connection with west-bound Soviet forces in Czechoslovakia. Throughout the end of April and early May, assault was rapid and resistance pathetic as most Bürgermeisters surrendered their villages to the Americans to prevent artillery damage, and Mac became optimistic that a large-scale surrender would precede another attack order. He hoped G Company would not see another man KIA. The 23d Regiment collected some 15,000 prisoners, and Mac found for what he was fighting in the smiles of the liberated Czechoslovakians. Buzzing in the luxury of lighting a cigarette outside at night, Mac reflected on the men who had died so he could experience the end of the war. He was back in the states by 20 July, and, three weeks later, the atomic bomb saved him from deployment to the Pacific.

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ANALYSIS

ATTRIBUTES

CHARACTER

            The Character of a leader resides in his conscience and reputation, established by adherence to Army LDRSHIP Values, empathy, Warrior Ethos, discipline, and humility.9 The Army Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage10 demand conscientious, selfless, and courageous behavior from the leader. Unethical behavior begins with the leader and erodes unit cohesion and honor from the inside out. A leader must be prepared to accept responsibility for the behavior of his men, and must cultivate an environment in which unlawful orders are rejected and ethics are valued.11 Understanding ethics begins with displaying empathy toward subordinates, civilians, and enemies alike. Commitment to ethical, empathetic behavior is outlined in the snappy phrases about team and mission in the Soldier’s Creed, but commitment must ultimately come from within. The Warrior Ethos must be internalized to ensure commitment at all levels and in all conditions. Commitment to mission and team extends to commitment to discipline and adherence to Army standards, especially in instances in which discipline and adherence seem tedious, as seriousness in small matters leads to composure when faced with grave matters. The Character attributes set impossibly high standards for Army leaders, thus the final aspect of humility is one of the most important. Subordinates will respect a leader who is aware of his shortcomings and leads honestly within his abilities. 

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            As a young, inexperienced officer, fresh from the States, Mac could not be expected to react to combat with as little fear as men who had been veterans of many combat missions. But, ADP 6-22 states, “personal courage is not the absence of fear; it is the ability to put fear aside and do what is necessary or right.”12 This idea embodies Mac’s experiences. In his personal account, he described his body shaking, his voice quivering, and wanting to cry, but from the earliest engagements along the Siegfried Line, Mac never allowed his fear to inhibit him from calling artillery or mobilizing his men. 

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            Admitting his fear was just one way in which Mac displayed humility. As an untested leader, Mac knew he lacked the combat experience of his peer officers and subordinates. Just as he grew into the courage not to cower at every shell burst, Mac also grew into the humility to understand that while he was nominally in charge of his company, it was the LTs, SGTs, and PVTs who ultimately completed the missions and won the battles. This became apparent when Mac expressed his pride in the men exposed in foxholes at the Siegfried Line for exhibiting more bravery than he could muster in his fortified pillbox. Later, during the S. Germany village clearing missions, COL Smith congratulated Mac on “really doing a swell job,”13 to which Mac replied that it was all thanks to the work of 1LT Bagby’s 1st Platoon that such progress was made. Mac further displayed humility and Character in the Monschau Forest by bracing himself to take full responsibility for the retreats of I, K, and L Companies from their positions. Mac’s understanding of the responsibility of different members of his team was important for shaping his humility and attitude.  

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            Mac’s main Character struggle came in the form of empathy. While Mac always considered his own men’s well-being, he acted harshly toward the German civilians encountered in the S. Germany village clearing operations. Mac justified hustling people out of their homes, saying, “these people had asked for it.”14 Later, he felt no empathy for civilians crying to the Americans over their homes that had been destroyed by artillery, and told them to “thank Hitler.”15 Though WWII was a total war that mobilized entire populations into the war effort, the majority of Germans did not support the Nazis and were happy to be liberated by Allied forces. Rather than seeing these people as corroborators with the enemy, Mac should have used the Character attribute of empathy to see them as victims of the war.

