Summarized by the Alliance for Fort Gordon
Published November 7, 2025
Command is a pivotal experience and a career-defining opportunity. The scope of responsibility and depth of impact can be immense. For many, command introduces a level of complexity, ambiguity, and expectation that outstrips current experience. Too often, though, the preparation for a command transition is rushed, formulaic, or routine. We should treat command transitions with the same level of practiced precision with which Olympic runners rehearse the baton handoff in the 4 x 100 relay. Baton passes – in races or in command – can dictate the outcome for an entire team.