Episode 64: Beyond the Uniform: 5 Traits That Set Great Soldiers Apart

The stark contrast between exceptional soldiers and those merely going through the motions reveals itself through five distinct traits that consistently separate warriors from paycheck collectors in today's military. Drawing from experiences across multiple duty stations, this raw, unfiltered breakdown exposes what truly makes certain soldiers shine while others fade into the background.

Relentless discipline stands as the cornerstone of military excellence—not just following standards but living them with unwavering commitment. From immaculate grooming to meticulous weapons maintenance, elite soldiers understand that discipline creates reliability when chaos erupts. As we explore physical and mental toughness, the truth emerges about what separates those who conquer challenges from those who surrender to adversity. The battlefield truth is brutally simple: if your mind quits before your body, you're done. Period.

Initiative and adaptability might be the most powerful differentiators in modern warfare. While average soldiers wait for perfect orders, high-performers see gaps and fill them without hesitation. This proactive mindset, combined with team loyalty that prioritizes mission and battle buddies above self, creates an unstoppable force on and off the battlefield. The final piece—tactical and technical competence—transforms good soldiers into indispensable assets. Whether mastering weapons systems, communications, or battle drills, top performers develop expertise that makes them deadly effective and natural teachers within their units.

Ready to transform your military performance? Stop waiting to be told what to do and start embodying these five critical traits. Share your experiences in the comments about which characteristics you've seen make the biggest impact, and don't forget to subscribe for more straight-talking military insights that will help you stand out for all the right reasons.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction: High-Speed Soldier Traits
• 1:33 Trait 1: Relentless Discipline
• 6:48 Trait 2: Physical and Mental Toughness
• 12:26 Trait 3: Initiative and Adaptability
• 17:33 Trait 4: Team Loyalty and Selflessness
• 20:18 Trait 5: Tactical and Technical Competence

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Want to know what separates high-speed soldiers from those who just collecting a paycheck. These five traits make or break warriors in the United States Army on a daily basis. Don't believe me, stick around and find out. Roger Sarn, welcome to the Roger Sarn Podcast, where we talk all things Army and I'm your host, sarnt Cruz, and today I'm giving you my opinion on what traits I think a high-speed soldier displays, what makes them different from the rest of the crew, from the rest of the crew, what makes them get noticed and how does these make them shine more than those who aren't displaying these traits? Now, before I get started, I want to share some background on why I'm saying this, because, after being in more than five duty stations nine times out of 10, the troops that shine the most are the ones that display these five traits that I'm about to tell you. They make the most out of their opportunities and it gets them notice sooner than later. Believe it or not, leaders do reward dedication. Now, without further ado, let's get started. Number one relentless discipline. High-speed soldiers don't just follow standards, they live the standard, and I know that sounds cliche, I get it. Blah, blah, blah, but that's the honest truth, right when it comes down to I'm talking about when it comes down to grooming, when it comes down to doing PT, when it comes down to doing weapons maintenance, what they do is they operate and they execute everything with detail and precision. And when I say this, you're probably asking why does this matter? And it matters because discipline creates reliability in chaos. I say again discipline creates reliability in chaos when things are going awry. Let's say super simple, super simple example Everyone's standing around waiting for formation to happen. Have you ever noticed that? Even you see leaders I'm talking about senior level leaders they'll sit back and they won't do anything. When that high speed soldier takes that formation and gets everyone where they need to be and starts everything going, then you'll see someone else try and trump it right, but until then it's organized chaos and someone has to do it. And by doing so it's going to earn the trust of leaders and, most importantly, your teammates. And I say most importantly because your teammates are the ones you work with on a daily basis and those are the ones that are going to have to know that you have their back. And this is why I say that it doesn't matter when we're talking about weapons maintenance, pt, just grooming. Because when you show up to work, you're being judged on a daily basis, from the time you walk in to the time you leave, right. So I don't care if you shave all the way down to how you pack your ruck, that high speed troop, they're not going to cut a corner, right? If they have a shaving profile, then they have a shaving profile.