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PRESENCE

            The attribute of Presence is found in leaders who display confidence and competence.16 Subordinates naturally wish to be led by a leader with strong Presence, and it is important for leaders to meet those expectations through displays of professionalism, fitness, confidence, and resilience.17  Professionalism signals that a leader takes his job seriously and adheres to Army standards of appearance and conduct. Professionalism creates a consistent image in which subordinates place their trust and assign their respect. Though leaders may not always be subject to the same physical trials of combat faced by their subordinates, it is no less important for them to maintain fitness. Proper fitness prepares a leader to be flexible in unpredictable combat situations, and serves as an example of healthy habits to subordinates for whom the leader is a role model, and civilians for whom the leader is a representative of the Army. To maintain Presence, a leader must exude confidence and resilience. Confidence, when practiced in tandem with humility and backed up with competence, reduces individual anxiety among subordinates.18 Subordinates trust confident leaders and find surety in clear directions. Just as confidence is necessary in times of success, resilience is crucial in times of failure. Resilient leaders rebound from hardship and limit the impact of setbacks on the overall mission and cohesion of the unit. Confidence and resilience are both contagious to the entire unit and vital to the maintenance of esprit de corps and morale.

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            Mac was obsessed with presenting himself as a confident, competent leader from the beginning, a sign of his professionalism that he understood the importance of his role. Though Mac found it difficult to hide his fear at first, the respect shown by his men, from the man overheard complimenting his leadership to the men who planned his birthday celebration, it was clear that Mac held himself to a higher standard than his men held him. Mac made an effort to calm his voice and his fears so he could lead strongly in dangerous situations. Mac’s commitment to proving himself in battle so he could establish himself as part of the unit showed that he cared how others perceived him. Mac displayed resilience in his return to the frontlines after being wounded in the woods outside Iveldingen. Mac stayed in the hospital until he was better, but returned to combat as a company commander as soon as he was able. 

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            Mac tried his best to exude a confident and competent Presence, but sometimes his inexperience and uncertainty resulted in him being pushed around by others. 1LT Whitman particularly challenged Mac’s authority, forcing him into situations that Mac would not have chosen. Mac was pressured into endangering himself in several rushed surrenders that 1LT Whitman arranged. At these surrenders, Mac’s Presence again broke down. Unsure of how to conduct himself around high-ranking enemies, Mac allowed the Germans to largely run their own surrenders, saluting when the Germans saluted and disarming the enemy on his own terms.

 

COMPETENCIES

LEADS

            The Leads competency provides guidelines for leaders to assess and improve their abilities to lead others, extend influence, build trust, serve as an example, and communicate effectively.19 Successful leadership begins with strong Character and a positive attitude, and is best measured by compliance–a sign of commitment to the directions of the leader. The leader should employ a variety of methods to induce compliance, ranging from pressure20 to collaboration.21 Each method presents its own pros and cons. While pressure may be necessary for grave, time-sensitive missions, it can also incite resentment for the leader. Collaboration allows a unit to work alongside its leader, which builds trust, but exposes the leader to the same risks faced by his subordinates. No matter the method by which a leader stimulates compliance, the mission must always be balanced with the maintenance of the unit’s well-being. The leader must determine when and how the unit can be pushed and when rest must be prioritized. Care for psychological well-being can be exercised through adequate communication. Clear communication and face-to-face conversations are vital to ensure the mission is understood by all. However, it is important to avoid providing too much oversight, which can stymie opportunities for subordinate development. Regardless the mission, discipline begins with the lowest-level leader. Discipline includes the enforcement of Army standards, policies, and rules so as to prevent misconduct at higher levels and ensure a positive image of the Army to those outside the organization. 

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            One of Mac’s strengths was his ability to communicate adequately and effectively with all his men. Mac’s first order as company commander at the Siegfried Line position was for telephone lines to be laid between each platoon and his company CP. Even with the telephone lines and despite his own fear, Mac visited each platoon position to show his willingness to put himself up to the same tasks he was asking of his men. This had a positive impact on his men’s opinion of him, and clued him in on each of their individual struggles and needs. With this positive environment established, the men were more willing to comply with orders they felt were made by a leader knowledgeable of their conditions.

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            Mac displayed the Leads competency by prioritizing the well-being of his men, and opposing orders that threatened to undermine well-being. Mac understood when, as at the three railroad bridges outside Leipzig, his men were tired and hungry and could not be expected to attack with the same vim as a well-rested, well-fed unit. He adapted and allowed them to lead a conservative frontal attack until Battalion pressured for a flanking maneuver. Battalion and Mac often differed on opinion based on Mac’s personal understanding of his men. COL Smith constantly rushed attacks, which Mac knew resulted in unnecessary casualties, causing Mac to want “to scream and ask what in hell was the all-fired rush about!”22 Mac’s value for his men’s health and safety made him a good leader.

