0400 on a Saturday morning, before the sun rises over the Ozark forest in Missouri, I hear a loud scream – “Get up privates! Its late already and we’ve got things to do!” Not exactly an ideal way to start the weekend.
After graduating from high school I thought that getting the discipline that only the military could offer would be a great way to prepare for what the real world had to throw at me. I enlisted as a Combat Engineer in the US Army Reserve and packed my bags for 18 weeks of who-knows-what-will-happen in Fort Leonard Wood. I’d seen movies and read about what Basic Training would be like. I was an athlete, in great shape and I imagined that I had the mental fortitude to handle any challenge that came my way.
I was in for a shock. Joining the Army was one of the hardest things I’d ever put myself through.
Basic Training is 6.5 days a week of mental and physical challenges, with only half a day on Sunday to recover. Learning how to do 112 pushups in two minutes, clean a toilet until it shines like a mirror, and fire 30 rounds of an M-16 into a 4cm circle are all interesting challenges in themselves, but doing them under the stress of simulated combat takes it to a whole new level. I spent many nights wondering why my Drill Sergeant would make us run circles around the Private who didn’t make his bed quite right, or why I should have to pay the price for another soldier not memorizing The Soldier’s Creed correctly.
One morning (is 0230 really the morning?) while marching in silent single file, dressed in “full battle rattle” under a full moon, it finally hit me - it really was about the bigger picture. We trained together, failed together and succeeded together. My actions had a direct impact on the soldier to my left and right. My mistakes in combat could cost their life. The Army is not for everyone and the people who didn’t eventually understand this concept didn’t graduate with me- they didn’t make it. Some came in expecting action and glory, not realizing that wars are fought and won together. The Army of One is exactly that - many individuals making up a very powerful singularity.
Fast forward eight years.
I became a Drill Sergeant and finished out my military contract. I graduated college, spent two years in finance at a Fortune 500, and helped found a start-up in real estate development.
I then decided it was time to see what Silicon Valley was all about. I went through the most unique interview experience of my life. Two weeks later, offer signed, I started at Meltwater News. In a sunny office in Mountain View, California, I was surrounded by a few cheerful Norwegians, seven other new-hires , and an enthusiasm almost tangible in its pervasiveness. We were the third round of “International Management Trainees” hired in the US; a Pincer Movement leading the charge across the world under the Meltwater banner. I was part of a new Army.
Like Basic Training, after the first few months at Meltwater, I realized a few of my fellow “newbies” wouldn’t make it. Sales training was tough. Many were not accustomed to failure, having succeeded for a majority of their lives. They were not used to rejection. They were not used to perseverance. Others realized it just wasn’t the right fit for them. I realized that Meltwater is like the Army- it’s not for everyone. That said, those who pushed through the challenges have gone on to do some very impressive things.
My sales and management “boot camp” in Mountain View was meant to give me the tools to sell a product, manage a team, and motivate others. The ability to provide a clear value proposition to a prospective client in business is like being able to fire a rifle in battle - every soldier from the cook to the general needs that skill.
Armed with that experience, I’ve had a huge advantage in my ability to be successful in later roles I’ve taken- but that’s for another story…
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Great story. Keep them coming!
Awesome blog Joe!
And sooooooooooo true!
You accurately depicted the inherent value of basic training, and the skills and values one could acquire if they allowed themselves, as you did, to see the bigger picture. During my enlistment I observed that few people cared to analyze the big picture, because they were in it for themselves and not the greater good of the Country, which I believe resulted in soldiers missing out on acquiring valuable skills and less effective teams and units. I also observed how individuals lacking humility, drive and discipline either suffered in the military, or drastically changed how they composed themselves in order to excel, which I know you, as a drill sergeant, both witnessed and caused. Personally, I enjoyed the challenges and welcomed the opportunity to endure, observe and analyze the Army’s methods of breaking new soldiers down and making them do crazy tasks at all hours of the day, in hopes that in the end a team of diverse individuals, not merely trying to avoid getting “smoked”, but truly functioning as a team, emerges together to cohesively accomplish its assigned tasks. While I did not necessarily enjoy the smoke sessions we endured on the hour of every hour some nights, with windows rolled up, and heater turned up to 103 degrees in the already humid summer nights of Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, I did enjoy learning about myself, about leadership, and about how to work with and lead individuals from diverse walks of life. Good to hear about other veterans that took everything they could from the experience, rather than just a G.I. Bill or some other benefit.
Well written Joe!
Those who are successful in life know that failure is a part of the path to success, and only those with enough tenacity and resilience will truly succeed.
Fall down 7 times but get up 8
I never knew you were in the Army, let alone for 8 years. Intense.
Great Blog Post
Mike
http://www.UltimateBasicTraining.com