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9-411-050
FEBRUARY 9, 2011
BORIS GROYSBERG
DEBORAH BELL
Reb
becca S.
S Halsttead: Stteadfasst Leadership
h
two rules in
i life. Rule 1: Don’t quit. Ru
ule 2: Refer bacck to Rule 1.
I have
— Brigadier Generral Rebecca Halstead,
H
USA
A, Ret.
h
never met a soul, not onee person, who has
h ever said one derogatory word about Beecky Halstead.
I have
— General Tom
T
Hill, USA
A, Ret.
Reetired Brigadiier General Rebecca
R
(Becky
y) S. Halstead
d settled into
o her seat as the
t plane prep
pared
for tak
keoff. It had been
b
a whirlw
wind few day
ys. She had fllown from heer home near Washington, D.C.,
to Lass Vegas to add
dress a group
p of over 300 on
o leadership
p developmen
nt at a medicaal conference.. Now
she was
w headed to
o New York, to her alma mater,
m
the Un
nited States Military
M
Academy at West Point
(Westt Point), to ad
ddress a group
p of incoming
g cadets.
Haalstead pulled
d one of her ever-present notebooks frrom her briefccase to record
d her post-ad
ddress
observ
vations. Thiss longstandin
ng personal ritual resem
mbled an AA
AR (After-Acction Review
ws), a
proceedure Halstead had introdu
uced early in her Army caareer to help turn
t
around a problem-plaagued
unit. After
A
speakin
ng to an audiience, she alw
ways asked heerself three questions:
q
Wh
hat went welll? Did
anyth
hing not worrk? What did
d I learn? As
A she review
wed her rem
marks, Halsteead had only
y one
misgiving: had it been
b
a mistak
ke to reveal what
w
happen
ned in German
ny in 2005, siix months prrior to
mand of 20,0000 military an
nd 5,000 civiliaan personnel?? Never beforre had
her deeployment to Iraq in comm
she sp
poken in pub
blic about the incident: afteer an impeccaable career, and
a
one of thee fastest ascents in
Army
y history, Halstead had beeen told by heer boss that hee had no conffidence in herr ability to leaad the
comm
mand in Iraq.
Rebecca S. Ha
alstead
Reebecca (Becky
y) S. Halstead
d was born in 1959 in Willsseyville, New
w York, a ruraal community
y near
Ithacaa with 1000 inhabitants
i
an
nd no traffic lights. Halsttead was the third of BJ (Betty
(
Jeannee) and
Richaard Halstead’’s four child
dren. Richard
d Halstead was
w an electrrical engineeer who developed
system
ms for IBM an
nd BJ Halsteaad was a den
ntal hygienist. The Halstead
ds were a clo
ose-knit family and
Halsteead was very
y close to herr grandparentts as well. On
ne pair of graandparents liv
ved next doo
or (see
Exhib
bit 1). In high
h school she was a star on
o the varsity
y softball, vo
olleyball, bask
ketball, and crosscounttry teams. Ha
alstead had th
he same coacch for basketb
ball and softb
ball who she looked up to
o as a
role model
m
and mentor. So mu
uch so, in factt, that Halsteaad wanted to
o become a teeacher and atthletic
______________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Professo
or Boris Groysberg
g and Research Associate
A
Deborah Bell prepared thiss case. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for
f class
discussiion. Cases are not in
ntended to serve ass endorsements, so
ources of primary data,
d
or illustrationss of effective or inefffective managemeent.
Copyrig
ght © 2011 Presiden
nt and Fellows of Harvard
H
College. To
T order copies or request permission
n to reproduce matterials, call 1-800-545-7685,
write Haarvard Business Scchool Publishing, Bo
oston, MA 02163, or
o go to www.hbsp
p.harvard.edu/educators. This publicaation may not be digitized,
photoco
opied, or otherwise reproduced, posteed, or transmitted, without
w
the permisssion of Harvard Bu
usiness School.
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
coach and planned to attend Ithaca College after her high school graduation in 1977. Halstead
reflected:
Sports were my thing, especially in high school. In fact, the first time I ever felt like I was a
leader—and I won’t say a very successful one, but a leader—was in high school playing sports
and running for class office. Especially playing sports, because our coach was killed during my
junior year and we really needed to bring the team together because it was such a great loss. It
was hard for me personally, very hard. But I felt I owed it to the team to keep things going, too.
So I think I experienced what it means to be a leader at a fairly young age, in high school.
Halstead had never considered a career in the military until her mother read about West Point in
the local newspaper. It was 1976 and West Point had just begun accepting women. That year,
President Gerald Ford had signed into law legislation mandating the admittance of women to the
U.S. service academies. BJ Halstead encouraged her daughter to apply. Halstead recalled her
mother’s reaction to the newspaper article and its discussion of what West Point was looking for in
female cadets “This sounds just like you, Becky, very well-rounded.”
The application process to West Point was an arduous one. In addition to having to meet high
expectations for scholastic achievement and demonstrated leadership ability, there were strict
medical requirements and a fitness test. Furthermore, a congressional nomination was required:
every candidate to West Point must be nominated by his or her congressional representative or one of
her U.S. senators, or by the vice president of the United States. Obtaining a nomination was
challenging and highly competitive: each member of Congress has only five cadetships at the Military
Academy and can nominate up to 10 candidates for each vacancy.1 Willseyville lent its full weight to
Halstead’s candidacy. Her teachers, coaches and church and youth-group leaders supported her and
many provided the letters of recommendation that helped her obtain the congressional nomination
necessary to her candidacy.
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Halstead was one of 104 women and 1361 men admitted to the Academy’s second co-educational
class. Four years later she would be one of the 63 women and 961 men to graduate. Halstead’s
parents accompanied her to campus. The evening before her first day, Halstead shared a room with
three of her new classmates. Halstead recalled that evening:
I shared a room with three other women: one who wanted to be an astronaut, one aspired
to be a politician and the third spent the entire evening talking about wanting to party all the
time. I remember thinking to myself: what am I doing here? I have nothing in common with
these girls! The next morning, feeling scared to death and very anxious, I went to my parents
and said, “Take me home.” But my mom said, “Becky, let’s go for a drive.” And while we were
in the car, she encouraged me to not quit before I started and to give it at least a year.
Halstead’s parents had always encouraged her not to quit, to give everything she took on a fair
try. And so she heeded her mother’s advice. She also felt a strong sense of patriotism, fostered by her
maternal grandfather, Raymond E. Stevens (who every day raised and lowered the U.S. flag at his
home) and gratitude to those who had believed in and supported her:
My parents had instilled a strong ethic in me to not quit in life, and I did not want to be a
quitter. Nor did I want to let down everyone who had supported me—my family and
hometown. All of these people had helped to raise and develop me into the young adult I had
1 United States Military Academy: West Point Admissions http://admissions.usma.edu/prospectus/step_02b.cfm.
2
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
become. They had all invested in me, and this was a very, very powerful motivator that kept
me going.
