Doug: Futures

Dear Reader,

Grand Admiral Thrawn could spend an hour studying the art of a society and then immediately come up with a battle strategy capable of not only defeating the enemy, but routing them soundly.

General MacArthur was known as one of the greatest egotists alive. When he was driven out of the Philippines by Japanese expansion he vowed he would return. He did, three years later, even though it was outside mission parameters, and at the cost of many lives and much equipment. But MacArthur was a key organizer of the campaign that took back the Pacific.

General Rommel was known as a tactical genius to both his own Nazi forces and to his enemies. He was known to seem to be everywhere, and lead from the front. He suffered with his men, fought with them, ate with them, joked with them, treated them as equals. They loved him for it, and would fight to the death for him. He was only driven out of Africa when he was outnumbered and outgunned, but never outfought.

I've had a long day. I PTed this morning, which wasn't hard, just tiring. I had class, I did laundry, I did homework and now I'm staring at a degree audit system, wondering, what college degree can turn me into anything close to these men? What education can make me a leader of note?

Marine Corps Major Douglas Zembiec is a personal hero to me. He, like Rommel, led from the front, fought with his men, ate with them, bled with them, cried with them. He once climbed up on a tank in the middle of a firefight to tell the gunner where to shoot. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1995. He's the reason I wanted to go there. He, like Thrawn, used unconventional tactics to take victory from the enemy on the battlefield. He was respected by every Marine he led, and especially his enlisted men, and their opinion, the opinion of the grunts, is what really makes the measure of the man. He, like MacArthur, had no fear of the fight. He was known as "The Lion of Fallujah" for his personal leadership during the assault on the the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Perhaps the greatest example of the loyalty inspired by this man was evidenced after his first tour in Iraq, when he was assigned a stateside job at Camp Pendleton, California. His parents visited him on base, and were stopped at a checkpoint. At the checkpoint a young marine asked the elder Zembiec if he was the Major's father. When he replied that, yes, Doug Zembiec was his son, the young Marine replied with: "He was my company commander in Fallujah. If we had to go back there, I would follow him with a spoon."

You can't order that kind of loyalty. You have to earn it.

So now I sit here, and I wonder: What classes can I take to make myself more like this man?

More History? More Philosophy? Construction Management??? Nothing seems like it would fit. Perhaps nothing here will make me more like this consummate leader of men. Perhaps it has to come from within, this desire, this strength. I hope I've got what it takes.

In the meantime, I gotta get through this college thing.

-Doug

"Be a man of principle. Fight for what you believe in. Keep your word. Live with Integrity. Be brave. Believe in something bigger than yourself. Serve your Country. Teach. Mentor. Give something back to society. Lead from the front. Conquer your fears. Be a good friend. Be humble and self confident. Appreciate your friends and family. Be a leader, not a follower. Be valorous on the field of battle. Take responsibility for your actions."
-Maj Z. KIA May 10, 2007. Baghdad, Iraq.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/dazembiec.htm