June 25, 2025 • 22 mins
The stark contrast between exceptional soldiers and those merely going through the motions reveals itself through five distinct traits that consistently separate warriors from paycheck collectors in today's military. Drawing from experiences across multiple duty stations, this raw, unfiltered breakdown exposes what truly makes certain soldiers shine while others fade into the background.
Relentless discipline stands as the cornerstone of military excellence—not just following standards but living them with unwavering commitment. From immaculate grooming to meticulous weapons maintenance, elite soldiers understand that discipline creates reliability when chaos erupts. As we explore physical and mental toughness, the truth emerges about what separates those who conquer challenges from those who surrender to adversity. The battlefield truth is brutally simple: if your mind quits before your body, you're done. Period.
Initiative and adaptability might be the most powerful differentiators in modern warfare. While average soldiers wait for perfect orders, high-performers see gaps and fill them without hesitation. This proactive mindset, combined with team loyalty that prioritizes mission and battle buddies above self, creates an unstoppable force on and off the battlefield. The final piece—tactical and technical competence—transforms good soldiers into indispensable assets. Whether mastering weapons systems, communications, or battle drills, top performers develop expertise that makes them deadly effective and natural teachers within their units.
Ready to transform your military performance? Stop waiting to be told what to do and start embodying these five critical traits. Share your experiences in the comments about which characteristics you've seen make the biggest impact, and don't forget to subscribe for more straight-talking military insights that will help you stand out for all the right reasons.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Want to know what separates high-speed soldiers
from those who just collecting apaycheck.
These five traits make or breakwarriors in the United States
Army on a daily basis.
Don't believe me, stick aroundand find out.
Roger Sarn, welcome to theRoger Sarn Podcast, where we
(00:26):
talk all things Army and I'myour host, sarnt Cruz, and today
I'm giving you my opinion onwhat traits I think a high-speed
soldier displays, what makesthem different from the rest of
the crew, from the rest of thecrew, what makes them get
(00:48):
noticed and how does these makethem shine more than those who
aren't displaying these traits?
Now, before I get started, Iwant to share some background on
why I'm saying this, because,after being in more than five
duty stations nine times out of10, the troops that shine the
(01:09):
most are the ones that displaythese five traits that I'm about
to tell you.
They make the most out of theiropportunities and it gets them
notice sooner than later.
Believe it or not, leaders doreward dedication.
Now, without further ado, let'sget started.
(01:33):
Number one relentlessdiscipline.
High-speed soldiers don't justfollow standards, they live the
standard, and I know that soundscliche, I get it.
Blah, blah, blah, but that'sthe honest truth, right when it
comes down to I'm talking aboutwhen it comes down to grooming,
(01:53):
when it comes down to doing PT,when it comes down to doing
weapons maintenance, what theydo is they operate and they
execute everything with detailand precision.
And when I say this, you'reprobably asking why does this
matter?
(02:14):
And it matters becausediscipline creates reliability
in chaos.
I say again discipline createsreliability in chaos when things
are going awry.
Let's say super simple, supersimple example Everyone's
(02:38):
standing around waiting forformation to happen.
Have you ever noticed that?
Even you see leaders I'mtalking about senior level
leaders they'll sit back andthey won't do anything.
When that high speed soldiertakes that formation and gets
everyone where they need to beand starts everything going,
(02:59):
then you'll see someone else tryand trump it right, but until
then it's organized chaos andsomeone has to do it.
And by doing so it's going toearn the trust of leaders and,
most importantly, your teammates.
And I say most importantlybecause your teammates are the
(03:21):
ones you work with on a dailybasis and those are the ones
that are going to have to knowthat you have their back.
And this is why I say that itdoesn't matter when we're
talking about weaponsmaintenance, pt, just grooming.
(03:43):
Because when you show up towork, you're being judged on a
daily basis, from the time youwalk in to the time you leave,
right.
So I don't care if you shaveall the way down to how you pack
your ruck, that high speedtroop, they're not going to cut
(04:06):
a corner, right?
If they have a shaving profile,then they have a shaving
profile.
We're not talking about thoseindividuals.
We're talking about the onesthat actually shave, and
actually shave every day, or tothe point that there's not a
stubble.