Chicken Heart?
“West Point was hard, physically, emotionally and academically,” Halstead recalled. “We were
constantly being tested to see if we had what it takes.” During her second summer there, Halstead
and her classmates were sent for RECONDO (RECONnaissance and CommanDO) training. One goal
of the training was to learn to survive in an unfamiliar and possibly hostile environment. The training
took place at Camp Buckner, an isolated camp on the outskirts of the Academy. Cadets were assigned
to squads and told to line up single-file. Special Forces leaders distributed a few scant supplies and
provisions that each squad would have to live on for several days. One item was a live chicken.
I was the only female cadet in my squad and the last one in line. One of the Special Forces
leaders stood at the front of the line holding the live chicken by its neck. The cadet that was
handed the chicken was responsible for killing, cleaning and cooking it. The Special Forces
leader feigned handing it off to a few of the cadets who were before me in line, but waited until
I reached the front of the line and then thrust the live bird into my face. There is no doubt in
my mind that I was singled out in this case because I was a woman. Our squad was a team and
judged as such. I could read the concerned looks on my squad mates’ faces as they worried
that I may not have what it takes to kill, skin and cook the bird. What they didn’t know was
growing up in the country I was exposed to this and wasn’t scared at all.
As our squad sat around the fire eating the chicken, the Special Forces leader came over to
the site. He grabbed our garbage bag and pulled out the chicken’s heart and liver that I had
discarded while cleaning the bird. He marched over to me and, holding out the heart in one
palm and the liver in the other, barked at me, “These are edible. You do not throw out
anything that your squad can eat! Do you understand? You have a choice: to eat one now.
And, oh, by the way, you can eat these raw.” I knew I had to eat one. Otherwise another
member of the squad would be singled out, and I would lose any possible chance to earn their
trust and respect and would fatally fracture the team. I made a quick assessment and decided I
could probably swallow the heart whole, but not the liver. So I took the heart from his
outstretched palm, put it in my mouth and swallowed hard. I went way up with my male
peers after this.
Halstead and her classmates were promoted to the rank of second lieutenant upon graduation
from West Point in 1981.
You’re Ruining It Because You’re Single
Halstead married shortly after graduating from West Point, but the marriage was short-lived, and
she has to date not remarried.
I’ve actually had women say to me, “You’re ruining it out here because you’re single.
You’ve had, like, this rocket success in the Army, and you just can’t do that if you’re married.”
So it appears that you can only do that if you’re single? And I’d think: you’re absolutely crazy!
It’s difficult either way. It’s very difficult being single, because you have to do it all yourself:
there is nobody paying the bills and mowing the lawn and getting the groceries. Now, being
single has its advantages, in that at eight o’clock at night if I’m in my office, I’m not trying to
explain to my husband or my kids why I’m going to be late tonight.
3
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
So I kind of think the answer is they’re both really tough, and we shouldn’t judge one way
or the other. Instead I think we ought to recognize that if you have someone who’s working for
you that’s single, there are probably a set of challenges they have because of it. At least that’s
the way I did. I’m single, so I would be very emphatic with people that were married: “Look,
do you see my light on in my office at 10 o’clock at night? That doesn’t mean that I expect you
to still be there. But I do expect you to still do your job.” So if you’re married, that may mean
then you come at 4:30 in order to get your job done because your spouse won’t care if you’re
here at 4:30 in the morning. But she probably does care if you’re there at 7:30 at night for
dinner and to help put the kids to bed and stay with them.
I think there ought to be more respect with the fact that both have challenges in order to
make the work/life balance be successful. Neither one is a cakewalk. In both cases, to be
successful, you’re sacrificing something personally.
As a commander, Halstead has always taken into account the individual personal life choices of
her Soldiers.2 According to Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Whitson, who served as a company commander
under Halstead in 1997:
She was able to go deeper than just the Soldier; she also went down to the family, and really
got to know the Soldiers’ families, where the kids went to school, what grade they were in,
what colleges they went to. She took stock in getting to know her Soldiers, and that really was
something that I took in. And it inspired me to try to do the same.
Right Arm Night
Shortly after being promoted to captain in December 1984, Halstead completed a four-month
advanced course for ordnance officers at the U.S. Army Ordnance Missile and Munitions Center and
School at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, in May 1985 (See Exhibit 2 for Halstead’s military biography).
Ordnance officers are responsible for ensuring that weapons systems, vehicles, and equipment are
ready and in superb working order at all times. Ordnance officers also manage the development,
testing, fielding, handling, storage, and disposal of munitions.
Halstead chose to serve in Ordnance from the then 13 branches of the Army (there are now 17)3
and chose to serve her entire career in the Army in Ordnance. Said Halstead:
I chose to serve in Ordnance for several reasons. One, I loved math and science. As a kid, I
loved to spend time with my Dad, who was an engineer, while he worked with numbers. Also
because Ordnance is generally the largest or second largest branch of the Army and integral to
all other branches--Ordnance plays a strategic role helping all other branches to accomplish
their missions--I thought it would provide a great diversity of opportunity. In Ordnance you
are always helping others to achieve their goals and are part of the bigger accomplishment, the
greater good, and I thought this would be both personally and professionally rewarding.
Two months later, Halstead was given her first command position, as commander of the
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 80th Ordnance Battalion,4 at Fort Lewis, Washington.
2 The Army has moved away from the use of troops and now prefers to use Soldiers (with a capital ‘S”) when referring to the
men and women who serve in its ranks.
3 Visit http://www.us-army-info.com/pages/branches.html if you would like to see a complete listing of the current
branches.
4
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
At Fort Lewis Halstead was introduced to Right Arm Night, a longstanding military tradition
intended to build camaraderie and cohesiveness. Officers invite their non-commissioned officers—the
“right-arm men” or, occasionally, women—who help them perform their day-to-day duties. In 1985
women were still relative newcomers to the Officer’s Club and such rituals. Halstead recollected
evenings spent at the Fort Lewis Officer’s Club with the five other company commanders in her
battalion, two of whom were also women:
There was a lot of drinking and entertainment, usually in the form of female dancers. I had
no desire to go to the Club and drink beer with a bunch of men and watch women half-dressed
dance. But how else did you fit in? And we were expected to attend by our battalion
commander; we were absolutely expected to go. And it was very, very uncomfortable; it was
very lonely. How would all of the men have felt if we went to a club with male dancers? My
fellow female officers and I would sit with our backs to the stage so as not to face the dancers. I
was present, but not participating. And inevitably, somebody always drank too much and
caused an incident. There would be a fight, or someone would get a driving-under-theinfluence citation on his way home. And I remember thinking: there are much better ways to
create camaraderie.