Speaker 1: 4:11

We're not talking about those individuals. We're talking about the ones that actually shave, and actually shave every day, or to the point that there's not a stubble. We're talking about those individuals that pack their rucks and don't have every one of those straps just hanging and dangling right. Those things matter. And I'll give you an example. The first time I went to EFMB CTL2, the lane two was at that time, it probably still is it had the gas, it had the NBC in it and I was docked when it was time to decon. I was docked because my straps were hanging and created cross-contamination, and it wouldn't happen if I would have had the straps all rolled up right.

Speaker 1: 5:18

So why does this matter? Because a sloppy soldier doesn't survive long. Discipline equals respect. I don't care how you want to cut it. You probably never heard it or you probably never wanted to believe it. You will notice that little by little, they start to a trip because they just won't cut it. They're too sloppy, they don't clean up, they don't make sure that when they do their PMCSs they're doing the proper PMCS, they're always cutting corners, their vehicle's always down and all of that adds up into the fact that they're being unreliable. And don't get me wrong, sometimes vehicles just don't work.

Speaker 1: 6:06

We know how the Army is, but we're talking about things that you can control and, at the end of the day, relentless discipline is going to get you where you need to be. Because what's the number one thing you need to do in order to get fit? You have to have discipline. You have to not want to go to the gym today. I'm going to go to the gym. I have to do it because there's that and a third Bottom line Trait, number two physical and mental toughness, just kind of segwayed into that right.

Speaker 1: 6:48

So these high speed soldiers that I'm talking about, they're going to maintain their peak physical fitness and I'm not saying, oh well, you're talking about the big backs are not physically fit. I've seen multiple soldiers that you would say you would look at them and you'd be like I don't think they run really fast, and they do. They can run sub-16s at the time that we did APFT right, they run sub-16s, 13s, 14s, right. But I'm talking about the ones that can't. I'm talking about the ones that find an excuse on why they cannot go to the gym, on why they cannot perform in the morning. Three times out of the week they're at sick call, and that is a lack of mental toughness. If you're not hurt, If you're hurt, it's totally different. Like go to sick call, do everything. I'm a medic so I understand. I'm talking about the ones who deliberately do it, those high-speed soldiers that we talk about.

Speaker 1: 7:59

They also have something that's called mental resilience under stress, right. So, going back to the ruck right, if you're doing a ruck, if you're in a let's say, a firefight, or you're pulling a 24 hour shift, all three of those things need that mental resilience. The ruck when you're doing a 12-mile ruck, your mind, more times than not, wants to give up. Before your body does. In a firefight, you're probably going to be shit in your pants and your mind is going to tell you get cover, get yourself concealed, don't return fire, because if you get up, you're going to get shot. However, you know that your training has taught you better and you have to be that your training has taught you better and you have to be resilient under that stress.

Speaker 1: 9:02

24-hour shift. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for sleeping on a 24-hour shift, but what I'm talking about is 24-hour shifts out on the line, not in garrison. You have to stay up. I'm talking about if you got to put four zins in your mouth, do it. But these things are what an actual high-speed soldier displays.

Speaker 1: 9:38

And why does physical and mental toughness matter? Because at the end of the day, the army fights with the body and the brain and if there's a weakness in either or it can cost lives. That's literally it right. If your mind quits before your body is done, I'm sorry. If your mind quits before your body is done, is I'm sorry before if. If your mind quits before your body, you're done. That's it. You're done on that ruck march. You're done in that firefight. You're done in that. On in your post 24 hour shift, you're done Like you're not going to be able to get up.

Speaker 1: 10:16

And high speed soldiers they train hard, they sleep less a lot of the times and at the end of the day they push through the suck and they push through the suck without really crying about it. And I'm not saying that they never complain, because I'm a lot of times I'm going to complain but I'm still going to comply, right. So, high speed soldiers, they're going to comply, but a lot of times they don't complain. They just be like it is what it is. We got to do it and at the end of the day, they know that nobody cares, they just work harder. That's it, and it sounds harsh, but this is what I've seen. This is what I've seen. I've literally seen.

