Legacy Leader: SFC James H. Mertz
The purpose of this paper is to discuss my Legacy Leader and explain why he made such a profound impact on my career and my life. Sergeant First Class (SFC) James Mertz is my Legacy Leader. SFC Mertz possessed and demonstrated all the attributes and competencies of a great leader and demonstrated those qualities as the Team Leader of a Special Operations Team – Alpha (SOT-A). The team SFC Mertz developed and lead exemplified his leadership by achieving tangible results across multiple deployments. SFC Mertz was an effective leader because he knew both how to lead and why he was leading.
For the duration of the time I worked with SFC Mertz he was a Team Leader for SOT-A 5102. I came to his team as a young
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Specialist on my first duty assignment to 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (SFG(A)). One of the first lessons SFC Mertz taught me was to make myself mission essential. The least mission essential Soldier is the one chosen to do the most dangerous jobs. He made it clear that if I was the least mission essential Soldier, I would be the one clearing a minefield or checking a culvert for an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). After I became a Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) I realized the real lesson SFC Mertz was teaching me; find a task that needs to be done and excel at it. Or as the NCO Creed describes: “exercise initiative by taking appropriate action in the absence of orders”. Character General Patton once stated “There is a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and much less prevalent” (Province, 1995, p. 88). SFC Mertz cared for his Soldiers and always placed their needs above his own comforts. He demonstrated loyalty to his subordinates by showing empathy for their needs. SFC Mertz, at the time Staff Sergeant (SSG), once physically placed himself between a Command Sergeant Major (CSM) and myself because he believed the CSM was not being professional. He had the personal courage to stand up for his values, his principles, and his Soldiers. Presence Even though SFC Mertz was a tall man at 6’ 5”, his presence was normally not immediately perceived. SFC Mertz established his presence through hard work and discipline. He never sent a subordinate to do a job that he would not participate in himself. He would routinely share in team hardships and dangers (ADRP 6-22, 2012, chapter 4-2). He and I worked 12-hour night shifts for our four-man team through my first deployment performing our intelligence function. Even after a full shift, we would never miss a training event or a mission with our supported Operational Detachment – Alpha (ODA). On one such mission, he was the Truck Commander (TC) for our vehicle. The other three members of the team were the driver, gunner, and equipment operator. Our patrol required us to perform a dismounted patrol through a portion of the city with the vehicles following. SFC Mertz chose to dismount himself and allow the rest of us to continue our jobs. During the dismounted patrol, we came under fire and had to call in air support to help suppress the contact. The dismounted patrol quickly turned into a “kit run” for almost two miles back to the base to get out of a bad situation. Despite his severe fatigue and dehydration, SFC Mertz finished the dismounted patrol even though he could have returned to the vehicles. He exhibited his fitness and resilience to both the SOT-A and the ODA. Intellect Despite our team developing a deployment plan and getting it approved months in advance, no plan survives first contact.
Within the first quarter of the deployment, our leadership ordered SFC Mertz to split the team into two 2-man elements to perform operations in separate provinces. SFC Mertz used his good judgment and interpersonal tact to select the appropriate Soldiers for each 2-man team (ADRP 6-22, 2012, chapter 5). SFC Mertz quickly reorganized his team and executed his new orders effectively, resulting in a more productive deployment.
Leads
When SFC Mertz was still a SSG, the Battalion CSM selected him to serve as the Rear-Detachment First Sergeant because of his demonstrated ability to lead. SFC Mertz once again excelled in his assigned duties and enabled the Battalion’s mission from the rear. He directly affected the readiness of the unit by quickly facilitating troop movement in and out of the combat zone. His efforts overall enabled the Battalion to excel at its mission and earn a Meritorious Unit Citation (Permanent Orders 279-17, 2010). SFC Mertz lead a SOT-A for six years and four successful deployments with no negative incidents.