Halstead commented at the time in one of her notebooks: “What I am not going to be/do when I
grow up and educate others about different points of view!” (See Exhibit 3 for an illustration of how
Halstead uses notebooks as an organizing-and-documentation tool.)
Recently, she reflected further: “Our culture is still so very stereotypical that it’s going to take a
long time to change. And I think the way we have to change it is to be courageous enough—without
starting with our defenses, or whining or complaining—to say, ‘Let me present this to you this way.’”
She shared an example:
As a colonel more than 10 years after my first Right Arm Night, I was at a meeting with 100
or so other commanders and we were waiting for a general. Besides myself, there was only one
other woman in the room, but I was the only female commander. There was a major standing
at the door, and his job was to announce the general. So we’re all in the room talking, carrying
on, and all of a sudden the major said, “Gentlemen, stand by.” The general came in and we all
stood at attention. I was pretty obvious in the room because I was in the front row, and I was
just so irritated that this major didn’t even see me--because he said “gentlemen,” right? I am
not a gentleman. But what I had to do was rationalize with myself: OK, don’t be mad. This is
just a bad habit; it wasn’t like he saw me and was trying to be disrespectful. But part of me
wanted to remain standing when he said, “Gentlemen, take your seats,” because I’m not a
gentleman. But then everybody would have looked at me and asked “Why are you standing?”
So part of me wanted to be really in their face about it. But I realized that if I did that, I was
just going to be the one with the problem, not them. So I sat down and thought about it and
afterwards I went over to the major and said, “Could I talk to you for a second? Do you
remember what you said when the general was coming? What you said was, ‘Gentlemen,
stand by. Gentlemen, take your seats.’” He said, “Yeah?” and was still pretty clueless. I said, “I
would like to present something to you. Let’s put me at the door as the major in your place,
4 A company consists of three to five platoons, a total of 62–190 Soldiers, commanded by a captain. A battalion consists of four to
six companies, or 300–1,000 Soldiers, normally commanded by a lieutenant colonel; a battalion is capable of independent
operations of limited duration and scope. A brigade consists of two to five combat battalions, or 3,000–5,000 Soldiers, normally
commanded by a colonel; brigades undertake independent or semi-independent operations. A division consists of three
brigade-size components, or 10,000–15,000 Soldiers, normally commanded by a major general (2 stars); a division performs
major tactical operations.
5
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
and you be in my place in the front, and I yell, ‘Ladies, stand by!’” And he looked at me really
funny and said, “Oh, ma’am, I’m so sorry. I should have said . . . .” I said, “Yes, you should
have.” But I said to him, “Let’s take it a step further here. If I had said, ‘Ladies, stand by,’ you
can be sure that 50 of those men would have jumped all over me, like, ‘What is your
problem?’” They would have been offended and it would have been my problem, not theirs.
So either way it’s always going to be my problem as a female. But what we need to do is,
just one person at a time, we’ve got to change this culture. I didn’t yell. I tried to give an
analogy of what it felt like. So a big part of this culture change is to figure out new ways to
present the problem, and a solution, so that you don’t automatically put a defensive wall
between people. We have to be all about building bridges and not walls.
The 63d Ordnance Company
Early in 1986 Halstead learned that the command position for the 63d Ordnance Company in her
battalion was becoming available. This was a tactical5 mission, an intense ammunitions command,
and she wanted it. It was also known throughout the battalion that the 63d Ordnance Company was
riddled with challenges: low morale, as well as discipline and drug problems. Halstead asked her
boss, Colonel Dewitt “T” Irby, for the position. It was a tough command; he tried to talk her out of it.
She insisted that she was ready for the command and could turn things around. Throughout her
career, Halstead has sought tough assignments:
I think I was seeking the turnaround units, because I’ve always had this mentality that
every day my goal is to make a difference in someone else’s life. Typically what I have found is
that people who are messing up, whether it’s doing drugs or poor performance, they don’t
necessarily wake up in the morning deciding to be the worst person they can be. It’s just that
their life isn’t quite right. So if any influence I can have on them helps make them a better
person, helps make the team a better team, helps make the organization more effective, then in
my mind that’s tremendous. And it’s a tremendous personal reward too. And whether I get
promoted for it or not, I really don’t care. It’s just that I like that feeling of putting my head on
the pillow at night being able to think: today I at least made a difference in one other person’s
life. And if you can do that, then you end up making a bigger difference for the team too.
Colonel Irby agreed to think about it. Then Halstead had to take a brief medical leave for surgery.
Worried that her leave could derail her already slim chances, Halstead called Irby to say, “Don’t
count me out.” He agreed to wait and see how her recovery progressed before making a decision.
When Halstead had recovered enough to begin exercising, she chose the field in front of Irby’s house
for her workouts. One day she spotted someone sitting in the bleachers watching her run. It was Irby.
Not only did he give her the command; this incident also marked the beginning of a lifelong
leader-mentor-friend relationship—part of what Halstead calls a “Leadership Triad” (See Exhibit 4).
It was Irby who promoted Halstead to major, colonel and general and a friendship developed over
the years that remains strong to this day.
5 The Army distinguishes between strategic, operational and tactical levels of engagement. According to the United States Army
Field manual FM 100-5 (1993) the tactical level focuses “on the ordered arrangement and maneuver of combat elements in
relation to one another and to the enemy to achieve combat objectives directed by the operational commander. Tactics is the art
and science of employing available means to win battles and engagements. Tactics is battlefield problem-solving—usually
rapid and dynamic in nature.
6
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
Taking Charge of the Unit
When Halstead became commander of the 63d Ordnance Company in August 1986, she became
responsible for 250 Soldiers—a small number by today’s standards, and by the standards of her own
more recent commands—but at the time the largest company in the battalion.
Halstead decided to meet with every member of the Company, from enlisted corps to warrant
officers (subject-matter experts with at least 10 years’ experience) to commissioned and noncommissioned officers. She wanted to learn their perspective--what they did and didn’t like about the
unit, what was working and what was not--and also to create a culture of open communication where
her Soldiers and staff knew they would be heard.
