Being a leader

I love reading John Maxwell and his leadership books. I have never found a person who was so dead on in his beliefs about what it takes to be a leader. You know how all of us get into ruts in our lives and there are times we question ourselves about our direction and our purpose in this world. One thing I have learned to do is to slay my giants one day at a time. I can not look at today and wish it away and I can not take short cuts and hope to one day expect to be where I want to be. All of us have to learn that the only way to get what we want out of life is to pay the price. I have failed in this area several times before and I refuse to do it again with the grace of God of course.

A leader has to simply lead by example. The Marines drill this into your head as they require every Marine Drill Instructor to pass every part of boot camp before they pick up the new recruits. This includes all obstacles, all runs, all combat skills and knowledge needed to be a Marine DI. Even as a Marine DI I have had times in my life where I did not do what was necessary to become a winner. Some say that winners and leaders are born. I don't believe that. I believe that winners and leaders are continually developing toward some vision or goal they have set for themselves. You can not be a leader unless you know where you are leading. You can not win unless you simply pay the price. Those who enjoy themselves today and put off the work until later will definitely pay the price for it later. I choose this day to lead the way I know I am suppose to. I slay my work giants, my spiritual giants, my physical giants every day by simply doing those things I have set my mind to.

So become a leader today by setting your goals and remembering them as you labor toward them. No goal or dream is ever reached without a daily progression toward that goal. No leader can expect his or her followers to produce better than they themselves do. If a leader is slack and lazy, you can bet his followers are too. If a leader has a great work ethic and learns to slay his or her giants the people following or peers will look at the leader in awe at what they can accomplish and they too will drive harder in the same direction.

So don't think that you will grow up and be a leader or have your goals without first being willing to pay the price. I would rather retire at 50 than to have to work until I am 70 to get what I dream of having. So put one minute in front of the other and slay your giants so you can reach your dreams and goals.

Kevin McDugle

Business Consultant

918.409.5572

Straits of Gibraltar

The Marine Corps takes you to some wonderful places. One experience that will always stay in my mind is the many times I crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a Naval Ship. I crossed once in the USS Guadalcanal, once in the USS Saipan and several times by air. Being on the ocean on a ship especially when you are crossing from one continent to another is unbelievable. I can remember many days and nights standing on the flight deck and looking in all directions. As far as the eye could see was nothing but water. At night the stars light up the sky and it is a surreal feeling when you seen the moon across the water and hear the waves as they pound against the ship. The only sound other than the waves and the wind would be the sound of a Naval Vessel. The whistle blowing over the loud speaker, or the closing of a huge hatch. I loved staring over the ocean and remembering how powerful my God is. It was usually about two weeks to cross from the US to the Straits of Gibraltar. You know Gibraltar, it is the symbol for the insurance company with the slogan "Get a piece of the rock". After two week of being on the ocean you finally see Gibraltar as the ship passes through. It is a huge monumental rock that stands high above the ship as you pass through what seems like a right of passage into the Mediterranean. Many Marines have climbed Gibraltar, I never had the opportunity. There were times when we were crossing the ocean that a supply ship would pull up next to our vessel and using lines between the ships they would move supplies from the supply ship to us. The whole time supplies were being moved the ship steady on its course never slowing down. A few times I remember watching dolphins put their tail fins on the cutting edge of the ship next to us and allow it to push the dolphin through the water. After a bit of a push it would jump high in the air and let out a squeal. Those memories are great memories. Memories of stepping into a new world. Waters that people in Jesus time use to use to cross from Italy to Egypt. What an experience.

Blood Wings

I do tell stories on this site that I am not proud of but I think the public would find either crazy or fascinating. Blood Wings is one of those military stories that makes some grimace and others actually think it is a great camaraderie builder.

In 2nd Anglico an airborne unit in the Marine Corps we had several obstacles to cross. By the time I got to Anglico I had just over 10 total jumps. The Army gives you lead wings when you graduate Army Airborne School after 5 jumps. Some of the soldiers give each other blood wings after they earn their wings. In the Marine Corps just having lead wings is a disgrace and the term "Leg" was created for such an individual. Lead wings are nothing more than the first step to getting your Gold wings the coveted prize for a combat warrior who is crazy enough to jump out of an airplane at 800 feet above the ground at night into a combat situation. Only combat Marines can earn a set of Gold Wings at least that is how it use to be.