We're talking about thoseindividuals that pack their
(04:26):
rucks and don't have every oneof those straps just hanging and
dangling right.
Those things matter.
And I'll give you an example.
The first time I went to EFMBCTL2, the lane two was at that
(04:55):
time, it probably still is ithad the gas, it had the NBC in
it and I was docked when it wastime to decon.
I was docked because my strapswere hanging and created
cross-contamination, and itwouldn't happen if I would have
had the straps all rolled upright.
(05:18):
So why does this matter?
Because a sloppy soldierdoesn't survive long.
Discipline equals respect.
I don't care how you want tocut it.
You probably never heard it oryou probably never wanted to
(05:39):
believe it.
You will notice that little bylittle, they start to a trip
because they just won't cut it.
They're too sloppy, they don'tclean up, they don't make sure
that when they do their PMCSsthey're doing the proper PMCS,
they're always cutting corners,their vehicle's always down and
(06:00):
all of that adds up into thefact that they're being
unreliable.
And don't get me wrong,sometimes vehicles just don't
work.
We know how the Army is, butwe're talking about things that
you can control and, at the endof the day, relentless
discipline is going to get youwhere you need to be.
Because what's the number onething you need to do in order to
(06:22):
get fit?
You have to have discipline.
You have to not want to go tothe gym today.
I'm going to go to the gym.
I have to do it because there'sthat and a third Bottom line
Trait, number two physical andmental toughness, just kind of
(06:46):
segwayed into that right.
So these high speed soldiersthat I'm talking about, they're
going to maintain their peakphysical fitness and I'm not
saying, oh well, you're talkingabout the big backs are not
physically fit.
I've seen multiple soldiersthat you would say you would
(07:08):
look at them and you'd be like Idon't think they run really
fast, and they do.
They can run sub-16s at thetime that we did APFT right,
they run sub-16s, 13s, 14s,right.
But I'm talking about the onesthat can't.
I'm talking about the ones thatfind an excuse on why they
(07:30):
cannot go to the gym, on whythey cannot perform in the
morning.
Three times out of the weekthey're at sick call, and that
is a lack of mental toughness.
If you're not hurt, If you'rehurt, it's totally different.
Like go to sick call, doeverything.
I'm a medic so I understand.
(07:52):
I'm talking about the ones whodeliberately do it, those
high-speed soldiers that we talkabout.
They also have something that'scalled mental resilience under
stress, right.
So, going back to the ruckright, if you're doing a ruck,
(08:12):
if you're in a let's say, afirefight, or you're pulling a
24 hour shift, all three ofthose things need that mental
resilience.
The ruck when you're doing a12-mile ruck, your mind, more
times than not, wants to give up.
(08:33):
Before your body does.
In a firefight, you're probablygoing to be shit in your pants
and your mind is going to tellyou get cover, get yourself
concealed, don't return fire,because if you get up, you're
going to get shot.
However, you know that yourtraining has taught you better
(08:58):
and you have to be that yourtraining has taught you better
and you have to be resilientunder that stress.
24-hour shift.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm all for sleeping on a24-hour shift, but what I'm
talking about is 24-hour shiftsout on the line, not in garrison
.
You have to stay up.
(09:19):
I'm talking about if you got toput four zins in your mouth, do
it.
But these things are what anactual high-speed soldier
displays.
And why does physical and mentaltoughness matter?
(09:40):
Because at the end of the day,the army fights with the body
and the brain and if there's aweakness in either or it can
cost lives.
That's literally it right.
If your mind quits before yourbody is done, I'm sorry.
If your mind quits before yourbody is done, is I'm sorry
before if.
If your mind quits before yourbody, you're done.
(10:04):
That's it.
You're done on that ruck march.
You're done in that firefight.
You're done in that.
On in your post 24 hour shift,you're done Like you're not
going to be able to get up.
And high speed soldiers theytrain hard, they sleep less a
lot of the times and at the endof the day they push through the
(10:34):
suck and they push through thesuck without really crying about
it.
And I'm not saying that theynever complain, because I'm a
lot of times I'm going tocomplain but I'm still going to
comply, right.
So, high speed soldiers,they're going to comply, but a
lot of times they don't complain.