Within 30 days of taking command, Halstead had met with every member of the unit. These
meetings enabled her to perform an in-depth assessment of the Company’s strengths and
weaknesses, and helped her to align and deploy staff more effectively within the unit. The
information she collected also helped her design better systems for tracking and follow-up of
problems in the unit. Halstead immediately established a command philosophy for the entire unit
based on a priorities list established by her boss and mentor Colonel Irby (See Exhibit 5).
Halstead also instituted daily after-action reviews (AARs) to increase engagement, accountability,
and communication:
I started conducting daily after-action reviews; we called them AARs. I would meet in my
office at the end of the day with the leadership, and I would keep this to a short time, because
it was after-hours, so it would be 30 minutes. And everybody in the room had to give me
something that went right that day, something that went wrong that day, and something they
learned that day. As the Company improved, I moved the AAR meetings to once a week. A
great outcome of the AARs was that as we started to communicate, which is a huge part of
leadership, we redeveloped as a team.
To curb Soldier burnout from long hours at the ammunitions center, Halstead implemented
rotating shifts. She also introduced innovative punishment for disciplinary matters in a Company
that had been known for inconsistent and often disproportionate punishment. When two underage
Soldiers were caught drinking and sneaking their girlfriends into the barracks for instance, Halstead
sentenced both to spend a weekend living and working at a shelter for homeless men, many with
substance-abuse problems:
I brought these two kids in and I said, “Here’s what we’re going to do. Next four-day
weekend, and that’s coming up, you two are going down to Tacoma, to the shelter. And you’re
going to give up your four-day weekend—and the worst thing you can take from Soldiers is
their time--and for the four days that you’re down there under supervision and working with
homeless and alcoholic men, you’re going to see the effects of alcohol. And then you’re going
to write a 500-word essay, and present it to the Company, on what you learned (See Exhibit 6
for excerpts from each Soldier’s essay). Now, one kid totally turned around. The other kid
didn’t, and that’s pretty typical; he got into more trouble. He had to fall farther before figured
life out. But for me, part of leading is being innovative.
By opening up lines of communication in the Company, and responding swiftly, decisively, and
consistently to disciplinary problems, Halstead began to turn around the Company. Within six
months she had rooted out the drug problems; morale became noticeably higher and productivity
and performance effectiveness increased.
7
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Halstead led the Company until March 1988. It was very important to her to hand over a wellfunctioning unit to its new commander:
It’s a huge responsibility, and you want to do everything you can to set the next person up
for success and to set the new team up for success. I have another saying, which is: define your
success by how you make other people successful. In that first 90 days, if something negative
happens because we ill-prepared them, then we ought to be ashamed of ourselves. We should
not be just going for the finish line—hand it over, we’re out of there. We should be extending
that finish line.
Leadership Style: It’s Personal
In the ensuing 15 years, from 1988 through 2004, Halstead rose rapidly though the ranks and also
earned two master’s degrees along the way. Between early 1989 and mid-1991 Halstead served as an
assignment officer at the Ordnance Branch, U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, in Alexandria,
Virginia. Halstead was responsible for assigning all of the ordnance lieutenants in the Army.
Brigadier General Kurt Stein, who was then a captain and Halstead’s deskmate said:
Becky is very positive. That is probably her number-one strength. She has a positive, caring
style. She cares about people a lot. She’s approachable, personable, as well as tactically and
technically proficient. She’s just well-rounded. She’s the kind of person that you just want to be
around. And she’s the kind of person that finds goodness in everyone. She is the kind of leader
that makes you feel good about who you are and what you bring to the table. She’s a team
player, and takes care of her people very well.
Stein and Halstead have remained close ever since, which he describes as decidedly untypical in
the Army:
Once you’re out of an assignment, not many commanders stay in contact with you,
personally, professionally, sending you a Christmas note or whatever it might be. And the fact
that many people from all over keep up with her is telling. I’ve been in the Army for 34 years,
and there are only a handful of officers that I worked for that I have stayed in contact with in a
personal and caring way. And she’s involved. I surely wouldn’t go out of my way to stay in
touch with most, because they didn’t touch me in a special way. Becky has touched her
subordinates, and stays in touch with her subordinates in a special way that she has.
In October 1992 Halstead was promoted to the rank of major and received the promotion one year
early relative to her year group of 1981 (which is based on her graduation date from West Point) and
the promotions timeline followed by the Army.6 The following June she earned her first master’s
degree, in Advanced Military Studies (Visionary Leadership), from the Army Command and General
Staff College. In August of 1996 she was promoted to lieutenant colonel and also received this
promotion one year early. In February 1997 Halstead assumed command of the 325th Forward
Support Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, in Hawaii, under Division Commander General Tom Hill.
She was the only female commander in the division. Said General Hill:
6 This is referred to as a “below the zone” promotion. According to Army Regulation 600-8-29, Officer Promotions, “Officers
selected for promotion from below the promotion zone will be promoted following all officers on their promotion list who
were selected from the promotion zone and above the zone but before all officers on the subsequent promotion list.” The vast
majority (approximately 90%) of promotions occur “in the zone” with only roughly 10% being awarded “below the zone.” For
a more detailed discussion of the Army’s promotions process please see armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/R600_8_29.pdf.
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
She was the best battalion commander in the division—not the best support battalion
commander, not the best logistics battalion commander, the best battalion commander, period.
I consider her the best battalion commander I ever had. She generated excellence in everything
around her, because she is excellent in everything she does. And she does it in a very quiet,
unassuming way. For example, when she led her support battalion for the brigade combat
team at the Joint Readiness Training Center for two weeks of exercises—which is, by the way,
without question one of the hardest exercises in the Army, as close to war as you can get
without shooting real bullets—and at eight o’clock on the first morning, the guy in charge
called everyone and told them to go by and look at Halstead’s operation, because in the first
three hours she had set the standard by which they would grade all other battalions that came
from then on. Her operation was impeccable. It was incredible.
Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Whitson, who served under Halstead in Hawaii explained the
contribution of Halstead’s notebooks to her organizational and leadership skills. Early in their
relationship, when he was a new commander serving under her in the 325th Forward Support
Battalion, Halstead taught him a valuable lesson:
She had been the battalion commander for just a couple of months, and in that time she had
given me a lot of directives and a lot of tasks to complete. She also had directed me to make
sure to write things down, keep a record of everything. But I really hadn’t seen the point in
making the extra effort.
I was in her office one day, and she asked, “Have you completed this? I wanted you to do
this, and I don’t think it’s been done.” I said, “Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I don’t remember you ever telling me this.” And then she wheeled around in her chair and
pulled out this large stack of green steno notebooks. She counted down the stack and pulled
one book out; she started flipping through the pages, found the entry she was looking for, and
showed it to me. It said where we were, the date and time, and that she had told me to do it. I
looked at her, and said, “Yes ma’am. I have not done that, but I will!” And from that point
forward, I understood why she told me to write things down. As a young company
commander, boom, I got it. I understood that the details are important, especially in the Army
in our line of work [logistics]. And I also understood from that point on: when she told me
something, she meant it.
