Mentoring is a word you hear a lot of in the Army these days. In my 31 years of service, I've heard an awful lot of lip service paid to the notion of mentoring junior officers, but seen very little of it actually being done. Unfortunately, this is true in the FAO community today.
Part of the problem is that many of us don't really know what mentoring is, or what the duties and responsibilities of a mentor should be. In Greek mythology, Mentor was the trusted counselor of Odysseus (an untrained but forward deployed FAO if there ever was one), and the term has come to be defined as a wise and trusted counselor or teacher. That certainly sounds like most senior FAOs doesn't it--or does it? Far too many senior FAOs--myself included unfortunately--think of ourselves as "mentors" to younger FAOs when mostly what we do is give them five or ten minutes of our accumulated "wisdom" before moving on to another topic or project. Mentoring should not be confused with the periodic counseling of subordinates or the occasional words of advice given in response to questions from junior officers. We all do that. Mentoring is far more difficult and complicated.
Genuine mentoring is a time-consuming responsibility, one that may require several years to fully realize. This is one reason there are so few real mentors out there. But a real mentor should be willing to pay something back to the institution to which he has devoted his life. General Matthew Ridgway--a Latin American FAO of sorts by the way--used to suggest to officers he thought were beginning to take themselves too seriously that they should stick their arm up to the elbow in a large bucket of water. When they pulled it out, the depression left in the water would be exactly how much the Army would miss them when they were gone. Ridgway's message, of course, was that none of us is indispensable; none of us, however talented or "important" we believe ourselves to be will be missed when we retire. The Army is too large and impersonal, much greater than the sum of its individual parts. This is why mentoring is so critical- -it is our legacy--the only thing we ultimately will leave behind are the younger officers we have influenced and nurtured along the way.
So, how do we do it? There's no formal recipe for successful mentoring, but perhaps a few rules of the road might suffice to get started. Mentoring is generally two levels down: generals mentor colonels and lieutenant colonels, colonels mentor majors, and lieutenant colonels mentor captains. It is a mixture of sound professional advice, straight talk, and regular interaction. Who is worthy of it? Not every junior officer, only those who possess a special talent or the potential to make a real contribution to the Army. Mentoring is so time consuming that it shouldn't involve more than one or two younger officers at any given time. This is because a good mentor is willing to take the time to create professional opportunities, expose his "students" to the wider world, and intervene with seniors if necessary to protect them. The best mentors should only give one helpful "push" toward promotion or a key job. After that, an officer must rise or fall on his own merits and the mentor is then free to move on to another candidate.
If you're a junior officer in search of a mentor, how do you find one? Remember, you have a part to play too. First, be worthy of mentoring. Work hard, study hard, be technically and tactically proficient, in short, demonstrate you are worthy of mentoring. Second, seek out a potential mentor and ask him/her directly. Many seniors will be flattered, or at least impressed by your initiative. A good place to start is to call on senior FAOs like those on the Board of Governors of the FAO Association. Perhaps they can take you on or recommend you to a friend who is in a better position to be your mentor. Be persistent if there is initial reluctance and find another candidate if necessary. Third, once a mentoring relationship is established, advice proffered must be taken; no one is going to waste very much time on someone who isn't listening or isn't willing to do their part. Finally, once you get that one big "push", realize that you're on your own--and remember that the only way to pay back your mentor is to help someone else in the future.
We FAOs are a very small community and it's time we start acting like one. Only by working together can we achieve very much for our country or for one another.