Gold wings are earned after a marine makes 10 combat jumps in different scenarios. One scenario is a night jump another is a water jump. A night jump is quite invigorating as you simply leave an aircraft with a dim red light at the door and escape into the deep black night and silence as the plane flies away. At 800 feet your parachute barely opens and you hit the ground. The jump is meant to get as many Marines on the ground as quickly as possible so they are not vulnerable to the enemy fire. The water jump is a jump into the ocean where you have to actually separate from your parachute before going into the water. A Marine does this to keep from drowning under his parachute.

When the needed jumps are made the Gold Wings still need to be earned. There is a Gold Wing ceremony that takes place. My Gold Wing ceremony took place in Canada after jumping from a helicopter in the chilling cold. I also earned my Canadian Jump Wings in the same trip. The ground was so hard, after flying from Camp Lejeune to Ottawa Canada and jumping in, I really had to feel my feet and legs to make sure they were still attached.

I remember when we jumped the Canadian chutes one of my buddies drew a random parachute out of a stack that was numbered 666. We all made fun of him and told him we would not jump Satan's chute. We then drew our reserve chutes and believe it or not he drew number 666 again. His new call sign was Satan from that point forward. He did survive the jump.

During a Gold Wing ceremony several things can happen. Sometimes the ceremony is on the ground just after the jump and sometimes it is much larger and with an entire company present. In my case the entire company was present. The SGT Major started the ceremony by taking the backings off of the Gold Wings leaving two 1/4 inch long sharp pins extending from the back of the wings. These sharp points are used to push the wings through a heavy camouflage uniform and web belt backing. This time however the SGT Major pushed them deep into my left breast penetrating my skin. I took a deep breath as I felt the pins go in and I thought the worst was over. I had 20 plus Marines that were waiting their turn. The second person stood in front of me and said "Oh no, your wings are crooked, we have to fix that" he pulled the wings out of my chest and planted them again. One of the Marines rolled my skin over the top and bottom of the wings and bit hard over the wings leaving teeth marks on my skin. The ceremony is a barbaric act of camaraderie. Once you have finished the ceremony you feel more like the brothers who earned their wings in the same way. They simply want to make it a special time for you. It is a day I will never forget and I can honestly say I would die for any of the individuals I trained with in that unit. We use to say the more you sweat in training the less you bleed in war.

I know most people won't see this ceremony in the same way the Marines do but you have to remember they are a branch of fighting warriors that put their lives on the line when others won't. They have to push the limits within bounds in order to be able to push themselves into heavy gunfire when the time is needed. They constantly test the boundaries of their physical and psychological bounds. Imagine what happens when bamboo sticks are shoved under your fingernails. How will you handle the pain and not give away precious intelligence if your body and mind has not experience that type of abuse. I am not condoning this behavior, I am just trying to explain some of the reasons behind the behavior.

That is how you earn your blood wings. I had over 40 holes in my chest and a bloody T-shirt when it was done. I nearly passed out several times. It was an experience I will never forget.

First Flight To Combat

Every Marine Warrior wonders if he has what it takes to do what needs to be done in combat. There are few feelings like the one I will try and express in words in this blog.

My first duty station was Bangor, Washington at the Marine Corps Force Security Guard Barracks in Bangor. While I was there I guarded nuclear weapons in many different capacities. I ran patrols, helped loading and un-loading the nuclear weapon's onto submarines and trained.

Every Marine is a rifleman and that means even those who have an MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) have to train for combat and qualify with a rifle. It is a good thing as you never know when the administrative personnel or the cooks will need to pick up a rifle.

One of my duties at Bangor was as an instructor in what we called WKT or Warrior King Training. This training prepared our Marines for the possibility of having to clear a building or house in a hostage situation. We practice needle point take down with rifles, pistols and shotguns. We practice entry through window, doors and improvised openings.

One of the benefits of the instructor position was the opportunity to continue your training. I was fortunate enough to attend one of the Marine Corps best schools called CQB (Close Quarters Battle). The school started off with a hundred plus Marines. The first week was called "Hell" week and the purpose was to get rid of the weak. We dropped quite a few that week and the second weak was rifle and pistol qualification and trust week.

They tested our trust in our equipment by blindfolding us on the top of a rappel tower, spinning us around and having us jump. You did not know if you were attached or not attached. You lost your since of direction and did not know if you were jumping off the edge or simply jumping onto the platform. Of course they would fill your head with all kinds of trash while they were spinning you. Like "Holly &$^# he was not attached". By the end of the course there were 13 of us left. Two weeks before the end of the course 10 of the 13 were called away to go to Iraq for the pre-invasion exercises. That left three of us for graduation.