After completing her command of the 325th Forward Support Battalion, Halstead earned a second
master’s degree in National Resource Strategy (Advanced Manufacturing) from the Industrial
College of the Armed Forces in June 2000. During the 10-month program, she became friends with a
classmate, Janet Felts, who was then the Business Manger at the Navy Public Works Center in Hawaii
and later served as a senior executive on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s staff working on
civilian leadership development. Said Felts:
Becky is a very caring leader who has always put her Soldiers first, not only their wellbeing but that of their families as well, because she realizes that she will get the best effort from
her Soldiers by making sure that their concerns about their families are taken care of. In her 30some-odd years with the Army, Becky has come in contact with and influenced a lot of people.
And it is very difficult to stay in touch with those people, but she makes the extra effort. It may
just be a flash e-mail: “Hey, how you doing? I was thinking about you.” Or it could be
something that she has found out about family members or issues that the individual is
dealing with. Becky’s a very genuine person. If she’s talking to you, that focus, it is all on you
and what’s going on with you. Her ability to be focused on even the smallest detail while
having so many different things going on always especially impressed me.
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
In June 2000 Halstead was promoted to colonel. This promotion came two years “below the zone”
and marked Halstead’s third promotion in less than 8 years. Commenting on her quick rise through
the ranks, Halstead said:
Consistency in my performance and consistently high ratings in my annual reviews were a
big part of this, of course. But I was also very fortunate to have had some wonderful bosses
and they were what right looked like. And I also knew what right did not look like--and the
ability to discern between the two served me well.
Also in June 2000, Halstead became commander of the Division Support Command, 10th Mountain
Division, a command that included duty as part of a combined task force in Operation Enduring
Freedom in Afghanistan.7 Major Martine Kidd, who served as a company commander under
Halstead during this period, recalled:
It was Christmastime and she wrote a note, a handwritten note, and gave little mints to
every Soldier in the Brigade. That was over 2,000 people. There was a production line, her
driver and her secretary, and a couple of other staff officers would join us as they could. And
we were stuffing these envelopes with all of her handwritten notes and these mints for every
Soldier, individually. I thought: my gosh, here she was the brigade commander. She had so
much responsibility. But that was really emblematic of the way she led. It was very personal.
She truly cared about every person in her charge.
Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Whitson observed:
The unique thing about General Halstead, is that she has stayed in touch with me, guided
me professionally and personally. She came to see me before I deployed, would come have
dinner with my family instead of going to see the general for dinner. She would bring stuff for
my kids, knew my kids’ names from Day One, knew everything about me. This lady is
amazing, and she has this vast network of folks like that. And she truly—this is not some front
or something—she truly cares.
Also, when she was my battalion commander in the 25th Infantry Division, when it came
time for her annual officer evaluation, the commanding general of the division, General Tom
Hill, rated her number-one out of all the commanders in that division as a logistician. She was
against all these infantrymen; General Hill was an infantryman. I’ve never heard of anything
even remotely close to that.
In 2002 General Tom Hill, who had become commander of the U.S. Southern Command since
Halstead had served under him as a battalion commander in Hawaii, selected her as his executive
officer. The two remain in contact, and Hill has continued to follow and support Halstead’s career:
People will walk up to me and say that they have served with General Halstead. And they
say—and this is almost verbatim—every one of them, “I just love General Halstead.” I’ve never
heard that said of any other officer I’ve ever met: “I like,” “I admire,” but not “I love.” And
that’s what she is as a leader. It’s incredible. And humility is a good word. Everybody else gets
the credit. And that renders her great support.
7 In early 2002 during her command of the 10 Mountain Division, her boss, three-star General Franklin Hagenbeck, asked
Halstead to serve as the Senior Logistician in a Combined Task Force of subject matter experts from all branches of the U.S.
Armed Forces to plan the upcoming mission in Afghanistan. Halstead spent 30 days in Afghanistan contributing her expertise
while simultaneously maintaining command of the Division Support Command, which was based in Fort Drum, NY.
th
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
Brigadier General Halstead
In January 2003 Halstead learned that she was to be promoted to general. The frocking ceremony
happened in August 2004 (but the pay increase that accompanied the promotion did not take effect
until January 2005. Halsted joked “my friends from back home called this a fleecing!”). In September
2004, she became commanding general of the 3d Corps Support Command (3rd COSCOM), United
States Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany. The 3rd COSCOM was to spend one year training
in Germany before deployment to Iraq; the first Iraqi elections were scheduled for November 2005
and their operation had to be in place by then.
In her first command as a general, Halstead was responsible for 20,000 military and 5,000 civilian
personnel. The staggering logistical complexity of the operation was a function not only of its sheer
size but also of the deployment of Soldiers at different dates and with different levels of training and
preparation. (Halstead commented that she could always tell the Soldiers who were new to the Corps
because they were quicker to fire.) At the outset, Halstead articulated her outlook and her aims by
circulating a memorandum of her “Daily Philosophy” to her entire command. (The full memo
appears as Exhibit 7). The memo began:
The purpose of this memorandum is to SHARE my personal philosophy on life and
leading. I believe the most effective way to care for people is to get to KNOW them. So, the
focus of this written memo is to help you get to know me and have a better understanding of
who I am and what is important in my life. Clearly, to be given the responsibility and the
opportunity to lead Soldiers is at the top of the list; it is an honor and a privilege. First and
foremost, I am very much like all of you: I’m a Soldier, a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister,
and a friend. In these roles, it is very important to me that I am a person others can trust and
depend upon. Two words describe how I try to live each day: “STEADFAST LEADERSHIP.”
As a leader, I will do everything within my power to ensure a positive climate and work
environment where people come first and missions are always accomplished. “STEADFAST”
is an acronym and stands for: Soldiers, Training, Excellence, Attitude, Discipline, Family (and
Friends), Accountability, Selfless service, and Teamwork.
Halstead outlined the scope and mission of her command in Iraq:
My unit was to provide the operational logistics (distribution of supplies--fuel, ammo,
water, parts, food, clothing, medical, etc--and vehicle maintenance) across all of Iraq in support
of the 250,000 military and civilians serving there and the 20,000 military and 5,000 civilians in
my direct command were operating out of 55 different bases. I was also responsible for the
base defense of 5 bases; one was Balad, the largest logistics base in Iraq. There were 30,000
people located there and, although they did not all work for me, the burden of protecting them
was part of my mission. Additionally, I had 3 Infantry Brigades under my command and
control--historic for a logistician and female! I also had 3 Iraqi Transportation Regiments in my
command and we provided them transportation and maintenance training.
