JOINT-BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Capt. Miles Donahue, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) in the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion (HHB) of US Army I Corps, finally realized that he doesn’t actually command anything, according to sources.

Donahue administratively leads over 190 personnel in the HHC. Of those, 48 are fellow captains who have already completed their own commands, and 104 are other officers on the Corps staff who outrank him, including three generals. Interviews with all of them confirmed that they wouldn’t recognize their “commander” if he passed them on the street.

The epiphany for the young officer, who previously served in a Stryker Infantry battalion and was denied command of a line company for lack of a ranger tab, came when he sent out a memo dictating that all personnel would be required to attend the 0630 accountability and PT formation starting the next day.