They just be like it is what itis.
(10:54):
We got to do it and at the endof the day, they know that
nobody cares, they just workharder.
That's it, and it sounds harsh,but this is what I've seen.
This is what I've seen.
I've literally seen.
(11:16):
I remember one time I was comingin my very first duty station
this is where I missed my firstcalling to get in shape and it
took me a lot longer because Iwanted to go out and party.
I was walking out the barracks.
I was with the 554 MP MilitaryPolice Company in Stuttgart,
germany, war dogs and PFC at thetime, or maybe Specialist De
Villiers.
He was outside.
(11:37):
We had pull-up bars right outfront.
He was outside doing pull-ups.
I was like what are you doing?
He's like I'm just working out.
He said you want to work out.
I was like, nah, I'm good,right.
And looking back at that, whenI picture De Villiers at that
moment, compared to what I sawhim three years after that, four
(12:00):
years after that.
Even now, dude is jacked, andI'm not talking about like crazy
jacked, I'm talking about likehe's so tight it looks like he
can just pop at any given moment.
And this is something that heknew.
He knew nobody cares Workharder.
That's what he knew.
Nobody cares Work harder.
That's what he knew.
(12:26):
The third trait is initiativeand adaptability.
So high-speed soldiers, thesesoldiers that set themselves
apart, they anticipate what'sneeded, they're going to step up
without being asked and andthey really really good at
thinking on their feet.
And these are all good traits,because you got to think about
(12:48):
it, it's really really um, itgoes really primitive.
In the army network, in thearmy growth spurt, when you
anticipate a need, you'realready ahead of the game.
You're going to the board.
Well, you're not told thatyou're going to the board.
But if you anticipate the need,which is you need to go to a
(13:10):
board to get promoted, you startstudying without being told.
When you know that somethingneeds to get done everyone's
sitting around in the cough orat the motor pool, whatever, and
you know something needs to getdone.
You're going to step up and sayhey, let's knock this out.
And you know what's funny Ifsomeone says something, people
(13:33):
will just do it.
You'll have your onesies andtwosies that may not do it, but
more times than not, individualswill just comply.
They'll be like all right, cool, I've been on my phone long
enough, we've been bullshittinglong enough and that's the
miracle.
That's the funny part about thearmy Like we complain about,
(13:54):
people don't want to do anything, but as soon as you tell them,
hey, let's do it, a lot of timesthey'll just do it.
They might bitch and complain,but they'll still do it.
And the last point that I hadsaid was thinking on their feet.
Yeah, thinking on their feet.
When you're in a board, you gotto think on your feet because
sometimes they're going to throwyou questions out of left field
(14:15):
that are not on the MOI.
And if you have any type ofexperience, if you can a point
of reference, you can refer tosomething that's happened to you
, then that is going to help youa lot.
And that's part of thinking onyour feet.
A lot of these troops they don'twait for like the perfect
(14:36):
orders, they just execute,adjust and they overcome that
situation A lot of times.
What we're looking for isliterally like the word-for-word
op order, the word-for-worddirective oh, I wasn't told
anything so I'm not going to doanything.
Bullshit, right.
Many times people will be likewell, in the regulation, it
(15:00):
doesn't say specifically thisWell, think on your feet, right?
Adjust to it, because you havewhat's called the judgment call
to the regulation black andwhite.
And then you have a judgmentcall for those things that are
not in there.
And these are what high speedsoldiers do.
They prepare for themselves.
And these are what high-speedsoldiers do they prepare for
(15:20):
themselves.
They prepare themselves forthese situations.
Right, and at the end of the day, you want to know why does this
matter?
Because at the end of the day,if you're in the, at the end of
the day, the day ends.
But in reality, if, like ifyou're in the field hesitation
(15:40):
itself, it can be fatal.
If you're in a forwardenvironment, adaptability can
save lives.
At the end of the day, like ifa soldier gets shot and you
hesitate to throw the tourniqueton or you just can't adapt and
(16:04):
kind of like they're too farfrom you and you know there's
bullets whizzing all over youand you can't make sure that you
get that information conveyedto them.
That can cost somebody a life,that's all to it.