Speaker 1: 11:16

I remember one time I was coming in my very first duty station this is where I missed my first calling to get in shape and it took me a lot longer because I wanted to go out and party. I was walking out the barracks. I was with the 554 MP Military Police Company in Stuttgart, germany, war dogs and PFC at the time, or maybe Specialist De Villiers. He was outside. We had pull-up bars right out front. He was outside doing pull-ups. I was like what are you doing? He's like I'm just working out. He said you want to work out. I was like, nah, I'm good, right. And looking back at that, when I picture De Villiers at that moment, compared to what I saw him three years after that, four years after that. Even now, dude is jacked, and I'm not talking about like crazy jacked, I'm talking about like he's so tight it looks like he can just pop at any given moment. And this is something that he knew. He knew nobody cares Work harder. That's what he knew. Nobody cares Work harder. That's what he knew.

Speaker 1: 12:26

The third trait is initiative and adaptability. So high-speed soldiers, these soldiers that set themselves apart, they anticipate what's needed, they're going to step up without being asked and and they really really good at thinking on their feet. And these are all good traits, because you got to think about it, it's really really um, it goes really primitive. In the army network, in the army growth spurt, when you anticipate a need, you're already ahead of the game. You're going to the board. Well, you're not told that you're going to the board. But if you anticipate the need, which is you need to go to a board to get promoted, you start studying without being told.

Speaker 1: 13:17

When you know that something needs to get done everyone's sitting around in the cough or at the motor pool, whatever, and you know something needs to get done. You're going to step up and say hey, let's knock this out. And you know what's funny If someone says something, people will just do it. You'll have your onesies and twosies that may not do it, but more times than not, individuals will just comply. They'll be like all right, cool, I've been on my phone long enough, we've been bullshitting long enough and that's the miracle. That's the funny part about the army Like we complain about, people don't want to do anything, but as soon as you tell them, hey, let's do it, a lot of times they'll just do it. They might bitch and complain, but they'll still do it.

Speaker 1: 14:03

And the last point that I had said was thinking on their feet. Yeah, thinking on their feet. When you're in a board, you got to think on your feet because sometimes they're going to throw you questions out of left field that are not on the MOI. And if you have any type of experience, if you can a point of reference, you can refer to something that's happened to you, then that is going to help you a lot. And that's part of thinking on your feet.

Speaker 1: 14:32

A lot of these troops they don't wait for like the perfect orders, they just execute, adjust and they overcome that situation A lot of times. What we're looking for is literally like the word-for-word op order, the word-for-word directive oh, I wasn't told anything so I'm not going to do anything. Bullshit, right. Many times people will be like well, in the regulation, it doesn't say specifically this Well, think on your feet, right? Adjust to it, because you have what's called the judgment call to the regulation black and white. And then you have a judgment call for those things that are not in there. And these are what high speed soldiers do. They prepare for themselves. And these are what high-speed soldiers do they prepare for themselves. They prepare themselves for these situations.

Speaker 1: 15:24

Right, and at the end of the day, you want to know why does this matter? Because at the end of the day, if you're in the, at the end of the day, the day ends. But in reality, if, like if you're in the field hesitation itself, it can be fatal. If you're in a forward environment, adaptability can save lives. At the end of the day, like if a soldier gets shot and you hesitate to throw the tourniquet on or you just can't adapt and kind of like they're too far from you and you know there's bullets whizzing all over you and you can't make sure that you get that information conveyed to them. That can cost somebody a life, that's all to it. Like, are you the type that's waiting to be told what to do? Is that you? If that's you, then you're in the wrong uniform Because at the end of the day, like I said, high speed soldiers, what they're going to do is they're going to see a gap and they're going to fill that gap. They move and they adjust before before the dust settles. Adapt, improvise and execute. That's it. That's literally. It's very, very easy to do.