When I returned to Bangor I had put in a request to be shipped into combat. I figured it was my turn to see if I had what it takes. Knowing what I know now I would never have volunteered. I left Bangor on the 23rd of December in time to be with my family in Cleveland, OK for Christmas Eve. I can remember knowing I was going to combat and trying to in some way detach myself from my family without them knowing it. I was mentally preparing myself in the only way I knew how. I could never have been ready for the first flight to combat.

I had 45 days of leave but I left the day after Christmas to go to my unit. I did not want to miss the departure date. I had not seen my family in quite some time because of being assigned in Washington state, however I could not stay around the house because there was something so important that i had to do. I had to serve this GREAT country of ours, I had to do my part. I had to simply be a Marine.

After some training in Camp Lejeune I took my wedding ring off and put it in a box and sent it to my wife in Oklahoma. I did not want some Iraqi to end up with my wedding ring and the shine of a ring can be seen for miles in the desert.

I can remember the long flight to Saudi Arabia. Everyone on the plane was quite the whole way. For some reason the things that use to bother us know longer mattered. For some reason we were automatically closer that we ever had been. I remember once we landed you could see sand in all directions. There were other aircraft on the run way and there were these funny looking buses with frilly things in the windows waiting to pick us up. I can remember looking at my feet as I stepped onto the ground for the first time. A Marine said "welcome to Hell" and it felt like it was hot enough that we could be there. My thought was this is the last country these boots will ever touch. This is where I will die for my country. This is where we give our all. I will never see my family again. I had prepared myself to fight like nothing else mattered. It was a surreal feeling.

The buses had a stench which was the body odor of the Arabs that were driving us and those that had been on the buses. When we drove off of the airport into the desert I can remember seeing a sheep Herder just like you see in the bible. He had a staff with about 20 sheep standing around. He had on the Arab wrap and when he turned around I knew he was a modern sheep Herder by the Oakley Sunglasses he wore.

When the first Gulf War kicked off the military leaders were preparing all of us for the worst. We had heard that the first line of troops would be possibly wiped out in a few days and that heavy replacements would be necessary. Training became very intense at every level and at every position in the corps. Once we landed in Saudi we spent several weeks getting acclimated to the weather and training in our MOPP GEAR(Marine Oriented Protective Posture - Our biological suits.)

The feeling I had when I got off the plane is one that I hope no American has to feel. I know it is necessary and many others will feel the same way, but it is because 0f the men today that are willing to take that step that we have the ability to be free today. I thank them every time I see them.

Parachuting in Camp De Canjures France

In 2nd Anglico, a special unit in the Marine Corps designed to be attached to foreign allies and American special forces in order to call Marine air and ground fire support, we traveled the world and this is just one of those stories.

My first time working with the French Foreign Legion came early in my Anglico career. We were doing joint operations in Camp De Canjures France. I have lots of video and pictures which were awesome.

I found that the French were a lot different than any other organization I worked with. I worked with the Israel Navy Seals, the British Royal Marines, and close to 20 others. The most hard corps unit I ever worked with was the Israel Navy Seals. The French had two distinct division in their military. The enlisted which did all the dirt details and could never approach an officer without extreme humiliation and the officers which acted like they hung the moon. Many of the enlisted were Americans who had enlisted in the Foreign Legion to give them a head start on their mercenary careers.

Anyway, I can remember it being very cold and the Anglico team was staying in the tents with the enlisted FFL. The jumps in the gorgeous mountains were from helicopter as the jump zones were so small. Anytime you jump from a helicopter at 10000 feet AGL you can expect it to take a while for the chopper to climb to altitude. This is specifically true in a high altitude where the air is more dense.

Some of my favorite pictures were taken while I was under canopy at about 6000 feet above ground level. I took a picture of my boots and below them you could see the mountains we were jumping into. It was an awesome picture of beauty and the picture of a Marines boots which can literally take him anywhere.

One of my most memorable moments happened when SGT Harry Phillips was jumping HALO. He was very good and always prided himself on landing on a dime. This day was a little different because of the updraft of the mountains. At least that was the excuse we received. I had just landed on the ground and I heard this hollering from above. I looked and looked and finally I saw a parachute up the side of a cliff and Harry had found his dime on the side of the mountain. His parachute had caught on a tree and his feet landed safely on a 2 or 3 foot ledge. We would not help him until all the pictures were taken.