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Develops After SFC Mertz left 5th SFG(A) the Army realized his talents would be best served to develop the next generation of 35P’s. SFC Mertz taught initial entry trainees at Goodfellow Airforce Base for three years as the lead instructor for the Arabic language course. During SFC Mertz tenure as an instructor, he trained hundreds of Soldiers. I have met at least 10 Soldiers who directly attribute their knowledge and success in our Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) to his mentorship. SFC Mertz enjoyed leading Soldiers but even more, he loved developing them. SFC Mertz could inspire esprit de corps in his formation through a combination of challenging training, humor, and achieving mission success. Achieves SFC Mertz used his leader attributes to build a successful SOT-A. He took three Soldiers with no combat experience and molded them into an effective team capable of accomplishing the commander’s mission. He achieved tangible results during unit pre-mission training and throughout every deployment by aiding the ODA in killing or capturing dozens of targets. SFC Mertz would never let mission success hinder improvement though. Even when our teams were accomplishing difficult missions he identified the evolving signal environment and ensured we stayed ahead of the technological advancements. SFC Mertz’s leadership style was always upbeat and focused on improvement. He set the tone for the 1st BN, 5th SFG(A) Military Intelligence Detachment (MID) to be a positive, hardworking environment. That attitude spread throughout the MIDs in the other battalions in 5th SFG(A). He also spread that attitude to the NCOs he trained while working in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). It is normally difficult to quantify a leader’s sphere of influence until years after their career has ended. Unfortunately, with SFC Mertz I got a glimpse of his influence. On October 17th, 2015 SFC Mertz lost his lifelong fight to depression and committed suicide. I witnessed hundreds of people from Military Intelligence E-3s to Green Beret E-8s come together to mourn his passing and speak to the impact he had on their lives. When SFC Mertz left SOT-A 5102 I was fortunate enough to take over his team and carry on his legacy. After about a year of leading 5102, I evaluated my leadership style and my leadership philosophy for the first time in my military career. That was the moment when I realized how profound of an impact he had on my development. I always focus on the end goal that should benefit both the Army and the Soldier, even if that means separating a Soldier from the Army. Additionally, I realized I put a lot of focus on Sergeant’s time training (TC 7-22.7, 2014, p. 5-4). SFC Mertz rarely allowed his Soldiers to sit idly. He was always ready to execute hip-pocket training and I strive to be ready to conduct training whenever the opportunity presents itself. I hope I have left similar qualities in the Soldiers and NCOs I have trained, coached, and mentored. First, I believe that NCOs must execute their duties to place the mission first and at times that means recommending Uniform Code of Military Justice punishments or even separation.
When we recognize the need to chapter a Soldier from the military it is easy to focus on the negative. However, I believe we are doing it for the benefit of the Soldier as much as we are doing it for the benefit of the Army. If military service is not right for that Soldier we must identify it as soon as possible so they can begin a more appropriate career path. This allows us to put the right people in the right positions and then we can give them the right training. Secondly, I believe an NCO should always focus on training others. We should be training subordinates, peers, and seniors to make ourselves the premier fighting force on this planet (Brownhill & Pierce,2014, p. 48). Every NCO should find their area of expertise, preach that discipline to those around them, and be prepared to teach it with little notice. These are some of the leadership qualities I would like to pass to the next generation of leaders.
SFC Mertz was a profoundly influential leader in my career and the careers of many others. He made the NCO Corps a more professional and enjoyable place to work by his adherence to the Army Values and by demonstrating the Leadership Attributes and Competencies. He has mentored numerous NCOs, including myself, to improve ourselves, our community, our NCO Corps, and the
Army. References Province, C. M. (1995). Patton's One-Minute Messages: Tactical Leadership Skills for Business Management. Headquarters, Department of the Army (2012). Army Leadership. (ADRP 6-22). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Brownhill, C. L., & Pierce, A. C. (2014). The Noncommissioned Officer and Petty Officer BACKBONE of the Armed Forces (United States, Department of the Army, Office of the Senior Enlisted Advisor). Washington, DC: National Defense University Press. Headquarters, Department of the Army (2014). Noncommissioned Officer Guide. (TC 7-22.7). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
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