Like, are you the type that'swaiting to be told what to do?
Is that you?
If that's you, then you're inthe wrong uniform Because at the
(16:26):
end of the day, like I said,high speed soldiers, what
they're going to do is they'regoing to see a gap and they're
going to fill that gap.
They move and they adjustbefore before the dust settles.
Adapt, improvise and execute.
That's it.
That's literally.
It's very, very easy to do.
(16:48):
I'm not going to lie to you sofar.
If you agree or disagree withany of these points, leave a
comment below.
If you have any other ones thatyou've experienced, also leave
a comment below.
I'd love to hear it.
As you have any other ones thatyou've experienced, also leave
a comment below.
I'd love to hear it.
As you guys already know, ifyou've commented before, it may
take me a couple of days, but Iget back to every single comment
(17:09):
.
If you make a comment from leftfield that I can't really
answer because it'll put me in acompromise situation, I'm not
going to answer it.
I'll probably drop a like orwhatever it is to acknowledge
you, but that means that youpassed the line Okay and leave a
like, subscribe and all thatcool stuff.
And if you're on the podcast,download and leave a review.
(17:30):
All right, so back to business.
Trait number four is teamloyalty and selflessness.
At the end of the day, thathigh speed soldier, they put the
mission and they put theirbattle buddies before themselves
and it's kind of a leaders eatlast mentality.
(17:51):
Right, because high-speedsoldier sees the grand.
This is my thought process.
Right?
The high-speed soldier sees thebigger picture.
They see what that not highspeed soldier sees and they know
how to comply with it.
Right, and they know that theteam cohesiveness is pivotal to
(18:16):
getting any mission done.
They make sure that they buildup others, any mission done.
They make sure that they buildup others, they cover down when
they see gaps, like I saidbefore, and they never, ever
leave the team hanging.
And I'm not talking about ohwell, you're here until 1800.
Well, I'm going to stay withyou.
(18:37):
Nah, nah, nah, we're nottalking about that, because
sometimes people just like towork late and some people be
like nah, I got a family I'mtalking about.
I finished PMCS in my vehicle, Igot my vehicle in the in the in
the bay, and I got troops there.
I'm going to go help somebodyelse out.
See where?
How can we make your vehiclebetter?
Things of that nature.
(18:58):
I see your soldier isstruggling with their PT or with
their weapons.
All of my soldiers are doinggood.
This is what I did right, andthat helps out, like this team
leader helps this team leader,which makes the squad better,
and if they're in differentsquads, it makes the platoon
better.
And why all this matters isbecause unit cohesion is a
(19:25):
combat multiplier.
Loyalty is going to createunbreakable bonds.
I'm pretty sure, uh, many of youhave been in units and you guys
still talk to people from yourprevious unit.
You've been in a deployment andstill talk to that person from
that deployment.
I'm pretty sure that you guyshave done that.
(19:48):
It's never just about you.
You carry your weight and thensome these high-speed soldiers,
they cover down, they lift up.
They never leave a battle buddyhanging.
You're only as strong as yourweakest link.
I'm pretty sure you've heardthis before.
So train them Five tactical andtechnical competence, from
(20:12):
weapons handling to the comms,all the way to the battle drills
.
They know their MOS and theycross-train when, when possible,
like they're subject matterexperts and teachers.
I had a troop medical.
He was in my platoon.
He the snipers needed a medic,the snipers wanted a medic.
(20:34):
And he was the one that said,hey, I want to go with those
guys and I'm talking aboutsnipers who sit there,
they'll'll, they'll rock 20, 30miles a day.
Those rock like they just doendless crazy stuff.
And he went there cross-trained, brought back some more
information, showed us how touse their, their weapons, showed
us how to, how these guys um,camouflaged things, so many
(20:56):
things that they taught that hetaught us, and that was that
comes from them.
Cross-training with other MOSs.
Why does this matter?
Because you don't rise in theranks or lead soldiers without
mastering your craft.
This is why senior NCOs arealways sought out.
At the end of the day, you haveto know your MOS, know other
(21:20):
people's MOS, whether it'sclearing a room, calling for
fire, high speed soldiers.
They are sharp, they're skilledand, shall I say, they're
deadly.