Halstead had one year to plan her operation and train and certify her units for deployments.
Certification was necessary for any deployment in the Army and demonstrated that established
standards had been met on all aspects of individual and collective performance from firing of
weaponry to competency in cultural training. After months of painstaking preparation and training
(see Exhibits 8, 9, and 10 for training materials Halstead prepared and distributed to her command),
Halstead was confident her Soldiers and unit were ready to be certified for deployment.
Certification had to be issued by her boss in Germany, a three-star general recently back from Iraq.
He was the most challenging boss Halstead had ever had. Intimidating and demeaning, he had
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
created a difficult environment for everyone throughout his command (which included multiple
bases across Europe). A few months before Halstead was scheduled to lead the 3rd COSCOM into
Iraq, he called her into his office. Halstead recalled the incident:
He threw a folder down on the table and told me to open it. It was about a company that
had been ambushed in Iraq, and the insurgents had taken Soldiers as prisoners and several
were killed. It was during a time in which he was over there, and he said, “This is what I think
is going to happen to your units while deployed in Iraq.” I was shocked—speechless! And
then he said, “I have no confidence in your ability to lead in combat.” After he said that, I felt
physically ill--I just wanted to throw up. And I’ll tell you, part of me wanted to just quit. And
then I started to second-guess myself. What if he’s right? And I was just trying to pull myself
together.
For months Halstead had endured demeaning comments and unwarranted tongue-lashings from
this general, but none that had questioned her core ability to lead. Thousands of men and women
were putting their lives in her hands. What would it mean for the mission and for her command if
she did not have her superior’s support? Where was she supposed to go from here?
In the trying moments that followed, as Halstead tried to work out what to do next, she recalled
something her grandmother had often said: stand your tallest when you’re on your knees. She
decided to convene her staff and tell them about the general’s no-confidence vote. They were her
team, and should be informed. Halstead asked her staff to meet her in her office. They knew she had
met with her boss; given his contentious and critical style of command, they were immediately
alarmed. Halstead recalled:
So when I get to my office my staff is lined up like ducks in a row. Of course, they’re
nervous. They know something has happened. And so I told them what happened in the
meeting. And it was my own staff that embraced me and encouraged me the way I’ve always
prided myself in doing for those who worked for me. And they helped me as a leader. And
that just really confirmed for me the importance of leading up.
Buoyed, Halstead decided that she and her team would not be derailed. She would not quit. “I
refused to believe that I would be this crummy little leader who’s going to fail,” Halstead later said.
“The good Lord did not bless my entire military journey, 24 years at that point, to go to Iraq and fail.
Sorry, not in the cards.”
Although Halstead was confident her team was ready to be certified, she and her staff decided to
do whatever was necessary to get the general to sign off on their certification for deployment—even
if this meant several additional months of training. And indeed there followed several months of
demanding, often grueling, retraining for Soldiers who had not had a break in months. Many had
planned to take time off to visit family before being deployed to Iraq; they were unable to do so
because of this retraining. Halstead observed:
That incident made us stronger. We were already a tight unit, but we became even tighter.
And we knew we had to get through these training exercises in order to meet my boss’s
demands. And you could even say that maybe we were a better team because of what he did.
Did that make his leadership right, then? Well, it doesn’t make it totally wrong, but I don’t
believe it makes it right—because, physically and emotionally, I think we went through some
things we didn’t have to do. For instance, nobody in my unit, not one of us, had any time off
that summer. We ended up conducting additional training for the entire summer. What
happens in the summer? That’s when your kids are out; that’s when your kids are graduating.
That’s when you get a little vacation time. We deployed for a year after having spent six
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
months in the field. So for 18 months we didn’t see our families. And so I don’t care what
anybody says, that wasn’t necessary. That was a lot of time lost for my people and their
families. And that’s what drives people out of the Army—bad leadership. We, the leaders,
create the environment. If there’s a poor environment and the leaders have allowed it to go on
that way, you’re going to lose your people.
After months of retraining, the general signed off on the deployment and Halstead deployed her
command into Iraq. By all measures, it was a successful year. The Iraqi elections took place and the
country was becoming increasingly stable. But Halstead would not consider her command a success
until her successor had also succeeded:
I was a demanding commander—and did not let up. Coming out of Iraq, before I turned
over my command to another general, I drove my people particularly hard in those last 90
days to make sure they were communicating with whoever was taking over from them so
there would be a seamless transition of authority between all. It’s a huge responsibility over
there, and you want to do everything you can to set the new commander and his or her team
up for success and to set that new team up for success. After we left Iraq, anything that
happened in that first 90 days—if something negative happened because we’d ill-prepared
them, then we ought to be ashamed of ourselves. We should not be just going for the finish line
of 12 months, hand it over, we’re out of there. We should be extending that finish line.
Now for me personally, I can candidly tell you that I probably didn’t feel relief until a year
later. I just felt like the whole time that the next general was over there, he had to conduct
operations in a way that were a result of a lot of decisions I had made as a commander. So his
success was very important to me. When he finally transitioned out of command successfully a
year later, I truly felt we had set them up the best we could. Only then could I say, “Mission
accomplished!”
After returning from her successful command in Iraq Halstead served as Commanding General of
the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Commandant at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland—in
short, the chief of all ordnance officers and Soldiers in the Army—often regarded as the apex of the
chain of command for an ordnance officer. Halstead commented:
Many do consider being in charge of your branch as “apex.” But I was not one of those
people. It was an honor and privilege, but commanding an operational unit deployed in
combat was apex for me. The Chief of Ordnance is a training and doctrine position and critical
to the leader development of our Soldiers and officers, but there is nothing for me that
compares to a combat command.
Halstead served for two years as Chief of Ordnance and then decided to retire. She had served her
country for 27 years. Said Halstead:
I grew up, 27 years in the Army, and I was blessed with success and accomplishments, but
there was always the expectation of the next rank. If I pinned on major, everybody was already
slapping me on the back and telling me I’m going to be a lieutenant colonel some day. Then
when I pinned on lieutenant colonel, everybody said “You’re going to be a colonel some day.”
And I would think to myself: can I just enjoy the rank I am, with the command that I have?
