Quote Originally Posted by griffin
Or he would just run in with all cannons blazing with no strategy.
I disagree. Ironhide seems to be a decent battlefield officer. When Starscream was closing in, it was Ironhide who first transformed and yelled, "It's Starscream!", enciting the other Autobots to transform and prepare for an offensive. Ironhide then quickly ordered Bumblebee to help him erect the Furby truck trailer as a shield/barrier. And he's by no means a reckless gunner in battle - his shots were all quite precise.

The thing that would make Ironhide ill-suited to be Autobot leader on Earth is that he seems too impulsive to lead a covert operation - on Earth anyway; this was particularly shown in Ironhide's willingness to rub out annoying humans. And "pacifist" Ratchet agreed with him!