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            Mac’s shortcoming in the competency Leads is mostly to do with discipline. I Company and G Company both had a habit of committing war crimes against prisoners. As Mac never punished these actions, they continued to occur. In the woods outside Iveldingen, a blind prisoner surrendered to I Company, and Mac refused to press when the men escorting him back to A Company returned after a few minutes claiming he had “tried to make a run for it. Know what I mean?”23 Later, in G Company, SSG Patton’s 2d Platoon caught up to the rest of the company after a scuffle, without any prisoners. Mac reflected, “Company G committed a war crime. They are going to win the war, however, so I don’t suppose it really matters.”24 Though there may not have been legal consequences, Mac should have encouraged his men to act ethically out of self-respect and respect to the Army organization.

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DEVELOPS

            Within the Develops competency, the leader cultivates an environment conducive for the growth of both self and subordinates. Development begins at the personal level, in which the leader must be a lifelong learner25 from his own experiences and the experiences of others. A strong knowledge base includes everything from the latest in military science to cultural knowledge, and prevents a leader from finding himself in an entirely unfamiliar situation. The leader must acknowledge his own strengths and weaknesses and address them as he would those of any subordinate. Once the leader has developed himself, he can do the same for others. This begins with a positive climate within the leader’s unit, which contributes to a positive culture in the Army.26 A key aspect of a positive climate is an approachable, trusted, and respected leader. As in the competency Leads which tells the leader to care for both the mission and personal well-being, Develops introduces the leader’s duty to identify unnecessary risks and avoid putting his men in avoidable danger. Good judgement on the part of the leader builds unit-wide esprit de corps and individual morale. But beyond a positive environment, the most important aspect of Develops is that the leader prepares his unit to continue the mission in his absence. From wounds to death and reassignment to retirement, a variety of factors can pull a leader away from his men, and it is crucial that the unit does not collapse in his absence. First, the unit must be developed in the stages of formation, enrichment, and sustainment.27 Once reception, cohesion, and pride are established, platoons and squads must be granted opportunities to experience leadership, initiative, and problem solving, individually.

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            Though Mac never plainly stated that he prepared or studied specific AARs, it was clear from his growth in competency that he learned from the successes and failures of missions past. His attitude shifted from uncontrollable fear at the Siegfried Line, to decisive confidence in the S. German village clearing operations. Mac addressed his own shortcoming of fear and focused on correcting it immediately so as not to endanger his men. Mac developed his men by allowing them to conduct their own operations. While TSG Barnes’ platoon cleared a railroad bridge outside Leipzig, Mac restrained himself from constantly asking for updates over the radio. He trusted his men and knew constant oversight would only frustrate and slow them. This developed the men by giving them experience in combat and leadership on their own. Development allowed SSG Patton to be commissioned to LT Patton during Mac’s command. 

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            Mac’s shortcoming in the Develops competency was at the formation stage of unit development. While Mac had much pride that “my outfit was the best damned outfit in the whole damned Army,”28 Mac did not make an adequate effort to receive and orient the replacements. While it is possible that for the sake of the book, many men were left out on account of having quietly done their jobs while men like 1SG Savage and 1LT Whitman appeared often due to the special roles they served in Mac’s leadership, two scenarios cannot be ignored. Halfway through his command of G Company, a man was KIA while approaching the Rhine. Mac claimed to have “not known the man personally,”29 though he was one of the just 100 or so men in the company. A second time, after 1LT Whitman’s 2d Platoon called artillery on their own position near Gundorf, Mac struggled to recall the roster of the platoon to account for casualties. With only some 50 men between 1st and 2d Platoons, Mac could have more effectively developed his men with a concentrated effort to get to know each of them.

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1 Charles B. MacDonald, Company Commander (Short Hills, NJ: Burford Books, 1999), 45.

2 MacDonald, 71.

3 MacDonald, 133.

4 MacDonald, 174.

5 MacDonald, 229.

6 MacDonald, 188.

7 MacDonald, 204.

8 MacDonald, 241.

9 Headquarters, Department of the Army, ADP 6-22 (Washington, DC: Army Publishing Directorate, 2019), 2-3.

10 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2-5.

11 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2-22.

12 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2-13.

13 MacDonald, 204.

14 MacDonald, 160.

15 MacDonald, 189.

16 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 3-1.

17 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 3-2.

18 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 3-10.

19 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 5-1.

20 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 5-10.

21 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 5-14.

22 MacDonald, 181.

23 MacDonald, 126.

24 MacDonald, 157.

25 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 6-12.

26 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 6-21.

27 Headquarters, Department of the Army, 6-63.

28 MacDonald, 18.

29 MacDonald, 158.