I think as I grew up in the Army and was promoted and attained more responsibility, I
never really looked at myself as being truly successful until the day I retired. On the day I
retired, the words could be read that I had honorably and faithfully served my country, and
upon that you get an honorable retirement. I did not allow myself to really consider myself
successful until that day. And it was then I thought, wow, I guess I did OK!
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Martine Kidd who served under Halstead in 2000–2002 as a company commander in the 10th
Mountain Division, commented:
She is a national treasure. But she would never accept that sort of recognition. I think that
the day that she decided to retire was a sad day for the Army. But there are a whole lot of
Soldiers in the Army who are still a reflection of her leadership. So she is still making an
impact in the Army to this day.
Halstead believed deeply in selfless service to others, no matter in the private or public sector, and
in the ability of good leadership to make a difference for individuals, organizations and communities.
Said Halstead, “Selfless service cannot be measured. It is not a goal or destination, it is a journey. It
springs from the inside and has no race or gender. It is a lifestyle, not a moment of courage. It is
humbleness in action.”
Said Lieutenant Colonel Kirk Whitson:
In the Army we have a set of values that we live by which center on trust and selfless
service, and if you were to pile up our set of Army values, a picture of General Halstead would
just light up right next to them because she truly is and represents all of those things. And she
gets everybody around her to do the same thing.
Postscript
As Halstead’s plane landed in New York, she readied herself to deplane and begin the trip to
West Point. But she continued wondering whether she should have told the story about the incident
in Germany. When she disembarked, a CEO from the Las Vegas conference, who had been on the
same flight, was waiting for her. Halstead recalled:
He reached out his hand and said, “I want to thank you for sharing your story about what
happened with your boss in Germany before you went into combat. At my last board meeting,
there was one director on my board who announced in front of the entire board that he had no
confidence in my ability to lead the company. So I could really relate to how that boss made
you feel. And you’ve encouraged me to know that I can overcome this with my team.” And
with that, my question was answered: it was the right thing to do to talk about what happened
in Germany. And ever since then I’ve been talking about it. Because I realized many know
exactly how I felt and they are encouraged, as was this CEO, by my story.
Halstead added:
If you really get to know people and know their hearts, then I think you have a much
greater ability to lead and influence and shape success, whether individually or for the
organization. It has always been important for me to let people know who I am, and my
values, priorities and expectations. Leadership is the fusion of heart and mind, in selfless
action, for the betterment of others, to effectively accomplish the mission, and to make a
difference.
Since retiring from the Army, Halstead continues to develop leaders. She founded her own leader
development organization and speaks to and works with businesses and organizations across all
sectors to help develop better leaders.
14
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Exhibit 1
411-050
My DNA
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
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411-050
Exhibit 2
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Rebecca S. Halstead: Military Bio
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
Exhibit 2 (continued)
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
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411-050
Exhibit 3
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Halstead’s Notekeeping System (Please note: annotations on each page are by Halstead)
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
Exhibit 3 (continued)
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Exhibit 3 (continued)
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
411-050
Exhibit 3 (continued)
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
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411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steaadfast Leadership
Exhibit 4
Leadership
p Triad
O
Often,
we aree experiencin
ng all 3 sidees of the trian
ngle at the saame time.
1. The LE
ED---99% off our lives we are in this category—b
because we usually
u
havee
a boss and are mem
mbers of soccieties goverrned by leaders and rulees.
eader—sharing, develop
ping and passsing on whaat we have learned—so
l
2. The Le
others can take our places. Leaaders ensuree their organ
nization has a shared
Vision
n (3-5 years out),
o
stated mission
m
(task
k and purpose), and attaainable,
realistiic goals.
3. The Le
egacy—chan
nges over tim
me; leaving a foundation
n for others to
t spring
from and
a do BETT
TER than wee did: Definee your successs by how yo
ou make
other people
p
succeessful!
Source: Reb
becca S. Halstead
d.
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Exhibit 5
411-050
Command Philosophy for 63d Ordnance Company
x
DISCIPLINE: Set the example with high standards and lead by example
x
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING: Basic
Line Supervisor (SGTs business)
skills
in
a
decentralized
mode
by
the
First
x UNIT TRAINING: Union of individual & collective tasks to accomplish mission (Officer
responsibilities)
x MATERIAL READINESS: Unit equipment is accounted for, fully operational, and well
maintained for a “come as you are” war
x OFFICER DEVELOPMENT/NON COMMISSIONED OFFICER (NCO) DEVELOPMENT:
Preparing the OFF/NCO Corps to better accomplish
assigned tasks and responsibilities
x
MAINTAIN FACILITIES: Give emphasis to repairing and maintaining our facilities
x
SAFETY: Nothing we do in peacetime warrants unnecessary risk
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
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411-050
Exhibit 6
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Excerpts from 63d Ordnance Company Soldiers’ Essays
Soldier 1
Tacoma Detox is a place for people with severe drug and alcohol problems. I observed a lot of
down and out people with nothing but the clothing on their back. They ranged between the ages of
18 and 60. They all had sad stories to tell, too...
While I worked at the Detox Center I talked to most of the patients that were there. Some said that
they had served in the Army and had a drinking problem while in the service. A few patients had a
job and went to the center so that they could keep their jobs. Most of the others lived in the streets for
several years, ate at missions and had spent most of their money on alcohol. I felt sorry because I
have always had a home or a place to stay like the barracks.
I had to help some people get into an elevator, out of their clothes and into a sort of hospital
smock. I cleaned vomit stains off of nightstands and commodes…They had a window boarded up
because some one had jumped through before. I thought that kind of thing only happened on
hallucinogenics but I was wrong. I never though that alcohol could have such a bad effect on a
persons behavior until what happened to me [personally] and what I saw at the Detox center…
The experiences of the people at the center have proven to me that an addiction to alcohol or
drugs can happen to anyone, and once you become addicted it begins
to control your life. You
begin hurting the ones you love and yourself. It can cost you everything…
I now understand that alcohol can cause many serious problems. I learned a valuable lesson from
Tacoma Detox that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Soldier 2
My work at the Detox Center in Tacoma showed me not to get hooked on alcohol and drugs. It
really made me sad and upset to see a lot of people strung out with nowhere to go and no job at all…
I’ve seen a lot of people from where I’m from
go down hard for alcohol and drugs and they think
it’s cool to do that… I think it’s stupid, money wasted and nothing but trouble. If it was up to me, I
would have people go down there and see what life is all about, because those people
aren’t down
there for nothing.