Speaker 1: 16:48

I'm not going to lie to you so far. If you agree or disagree with any of these points, leave a comment below. If you have any other ones that you've experienced, also leave a comment below. I'd love to hear it. As you have any other ones that you've experienced, also leave a comment below. I'd love to hear it. As you guys already know, if you've commented before, it may take me a couple of days, but I get back to every single comment. If you make a comment from left field that I can't really answer because it'll put me in a compromise situation, I'm not going to answer it. I'll probably drop a like or whatever it is to acknowledge you, but that means that you passed the line Okay and leave a like, subscribe and all that cool stuff. And if you're on the podcast, download and leave a review. All right, so back to business.

Speaker 1: 17:33

Trait number four is team loyalty and selflessness. At the end of the day, that high speed soldier, they put the mission and they put their battle buddies before themselves and it's kind of a leaders eat last mentality. Right, because high-speed soldier sees the grand. This is my thought process. Right? The high-speed soldier sees the bigger picture. They see what that not high speed soldier sees and they know how to comply with it. Right, and they know that the team cohesiveness is pivotal to getting any mission done. They make sure that they build up others, any mission done. They make sure that they build up others, they cover down when they see gaps, like I said before, and they never, ever leave the team hanging. And I'm not talking about oh well, you're here until 1800. Well, I'm going to stay with you. Nah, nah, nah, we're not talking about that, because sometimes people just like to work late and some people be like nah, I got a family I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 18:42

I finished PMCS in my vehicle, I got my vehicle in the in the in the bay, and I got troops there. I'm going to go help somebody else out. See where? How can we make your vehicle better? Things of that nature. I see your soldier is struggling with their PT or with their weapons. All of my soldiers are doing good. This is what I did right, and that helps out, like this team leader helps this team leader, which makes the squad better, and if they're in different squads, it makes the platoon better. And why all this matters is because unit cohesion is a combat multiplier. Loyalty is going to create unbreakable bonds.

Speaker 1: 19:29

I'm pretty sure, uh, many of you have been in units and you guys still talk to people from your previous unit. You've been in a deployment and still talk to that person from that deployment. I'm pretty sure that you guys have done that. It's never just about you. You carry your weight and then some these high-speed soldiers, they cover down, they lift up. They never leave a battle buddy hanging. You're only as strong as your weakest link. I'm pretty sure you've heard this before.

Speaker 1: 20:04

So train them Five tactical and technical competence, from weapons handling to the comms, all the way to the battle drills. They know their MOS and they cross-train when, when possible, like they're subject matter experts and teachers. I had a troop medical. He was in my platoon. He the snipers needed a medic, the snipers wanted a medic. And he was the one that said, hey, I want to go with those guys and I'm talking about snipers who sit there, they'll'll, they'll rock 20, 30 miles a day. Those rock like they just do endless crazy stuff. And he went there cross-trained, brought back some more information, showed us how to use their, their weapons, showed us how to, how these guys um, camouflaged things, so many things that they taught that he taught us, and that was that comes from them. Cross-training with other MOSs.

Speaker 1: 21:04

Why does this matter? Because you don't rise in the ranks or lead soldiers without mastering your craft. This is why senior NCOs are always sought out. At the end of the day, you have to know your MOS, know other people's MOS, whether it's clearing a room, calling for fire, high speed soldiers. They are sharp, they're skilled and, shall I say, they're deadly.

Speaker 1: 21:33

Because, whether it's like they can kill people or like they're deadly, meaning like they know a lot Right or like their deadly meaning like they know a lot right, learn your weapon systems or they learn your weapon systems or their weapon systems. It's something that they do and something I encourage you guys to do also is learn your weapon systems. Learn your comms. Be the go-to guy, not the liability at the end of the day. Now I want to hear from you what do you think makes a high-speed soldier? Drop your thoughts in the comments and, if you found this discussion insightful, check out my next video right around here somewhere. And remember you don't have to embrace the suck if you got the right tools in your rug. I'm Sarn Cruz and I'll see you in the next one. Peace, roger Sarn.