Elements of Greatness

What made LTC Lloyd Mills the Bear Bryant of BN Commanders

I want to lay out what I believe are the elements of LTC Lloyd Mills’s greatness. These elements complement each other and may overlap. They are from my experience and recollection as a member of his battalion during his entire command. As I have studied Bear Bryant and the tremendous changes he made in people’s lives, I realized that Lloyd Mills had that kind of impact on his men. I was a weak to mediocre lieutenant who had the chance to learn from one of the greatest leaders in the Army. I would like to believe that in spite of myself, LTC Mills’s leadership changed the direction of my career and my life.

The Like Tactical Mindset

LTC Mills was a master trainer and the one driving idea behind his training philosophy was the “LIKE TACTICAL MINDSET.” Through thorough planning and repetition of execution, LTC Mills made sure each one of his platoons and companies executed their Mission Essential Tasks in a very similar manner. All of his platoons were not identical, but they all knew what the battalion commander expected them to do when he gave them a mission. This idea also gave each unit confidence in the units on their left and right and an understanding of how they would be executing their mission. I would be willing to bet that you would still find wide spread agreement between LTC Mills’s former officers on how to execute those Mission Essential Tasks.

Unfailing Loyalty

Because I served as his Adjutant, I had the privilege of seeing how hard LTC Mills worked to get each of his commanders a good report card. The maddest I ever remember seeing him was after failing to convince the Brigade Commander to reward one of his top commanders with a good officer evaluation report. He went to bat for his men time after time, probably, had he lived long enough, to the detriment of his career. I never forgot that and what it meant to his battalion.

High Expectations

When LTC Mills took over our battalion, he did not measure where we were as a unit and calibrate his expectations accordingly. LTC Mills laid down his expectations of the unit and each soldier and forged the 3-327th into the best Infantry Battalion in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault!). If he had dumbed down his expectations to match the kind of unit he inherited, then we would have been mired in mediocrity as a group and as individuals. He never allowed us to fall short and we were all the better for it.

Professionalism

Consistent professionalism was part and parcel to LTC Mills’s high expectations. This professionalism was also known to his officers as “CHEESE”, we knew that every training event and every social event and every ceremony that we put on had to be first rate. You could go to any range, and dining out, or any retirement and see that professionalism on display. Unfortunately, my enduring memory of the capstone of his demand for professionalism was his own memorial service. I am proud to say that LTC Mills’s professionalism did rub off on his officers and lived on with them in the Army and in the civilian world.

Competitiveness

You have to compete with your peers to be the best. LTC Mills had great personal humility, but great pride in his unit and wanted us to be the best in everything. He made us want to be the best in everything as well, whether it was basketball against a sister battalion or performing better at JRTC (which was much more important to us), we strove to work hard enough to be the best at everything we did. I think everybody who served in his battalion believed we were the best and many outside of the battalion conceded that to us. It was the drive of our commander that made us the best.

Showmanship

One of the reasons soldiers followed Lloyd Mills is because it was fun to follow him. He would always make the soldiers proud of him and proud of the unit. I remember at Eric Lyman’s promotion to 1st Lieutenant that a push-up challenge arose between Eric and LTC Mills. LTC Mills matched him push-up for push-up and then, started doing his push ups one-armed. The battalion went nuts! It was a great memory and made us all realize that we better come ready if we were going to challenge the commander!

Confidence in his Men

Another hallmark of LTC Mills’s tenure as the Battleforce commander was his confidence in his men. It was this confidence that allowed the battalion to reach its potential and forged the strong bond between men and commander that I have not seen since. I think the most famous example of this confidence was the story of the trip to Panama. It was highly unusual for units visiting the Jungle Training Center to get time off to go into town because of all the potential for trouble. LTC Mills carried his entire battalion into town, let his boys loose, and they responded by staying out of trouble and returning on time without incident. I think that was a first, but its no surprise that Lloyd Mills battalion was the first battalion to pull that off.

The Great Motivator

Many leaders can get the most out of their top performers, but LTC Mills seemed to get the most out of each member of his battalion. We were not organized to be what most would consider an elite unit, but LTC Mills masterfully elevated our status by motivating us to be the best. I think the most telling evidence that we were all driven to be the best is that we imitated the best. Almost every member of the battalion had a LTC Mills impersonation. Some were better than others, but when we impersonated LTC Mills it was because we truly wanted to be like him.

Mission Focus

LTC Mills was not only a great leader and motivator, but he led us in the right direction. His focus on our mission gave purpose to everything we did. Each element of greatness that I have outlined made our unit great at accomplishing our mission. If we were not good at our combat mission, then none of these other things I am sharing with you would matter. I am proud to say that I have been called a zealot about accomplishing my mission during the course of my career. I learned that from the best.

Beer

Anybody who remembers LTC Mills, remembers him with a beer in his hand. A Stroh’s beer. He used beer more effectively than any commander I have ever met. When his officers gathered, we drank beer. When he met with the Command Sergeant Major, they drank beer. When we gathered for officer professional developments, we drank beer. We all drank the LTC Mills Kool-aid and that Kool-aid came in a Stroh’s beer can!