HOW THE MARINE CORPS TRAINS LEADERS
Interview by Jerry Useem, Fortune Magazine  2005

FORTUNE asked eight bold, creative people--from the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs to the man who found Harry Potter to the woman who picks next year's hip colors - to describe what guides their decision-making:

General Peter Pace, U.S. Marine Corps, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (nomination pending for chairman):
     When I was a second lieutenant in Vietnam, my platoon was patrolling around Hue City, and we came to a fork in the road. I called back to my company commander, "Should I go left or right?" He said, "Go left." We went a little farther and there was another fork. I called back again:  Left or right? He said, "Go right." Then I called back a third time, and he chewed me out on the radio: "You're the lieutenant. You're up there to make decisions. Figure it out." That has stayed with me all my life. When you have the responsibility to make decisions, make them.
     When you have to make a decision about someone's future, or what kind of weapons system to invest in, or any other kind of businesslike decision, you should not let anybody rush you. On a battlefield, you don't have time to gather a lot of opinions. You have to assess the environment and make a decision based on your experience and training. You react instinctively.
     What I have learned is that if you're collaborative when you can be, it builds trust, so that when you have to decide right now, folks are more likely to trust your decision. In the Marines everybody understands that there are times when you just have to decide.
     One thing the Marine Corps teaches is that it's better to be doing something than doing nothing. If you stay where you are, you're in the position where your enemy wants you to be. If you start doing something, you are changing the rules of the game.
     The most effective decision may be the least predictable one. We teach this at officer training in Quantico. There's a series of decision exercises where a team leader has to accomplish some task - crossing a river, moving a large object -using only the materials provided. You think, "How are we gonna do this?" As it turns out, there are multiple ways to solve the problem. If you work together quickly - and start talking about what the possibilities are - you can come up with a solution. Those kinds of scenarios raise your heartbeat and put pressure on you among your peers and subordinates in a way that builds confidence in your ability to make decisions under pressure.
     The ideas of flexibility, authority, and responsibility - those leadership terms that apply from lance corporal all the way up to general - have remained very constant in the Marines. What has changed is how much time we spend talking about it, practicing it, and significantly, the way the more senior leaders in the Corps allow themselves to be open with subordinates about where they made mistakes themselves. That makes it easier for subordinates to learn from them and to admit their own mistakes so that the organization can be better.
     Some things today - cell phones and e-mail - are not healthy for growing leaders. Before cell phones, if the boss was away, the next person in line had to make a decision. It was either right or it was wrong, but you had to accept responsibility. You learned and grew from that. Now it's too easy to call for advice. Senior leaders have to start saying, "Look, if it's not dying or burning, don't call me."
     The biggest lesson from Somalia for me (Pace served there from December 1992 to February 1993 and again from October 1993 to March 1994) was that we should never send our armed forces to do something unless we expect them to do it - and are willing to accept the risks and give them the resources. So as I sit here today as an advisor, anytime a military solution is being considered, it is important to lay out all the things that could go right and wrong. Then, if some things do go wrong, and they will, you are well positioned mentally and physically to complete that mission.
     In Iraq, we are learning things every day. Before we even started operations, our Joint Forces Command put together a "lessons learned" team. Since then, every facet of the operation has provided lessons - targeting and what type of weapon to use on a particular target; the best ways to track friendly forces on the battlefield; how to communicate. Some of these lessons reinforced what we believed going in; some disabused us of what we thought was a good idea, but wasn't.     The learning has to be shared person to person, not left in a book on a shelf. It has to stay alive.

     Do you realize that in about 40 years we'll have thousands of old ladies with tattoos?

"Aim Towards The Enemy."
Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher

"When The Pin Is Pulled, Mr. Grenade Is Not Our Friend."
Al Varela

"Cluster Bombing From B-52s Is Very, Very Accurate. The Bombs Are Guaranteed To Always Hit The Ground."
U.S.A.F. Ammo Troop

"If The Enemy Is In Range, So Are You."
Infantry Journal

"A Slipping Gear Could Let Your M-203 Grenade Launcher Fire When You Least Expect It. That Would Make You Quite Unpopular In What's Left Of Your Unit."
Army's magazine of prevention maintenance

"It Is Generally Inadvisable To Eject Directly Over The Area You Just Bombed."
US. Air Force manual

