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A familiar situation in an unfamiliar place
A strange thing happened on the way to age 40. After leaving active duty as a captain in 1995 after 8 years of service, I spent the next 9 years as a civilian with no connection with our Corps through the various Reserve programs. Then at age 39 I went to Fallujah to serve as an advisor on an advisor support team (now known as a military transition team). I was not called up from the Individual Ready Reserve. In fact, I volunteered to serve again when a Marine officer friend of mine died in Iraq in 2003. The reacquaintance with the Marine Corps was simultaneously like finding an old friend and like walking into a greatly evolved and unfamiliar territory.
During my tour in Fallujah I had to learn many things anew. Stability and support operations, improvised explosive devices, fatal runnels, and the Arabic language were all new but eerily familiar to an outdated infantry officer.
One thing that did not change, thankfully, was leadership. Our lists of leadership traits and principles for Marines do not stand to be improved upon. In fact, with the history of our Corps comes some of the finest leadership that the world has ever seen. But for me, the more practical a list is the better. I needed something to help me keep my thoughts and wits about me as I worked to catch up. So, outdated junior officer service and current business experience came together to help not only to advise at the battalion and company levels of an Iraqi unit but also to teach me a few things that I thought that I knew. This "Mulligan stew" of leadership experiences collectively, and sometimes painfully, helped me to understand my responsibilities as a Marine, as a leader, and as an advisor. So here it goes.
* Silence in activity is usually the loudest form of leadership. Words, volume, and intensity all have a place in leadership, but the most effective form remains your action. Language, rank, class, and culture melt under the scrutiny of your consistent action and results. The language barrier between me and an Iraqi soldier or between me and a 19-year-old Marine was best left as...