Because, whether it's like theycan kill people or like they're
deadly, meaning like they know alot Right or like their deadly
(21:43):
meaning like they know a lotright, learn your weapon systems
or they learn your weaponsystems or their weapon systems.
It's something that they do andsomething I encourage you guys
to do also is learn your weaponsystems.
Learn your comms.
Be the go-to guy, not theliability at the end of the day.
Now I want to hear from youwhat do you think makes a
(22:07):
high-speed soldier?
Drop your thoughts in thecomments and, if you found this
discussion insightful, check outmy next video right around here
somewhere.
And remember you don't have toembrace the suck if you got the
right tools in your rug.
I'm Sarn Cruz and I'll see youin the next one.
Peace, roger Sarn.
Want to know what separates high-speed soldiers
from those who just collecting apaycheck.
These five traits make or breakwarriors in the United States
Army on a daily basis.
Don't believe me, stick aroundand find out.
Roger Sarn, welcome to theRoger Sarn Podcast, where we
(00:26):
talk all things Army and I'myour host, sarnt Cruz, and today
I'm giving you my opinion onwhat traits I think a high-speed
soldier displays, what makesthem different from the rest of
the crew, from the rest of thecrew, what makes them get
(00:48):
noticed and how does these makethem shine more than those who
aren't displaying these traits?
Now, before I get started, Iwant to share some background on
why I'm saying this, because,after being in more than five
duty stations nine times out of10, the troops that shine the
(01:09):
most are the ones that displaythese five traits that I'm about
to tell you.
They make the most out of theiropportunities and it gets them
notice sooner than later.
Believe it or not, leaders doreward dedication.
Now, without further ado, let'sget started.
(01:33):
Number one relentlessdiscipline.
High-speed soldiers don't justfollow standards, they live the
standard, and I know that soundscliche, I get it.
Blah, blah, blah, but that'sthe honest truth, right when it
comes down to I'm talking aboutwhen it comes down to grooming,
(01:53):
when it comes down to doing PT,when it comes down to doing
weapons maintenance, what theydo is they operate and they
execute everything with detailand precision.
And when I say this, you'reprobably asking why does this
matter?
(02:14):
And it matters becausediscipline creates reliability
in chaos.
I say again discipline createsreliability in chaos when things
are going awry.
Let's say super simple, supersimple example Everyone's
(02:38):
standing around waiting forformation to happen.
Have you ever noticed that?
Even you see leaders I'mtalking about senior level
leaders they'll sit back andthey won't do anything.
When that high speed soldiertakes that formation and gets
everyone where they need to beand starts everything going,
(02:59):
then you'll see someone else tryand trump it right, but until
then it's organized chaos andsomeone has to do it.
And by doing so it's going toearn the trust of leaders and,
most importantly, your teammates.
And I say most importantlybecause your teammates are the
(03:21):
ones you work with on a dailybasis and those are the ones
that are going to have to knowthat you have their back.
And this is why I say that itdoesn't matter when we're
talking about weaponsmaintenance, pt, just grooming.
(03:43):
Because when you show up towork, you're being judged on a
daily basis, from the time youwalk in to the time you leave,
right.
So I don't care if you shaveall the way down to how you pack
your ruck, that high speedtroop, they're not going to cut
(04:06):
a corner, right?
If they have a shaving profile,then they have a shaving
profile.
We're not talking about thoseindividuals.
We're talking about the onesthat actually shave, and
actually shave every day, or tothe point that there's not a
stubble.
We're talking about thoseindividuals that pack their
(04:26):
rucks and don't have every oneof those straps just hanging and
dangling right.
Those things matter.
And I'll give you an example.
The first time I went to EFMBCTL2, the lane two was at that
(04:55):
time, it probably still is ithad the gas, it had the NBC in
it and I was docked when it wastime to decon.
I was docked because my strapswere hanging and created
cross-contamination, and itwouldn't happen if I would have
had the straps all rolled upright.
(05:18):
So why does this matter?
Because a sloppy soldierdoesn't survive long.
Discipline equals respect.
I don't care how you want tocut it.
You probably never heard it oryou probably never wanted to
(05:39):
believe it.