Once we got him on the ground one of the most frightening sites any paratrooper dreads to see happened right before us. We were watching some of our Marines exit a chopper and one of them looked like he jettisoned his combat pack because he had a line dropping from his Belt about 15 feet below with what looked like a Marine Pack at the end of it. We were all fine with that as it is a scene we are use to when you do a combat jump. You drop your equipment so that you don't land with a 120lb pack on your back. The 15 foot of line keeps you from landing on your pack and breaking an ancle. The only problem was we were jumping Hollywood. A Hollywood jump is when you have no combat equipment to jettison. We found out after the Marine landed on the ground that his leg had rapped around a parachute pull Cord which was attached to the chopper. When his parachute opened there was immediate tension between his parachute pulling one way and the chopper pulling the other. Usually the strongest part of a parachute is the pull cord. It has a tension strength of 7000 plus pounds if I remember correctly. That means the easiest thing to pull apart is the paratroopers body. Fortunately for him God was watching out for him that day. For some reason the pull cord broke and spared his leg.

I can't wait to share some of the other stories with you. I loved being a Marine around other Marines serving our country and learning about other cultures.

Private Gregor

When thinking back on Marine Boot camp there are so many different memories. Private Gregor (Name changed to protect the innocent), is a memory that I will never forget. Private Gregor actually gave me a few memories a couple of them are listed below.

First, Private Gregor had been in boot camp for almost 7 months. Now boot camp is only 3 months long so how exactly did Private Gregor accomplish 7? Evidently he was a literal genius, not in the since that a Drill Instructor calls a dumb recruit a genius, but a serious genius. The Marine Corps was rumored to have offered him a substantial amount of bonus money to join the corps in order to have one of the nations leading computer brains as a member of the worlds best fighting force. However, Private Gregor was not a genius when it came to physical fitness or common since.

I was the 4th squad leader of Platoon 2054 in San Diego. As the 4th squad leader I had all of the tall recruits in my squad. The Marine Corps has a purpose for everything they do. The fourth squad had the tallest then 3rd squad, then 2nd and of course the shorter recruits were in the 1st squad. They do this so that in ceremony everyone can be seen from the stadium. Private Gregor was a 6'2" beanpole of a recruit. He could not march at all and his physical ability was even worse. In 7 months of boot camp he could only do 3 pull ups and somewhere around 20 sit ups. An average Marine could accomplish at least 17 pull-ups and 80 sit-ups. The goal was always 20/80 for a perfect score.

One of the funniest of moments with PVT Gregor was during our third phase obstacle course. The stairway to heaven is an obstacle that is built with telephone poles. There are two vertical poles holding a number of horizontal poles that are separated a good distance apart making it difficult to climb if you are scared of heights. The goal of the obstacle is to build confidence once it is successfully negotiated. Of course the faster the better. I remember waiting behind PVT Gregor because he was scared about climbing the obstacle and actually froze at the top while laying on the very top Horizontal pole, clutching on to it as if it were his only means of survival. One of the Drill Instructors was yelling at him to climb down and he was frozen. Finally you could see the distress of the DI and he yelled at Gregor "PVT Gregor will you do me a favor?" Gregor answered "Sir what favor sir?" the DI replied "Its a Yes or No question Gregor, now answer the freaking questions". After a long pause PVT Gregor said "Sir Yes Sir, I can do you a favor sir". The DI yelled back up a Gregor "Can you do the swan dive Private Gregor?" of course the DI did not want him to jump from so high up but he was definitely letting Gregor know he was frustrated.

Another incident happened just before Final Drill. You see all of the Platoons have a competition in 3rd phase of boot camp to see who is the best marching platoon. Drill Instructors will do about anything to make sure that only the good marching recruits are involved in the competition. As the fourth squad leader I was in charge of Gregor and the Senior Drill Instructor tole me to send him to medical and make sure he came back with a sick bay chit so that he would not have to march.