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
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Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Exhibit 7
411-050
Halstead’s Daily Philosophy
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
HQ, 3d Corps Support Command
APO AE 09096
AETV-SCG
2 Sep 2004
MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD
SUBJECT: Daily Philosophy
1. The purpose of this memorandum is to SHARE my personal philosophy on life and leading. I
believe the most effective way to care for people is to get to KNOW them. So, the focus of this written
memo is to help you get to know me. . . . Clearly, to be given the responsibility and the opportunity
to lead Soldiers is at the top of the list; it is an honor and a privilege. First and foremost, I am very
much like all of you: I’m a Soldier, a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, and a friend. In these roles,
it is very important to me that I am a person others can trust and depend upon. Two words describe
how I try to live each day: “STEADFAST LEADERSHIP.” . . .
2. “STEADFAST LEADERSHIP” is what I demand from myself and I believe it is what we must
allow each member within our organization the opportunity to demonstrate. My goal is to live the
“STEADFAST Leadership” principles I address below. In doing so, I hope my actions and my
example, not my words, will motivate others. . . . Simply defined, I believe one’s true character is
“who you are when no one else is watching.”
4. “STEADFAST” . . . stands for: Soldiers, Training, Excellence, Attitude, Discipline, Family (and
Friends), Accountability, Selfless service, and Teamwork. Below are some expressions of what I mean
by “STEADFAST” and a little more about myself:
a. Soldiers: People are our most valuable resource. . . . I consider all service members to be
Soldiers, regardless of rank. I am a Soldier. To be a Soldier one must be able to both serve others and
lead. Each of us . . . must always be prepared (technically, emotionally, physically, spiritually) to take
charge when in charge. We must never forget each of us were all younger and more junior yesterday;
remember this when developing subordinates and setting standards. Lead by example. Demand the
same from yourself as you would others. “Coach, teach and mentor” must be our watchwords. . . .
b. Training: . . . Quality training is the ultimate display of genuinely caring for our Soldiers
and their families. . . . Training is maintaining! Maintaining our equipment, our records, our health,
our family structure are essential to our readiness and our ability to deploy. We must plan,
coordinate and conduct realistic, combined arms training. . . . I strongly encourage creative and
competitive training programs. . . . We must push ourselves and set high, achievable goals, not just
meet the minimum requirements.
c. Excellence: . . . We represent the military and the United States 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. Our actions must always reflect that we are a values-based, people-focused, and mission
oriented organization. We must all “Talk the Walk and Walk the Talk.” We must make every effort to
provide responsive, premier support to our customers; remember, we are customers of our own
organization. . . . Seize the initiative, go the extra distance, and be innovative. . . .
d. Attitude: The one thing in life we can control is our attitude. Our attitudes reflect our true
character. . . . When you see a problem, become part of the solution! “Be all you can be” but not at the
expense of someone else. . . . Take time for self-development and reflection and education in order to
turn weaknesses into strengths. Seek responsibility, not glory and power. Work diligently and
selflessly to make the team successful and cohesive. Do not worry about who gets the credit. . . .
25
This document is authorized for use only by Casey Bethke in BADM755 Fall 2023 taught by MICHAEL ROACH, Dakota State University from Aug 2023 to Feb 2024.
For the exclusive use of C. Bethke, 2023.
411-050
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Exhibit 7 (continued)
e. Discipline: When we exercise discipline in all aspects of our lives, we realize success. We
are able to choose the harder right over the easier wrong, accept risk versus gambling, and . . . push
ourselves to limits we never thought possible. . . . The greatest compliment we can receive is that we
are a disciplined organization! Discipline is the final line between a safe and unsafe act. . . . We must
all have on our “pay attention eyes and ears” and always look for ways to improve safety. Nothing is
more important than a Soldier’s life! Watch out for each other and enforce a buddy system, both on
and off duty.
f. Family and Friends: . . . . I have 8 nieces and nephews, . . . and enjoy the role of “Aunt and
Great Aunt Halstead.” My parents are raising one of my nephews, Joey, and I play a large role in his
life. . . . It is very important for me to balance quality family time and work. I believe it is rewarding
to get involved with the community, school activities, and the church. . . . Family Readiness Groups
are really Unit Readiness Groups. Use your talents and participate in a positive way out of desire,
not out of obligation.
g. Accountability: Accountability . . . encompasses both personal and professional
standards: from your CIF hand receipt, family care plans, finances, to your supply, maintenance,
readiness, budget, administrative and time management responsibilities. Hold yourself accountable
for your own actions and accountable for the care and keeping of those entrusted under the
leadership position you hold.
h. Service: . . . None of us joined the military to become famous or be heroes. We joined to
selflessly support and defend the constitution of the United States. . . . I believe true LEADERSHIP is
reflected in our ability to SERVE others first. We serve each other, our fellow units, our families, our
Army and our country.
i. Teamwork: Together Everyone Achieves More. . . . Communication and cooperation are
critical to the effectiveness of the chain of command. Disagreement does not equal disrespect. . . .
Counseling is part of training and leader development and must be conducted by all leaders.
Teamwork must extend horizontally across our organizations: Soldiers helping Soldiers . . . , families
helping other families, units helping other units and military supporting our civilian community. . . .
The Chain of Concern is also part of the team and I believe that family members provide a critical link
to our success.
5. Bottom line, I enjoy life, I love people, I enjoy photography, I love to laugh and I love to work
hard! I look forward to sharing this time in the 3rd COSCOM with each and everyone of you, learning
from each other and developing a solid, caring, enthusiastic and winning TEAM!
“Sustaining the Line!”
REBECCA S. HALSTEAD
BG, USA
Commanding
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
26
This document is authorized for use only by Casey Bethke in BADM755 Fall 2023 taught by MICHAEL ROACH, Dakota State University from Aug 2023 to Feb 2024.
For the exclusive use of C. Bethke, 2023.
Rebeccca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadersship
Exhib
bit 8
411-050
3rd CO
OSCOM Priorrities
Source: Rebecca S. Hallstead.
27
This document is authorized for use only by Casey Bethke in BADM755 Fall 2023 taught by MICHAEL ROACH, Dakota State University from Aug 2023 to Feb 2024.
For the exclusive use of C. Bethke, 2023.
411-050
Exhibit 9
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steaadfast Leadership
Sustainer Warrior
W
Visio
on
Source: Reb
becca S. Halstead
d.
28
This document is authorized for use only by Casey Bethke in BADM755 Fall 2023 taught by MICHAEL ROACH, Dakota State University from Aug 2023 to Feb 2024.
For the exclusive use of C. Bethke, 2023.
Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership
Exhibit 10
411-050
Professionalism and Language
Source: Rebecca S. Halstead.
29
This document is authorized for use only by Casey Bethke in BADM755 Fall 2023 taught by MICHAEL ROACH, Dakota State University from Aug 2023 to Feb 2024.