You will notice that little bylittle, they start to a trip
because they just won't cut it.
They're too sloppy, they don'tclean up, they don't make sure
that when they do their PMCSsthey're doing the proper PMCS,
they're always cutting corners,their vehicle's always down and
(06:00):
all of that adds up into thefact that they're being
unreliable.
And don't get me wrong,sometimes vehicles just don't
work.
We know how the Army is, butwe're talking about things that
you can control and, at the endof the day, relentless
discipline is going to get youwhere you need to be.
Because what's the number onething you need to do in order to
(06:22):
get fit?
You have to have discipline.
You have to not want to go tothe gym today.
I'm going to go to the gym.
I have to do it because there'sthat and a third Bottom line
Trait, number two physical andmental toughness, just kind of
(06:46):
segwayed into that right.
So these high speed soldiersthat I'm talking about, they're
going to maintain their peakphysical fitness and I'm not
saying, oh well, you're talkingabout the big backs are not
physically fit.
I've seen multiple soldiersthat you would say you would
(07:08):
look at them and you'd be like Idon't think they run really
fast, and they do.
They can run sub-16s at thetime that we did APFT right,
they run sub-16s, 13s, 14s,right.
But I'm talking about the onesthat can't.
I'm talking about the ones thatfind an excuse on why they
(07:30):
cannot go to the gym, on whythey cannot perform in the
morning.
Three times out of the weekthey're at sick call, and that
is a lack of mental toughness.
If you're not hurt, If you'rehurt, it's totally different.
Like go to sick call, doeverything.
I'm a medic so I understand.
(07:52):
I'm talking about the ones whodeliberately do it, those
high-speed soldiers that we talkabout.
They also have something that'scalled mental resilience under
stress, right.
So, going back to the ruckright, if you're doing a ruck,
(08:12):
if you're in a let's say, afirefight, or you're pulling a
24 hour shift, all three ofthose things need that mental
resilience.
The ruck when you're doing a12-mile ruck, your mind, more
times than not, wants to give up.
(08:33):
Before your body does.
In a firefight, you're probablygoing to be shit in your pants
and your mind is going to tellyou get cover, get yourself
concealed, don't return fire,because if you get up, you're
going to get shot.
However, you know that yourtraining has taught you better
(08:58):
and you have to be that yourtraining has taught you better
and you have to be resilientunder that stress.
24-hour shift.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm all for sleeping on a24-hour shift, but what I'm
talking about is 24-hour shiftsout on the line, not in garrison
.
You have to stay up.
(09:19):
I'm talking about if you got toput four zins in your mouth, do
it.
But these things are what anactual high-speed soldier
displays.
And why does physical and mentaltoughness matter?
(09:40):
Because at the end of the day,the army fights with the body
and the brain and if there's aweakness in either or it can
cost lives.
That's literally it right.
If your mind quits before yourbody is done, I'm sorry.
If your mind quits before yourbody is done, is I'm sorry
before if.
If your mind quits before yourbody, you're done.
(10:04):
That's it.
You're done on that ruck march.
You're done in that firefight.
You're done in that.
On in your post 24 hour shift,you're done Like you're not
going to be able to get up.
And high speed soldiers theytrain hard, they sleep less a
lot of the times and at the endof the day they push through the
(10:34):
suck and they push through thesuck without really crying about
it.
And I'm not saying that theynever complain, because I'm a
lot of times I'm going tocomplain but I'm still going to
comply, right.
So, high speed soldiers,they're going to comply, but a
lot of times they don't complain.
They just be like it is what itis.
(10:54):
We got to do it and at the endof the day, they know that
nobody cares, they just workharder.
That's it, and it sounds harsh,but this is what I've seen.
This is what I've seen.
I've literally seen.
(11:16):
I remember one time I was comingin my very first duty station
this is where I missed my firstcalling to get in shape and it
took me a lot longer because Iwanted to go out and party.
I was walking out the barracks.
I was with the 554 MP MilitaryPolice Company in Stuttgart,
germany, war dogs and PFC at thetime, or maybe Specialist De
Villiers.
He was outside.
(11:37):
We had pull-up bars right outfront.
He was outside doing pull-ups.
I was like what are you doing?
He's like I'm just working out.