I told Gregor to go to medical and tell them he had shin splints. When I told him he said "What are shin splints?". I went on to explain that it was a pain in his shins. He said "I don't have a pain in my shins". I told him to put his foot up on my foot locker and I hit his shin with my knuckles to give him some pain. He said "What if the pain goes away?". I pulled a boot from under my rack and took a full baseball swing at his shin. Gregor jumped around limping and then amazingly enough put his other foot up on the footlocker to be hit with a boot. Private Gregor did go to medical that afternoon. He did come back with a medical chit. Private Gregor's chit said he had cellulitas on the heals of his feet. All of my explanation on shin splints was for not.

Private Gregor did graduate boot camp that year. I also learned that there is more to the Marine Corps than physically fit fighters. There is also an elite branch of Intel Marines.

The HUNT Big Buck Oklahoma

This story is true and I can back it up with video. It started Nov. 2nd 2007 I had set up my own deer camp as I love to get away and spend time in God's country. I enjoy talking to God and clearing my head making sure my direction is clear. I had set up a 5 man tent next to a pond on the thousand acres I hunt in the center of Oklahoma. I hunted the first afternoon from a deer stand called lone tree. It is a perfect place next to a pond and in the middle of the valley where all the deer trails come together. I was hunting black powder and I had ranged my distances to know my maximum firing capabilities. Out of range crossing on the hill in front of me I saw a huge buck. His rack was tall and longer than his neck and he walked looking like a king. I got excited and I said Lord, I have to go see where that deer crossed. All I heard in my spirit was "Patience". I waited another 15 minutes and another buck a nice 8 point crossed in the exact same location. I wanted to go check it out but again I got "patience". After another 15 minutes even knowing I was suppose to sit still I thought to myself "Screw it I have to go see where those deer crossed". I was half way down my deer stand and not 20 feet behind me were two 6 point bucks and a huge doe. I could not do anything as i looked like a squirrel stuck on the side of the tree. All I heard was "I told you patience".

That night was a very cold night and the stars were so bright. It reminded me of many nights I had spent in different countries with the Marine Corps. I have always known that I have a purpose in life and I often still evaluate whether or not I am headed in the right direction to meet all that God has planned for me. When I was young I knew God was calling me to help other people, whether feeding the hungry or sharing the good news. That cold starry night I told God, "If you still want me to minister in some way let me see two falling stars". The sky so far had been totally quite. As soon as I said it in my thoughts I saw a falling star. A little while later while talking on the phone to my beautiful bride I saw a second star. I knew God still had a plan for me even though I continue to mess things up or get too busy to see the needs around me.

The next morning was very crisp and still. It was a perfect morning. This time I chose to hunt out of a deer stand called broken heart. It is a ladder stand that sits in the middle of a wooded area and the shooting lanes are nice but not far in distance. It would be easy to see a deer but for it to be on the other side of a brushy area. I sat in my stand and again challenged the Lord. "If you want me to minister to people by helping to support different ministries and by my daily actions, then give me a big deer". I could not make up a story like this, it was truly an awesome weekend. It was one of those setting where you could feel that the deer would be coming through. One of those feelings that you can not explain. You look from left to right and sit very still waiting because you know that there is a deer coming. You visualize where the deer will come into your area. I could not have planned any better what happened. I looked to my front and crossing from my 12 o'clock to my left heading to 7 o'clock was a buck with his head down. He was definitely in rut. I raised my black powder and hoped that he would walk to the inside of a set of trees because otherwise I would not have a shot. Sure enough he walked inside, I raised to a shooting lane and waited for him to cross my iron sites. I saw him run about 40 feet and then go end over end. I was excited but did never got the "Buck Fever". I think the Marines train you pretty well how to stay calm and make a good shot.

Here is the video, I shot just after I pulled the 4 wheeler over by the buck. The trees you see in the video are the area where Broken Heart is situated. When I shot this first video I had not counted the rack, I simply thought without looking that I had a 10 point deer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLDwPE0F7WI.

Now I will show you the official count of this monster buck. I had to shoot a local police officer giving the count. Now keep in mind that the official B&C count will be less but not by much. I have waited the 60 days for the official count but now I am waiting for them to finish the mount so I can get an official B&C count. Here is the check in count. They would not let me leave until they all called there friends in. I was still getty at this time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1frIzXzmt5A

I do want to make a disclaimer. My wife and I use every bit of the deer I kill. We eat the meat because it is the best meat for you. I love to hunt but I am also very respectful that I make every effort to make it a hunt. I also believe in using everything you can.

Needless to say I got the big buck I asked for. Now I will seek His guidance and look for all opportunities to minister to those in need. I hope you enjoyed this weekend in the life of Dugle.