He said you want to work out.
I was like, nah, I'm good,right.
And looking back at that, whenI picture De Villiers at that
moment, compared to what I sawhim three years after that, four
(12:00):
years after that.
Even now, dude is jacked, andI'm not talking about like crazy
jacked, I'm talking about likehe's so tight it looks like he
can just pop at any given moment.
And this is something that heknew.
He knew nobody cares Workharder.
That's what he knew.
Nobody cares Work harder.
That's what he knew.
(12:26):
The third trait is initiativeand adaptability.
So high-speed soldiers, thesesoldiers that set themselves
apart, they anticipate what'sneeded, they're going to step up
without being asked and andthey really really good at
thinking on their feet.
And these are all good traits,because you got to think about
(12:48):
it, it's really really um, itgoes really primitive.
In the army network, in thearmy growth spurt, when you
anticipate a need, you'realready ahead of the game.
You're going to the board.
Well, you're not told thatyou're going to the board.
But if you anticipate the need,which is you need to go to a
(13:10):
board to get promoted, you startstudying without being told.
When you know that somethingneeds to get done everyone's
sitting around in the cough orat the motor pool, whatever, and
you know something needs to getdone.
You're going to step up and sayhey, let's knock this out.
And you know what's funny Ifsomeone says something, people
(13:33):
will just do it.
You'll have your onesies andtwosies that may not do it, but
more times than not, individualswill just comply.
They'll be like all right, cool, I've been on my phone long
enough, we've been bullshittinglong enough and that's the
miracle.
That's the funny part about thearmy Like we complain about,
(13:54):
people don't want to do anything, but as soon as you tell them,
hey, let's do it, a lot of timesthey'll just do it.
They might bitch and complain,but they'll still do it.
And the last point that I hadsaid was thinking on their feet.
Yeah, thinking on their feet.
When you're in a board, you gotto think on your feet because
sometimes they're going to throwyou questions out of left field
(14:15):
that are not on the MOI.
And if you have any type ofexperience, if you can a point
of reference, you can refer tosomething that's happened to you
, then that is going to help youa lot.
And that's part of thinking onyour feet.
A lot of these troops they don'twait for like the perfect
(14:36):
orders, they just execute,adjust and they overcome that
situation A lot of times.
What we're looking for isliterally like the word-for-word
op order, the word-for-worddirective oh, I wasn't told
anything so I'm not going to doanything.
Bullshit, right.
Many times people will be likewell, in the regulation, it
(15:00):
doesn't say specifically thisWell, think on your feet, right?
Adjust to it, because you havewhat's called the judgment call
to the regulation black andwhite.
And then you have a judgmentcall for those things that are
not in there.
And these are what high speedsoldiers do.
They prepare for themselves.
And these are what high-speedsoldiers do they prepare for
(15:20):
themselves.
They prepare themselves forthese situations.
Right, and at the end of the day, you want to know why does this
matter?
Because at the end of the day,if you're in the, at the end of
the day, the day ends.
But in reality, if, like ifyou're in the field hesitation
(15:40):
itself, it can be fatal.
If you're in a forwardenvironment, adaptability can
save lives.
At the end of the day, like ifa soldier gets shot and you
hesitate to throw the tourniqueton or you just can't adapt and
(16:04):
kind of like they're too farfrom you and you know there's
bullets whizzing all over youand you can't make sure that you
get that information conveyedto them.
That can cost somebody a life,that's all to it.
Like, are you the type that'swaiting to be told what to do?
Is that you?
If that's you, then you're inthe wrong uniform Because at the
(16:26):
end of the day, like I said,high speed soldiers, what
they're going to do is they'regoing to see a gap and they're
going to fill that gap.
They move and they adjustbefore before the dust settles.
Adapt, improvise and execute.
That's it.
That's literally.
It's very, very easy to do.
(16:48):
I'm not going to lie to you sofar.
If you agree or disagree withany of these points, leave a
comment below.
If you have any other ones thatyou've experienced, also leave
a comment below.
I'd love to hear it.
As you have any other ones thatyou've experienced, also leave
a comment below.
I'd love to hear it.
As you guys already know, ifyou've commented before, it may
take me a couple of days, but Iget back to every single comment
(17:09):
.
If you make a comment from leftfield that I can't really
answer because it'll put me in acompromise situation, I'm not
going to answer it.
I'll probably drop a like orwhatever it is to acknowledge
you, but that means that youpassed the line Okay and leave a
like, subscribe and all thatcool stuff.
And if you're on the podcast,download and leave a review.
(17:30):
All right, so back to business.
Trait number four is teamloyalty and selflessness.
At the end of the day, thathigh speed soldier, they put the
mission and they put theirbattle buddies before themselves
and it's kind of a leaders eatlast mentality.
(17:51):
Right, because high-speedsoldier sees the grand.
This is my thought process.
Right?
The high-speed soldier sees thebigger picture.
They see what that not highspeed soldier sees and they know
how to comply with it.
Right, and they know that theteam cohesiveness is pivotal to
(18:16):
getting any mission done.
They make sure that they buildup others, any mission done.
They make sure that they buildup others, they cover down when
they see gaps, like I saidbefore, and they never, ever
leave the team hanging.
And I'm not talking about ohwell, you're here until 1800.
Well, I'm going to stay withyou.
(18:37):
Nah, nah, nah, we're nottalking about that, because
sometimes people just like towork late and some people be
like nah, I got a family I'mtalking about.
I finished PMCS in my vehicle, Igot my vehicle in the in the in
the bay, and I got troops there.
I'm going to go help somebodyelse out.
See where?
How can we make your vehiclebetter?
Things of that nature.
(18:58):
I see your soldier isstruggling with their PT or with
their weapons.
All of my soldiers are doinggood.
This is what I did right, andthat helps out, like this team
leader helps this team leader,which makes the squad better,
and if they're in differentsquads, it makes the platoon
better.
And why all this matters isbecause unit cohesion is a
(19:25):
combat multiplier.
Loyalty is going to createunbreakable bonds.
I'm pretty sure, uh, many of youhave been in units and you guys
still talk to people from yourprevious unit.
You've been in a deployment andstill talk to that person from
that deployment.
I'm pretty sure that you guyshave done that.
(19:48):
It's never just about you.
You carry your weight and thensome these high-speed soldiers,
they cover down, they lift up.
They never leave a battle buddyhanging.
You're only as strong as yourweakest link.
I'm pretty sure you've heardthis before.
So train them Five tactical andtechnical competence, from
(20:12):
weapons handling to the comms,all the way to the battle drills
.
They know their MOS and theycross-train when, when possible,
like they're subject matterexperts and teachers.
I had a troop medical.
He was in my platoon.
He the snipers needed a medic,the snipers wanted a medic.
(20:34):
And he was the one that said,hey, I want to go with those
guys and I'm talking aboutsnipers who sit there,
they'll'll, they'll rock 20, 30miles a day.
Those rock like they just doendless crazy stuff.
And he went there cross-trained, brought back some more
information, showed us how touse their, their weapons, showed
us how to, how these guys um,camouflaged things, so many
(20:56):
things that they taught that hetaught us, and that was that
comes from them.
Cross-training with other MOSs.
Why does this matter?
Because you don't rise in theranks or lead soldiers without
mastering your craft.
This is why senior NCOs arealways sought out.
At the end of the day, you haveto know your MOS, know other
(21:20):
people's MOS, whether it'sclearing a room, calling for
fire, high speed soldiers.
They are sharp, they're skilledand, shall I say, they're
deadly.
Because, whether it's like theycan kill people or like they're
deadly, meaning like they know alot Right or like their deadly
(21:43):
meaning like they know a lotright, learn your weapon systems
or they learn your weaponsystems or their weapon systems.
It's something that they do andsomething I encourage you guys
to do also is learn your weaponsystems.
Learn your comms.
Be the go-to guy, not theliability at the end of the day.
Now I want to hear from youwhat do you think makes a
(22:07):
high-speed soldier?
Drop your thoughts in thecomments and, if you found this
discussion insightful, check outmy next video right around here
somewhere.
And remember you don't have toembrace the suck if you got the
right tools in your rug.
I'm Sarn Cruz and I'll see youin the next one.
Peace, roger Sarn.
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