"Try To Look Unimportant; The Enemy May Be Low On Ammo."
Bobby Rodriguez

"Tracers Work Both Ways."
U.S. Army Ordnance

"Five-Second Fuses Only Last Three Seconds."
Infantry Journal

"Bravery Is Being The Only One Who Knows You're Afraid."
David Hackworth

"If Your Attack Is Going Too Well, You're Walking Into An Ambush."
Infantry Journal

"Any Ship Can Be A Minesweeper....Once."
Lou "Tubes" Arreola

"Never Tell The Platoon Sergeant You Have Nothing To Do."
Unknown Marine Recruit

"Don't Draw Fire; It Irritates The People Around You."
Infantry Journal

"Everyone should have an evil secret plan..."
- Denis Leary


I hope that after I die, people will say of me: 'That guy sure owed me a lot of money.'
- Jack Handey

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."- Ambrose Bierce

"Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day, light a man on fire, and he'll be warm the rest of his life"  -Staff Sgt. Timothy A. Breen

"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time"
- Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

"You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like … victory."
-Apocalypse Now 1979

Sgt. O'Neill: Bob, I got a bad feeling on this one, all right? I mean I got a bad feeling! I don't think I'm gonna make it outta here! D'ya understand what I'm sayin' to you?
Sgt. Barnes: Everybody gotta die some time, Red.
-PLATOON 1986

Chris Taylor: [narrating] Well, here I am, anonymous all right. With guys nobody really cares about. They come from the end of the line, most of 'em. Small towns you never heard of: Pulaski, Tennessee; Brandon, Mississippi; Pork Van, Utah; Wampum, Pennsylvania. Two years' high school's about it, maybe if they're lucky a job waiting for them back at a factory, but most of 'em got nothing. They're poor, they're the unwanted, yet they're fighting for our society and our freedom. It's weird, isn't it? They're the bottom of the barrel and they know it. Maybe that's why they call themselves grunts, cause a grunt can take it, can take anything. They're the best I've ever seen, Grandma. The heart & soul.
-PLATOON 1986

"My mother's fried chicken would bring peace to the Middle-East!"
?GySgt Dick Scruggs USMC

" U.S. Marines -- Travel Agents To Allah"

"Stop Global Whining"

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine" Naval Corollary; Dead men don't
testify.

"The Marine Corps -- When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles At Everyone -- Marines Smile Back"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? ..... A little Recoil"

"Marines -- Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"*

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden -- It's Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills -- USN Gun Fire Support"

"Machine Gunners -- Accuracy by Volume"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy -- Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."

A crusty old Marine Corps Colonel found himself at a gala event at a posh hotel, sponsored by a local liberal arts college. There was no shortage of extremely attractive, idealistic young women in attendance. One of them approached the colonel.
"Excuse me sire, but you seem to be a very serious man. Are you this way all the time? Or is there something that's bothering you?"
"No, I'm just serious by nature."
Looking over the colonel's ribbons, the young lady said, "You seem to have seen a lot of action."
"Yes, a lot of action," said the colonel rather curtly.
Finding it hard work trying to start a conversation with the colonel, the young woman said, "You know, you should lighten up a little . . . relax and enjoy yourself."
This didn't seem to move the colonel, who just looked at her very seriously.
Exasperated, the woman said, "You know, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but when was the last time you had sex?"
"1955."
"Well no wonder you're the way you are! You really need to chill out a little and quite taking everything so seriously. I mean, no sex since 1955 is a little extreme!"
"I don't think so, it's only, 2130 now."

Katie Couric was interviewing a Marine Sniper and she asked him:  "What does it feel like to kill a al-Qaeda terrorist?"

His response:  "Just a little recoil!"

(The above was later said to be untrue, but it sounds good anyway.)

How far to the town?
A unit of soldiers was marching a long dusty march across the rolling prairie. It was a hot blistering day and the men, longing for water and rest, were impatient to reach the next town.

A rancher rode past.

"Say, friend", called out one of the men, "how far is it to the next town?"

"Oh, a matter of two miles or so, I reckon," called back the rancher. Another long hour dragged by, and another rancher was encountered.

"How far to the next town?" the men asked him eagerly.

"Oh, a good two miles."

A nearly half hour longer of marching, and then a third rancher. "Hey, how far's the next town?"

"Not far," was the encouraging answer, "only about two miles."

"Well," sighed the optimistic sergeant, "thank God, we're holding our own, anyhow!"


"It don't mean nothing"

Smooth sailing, shipmate! Calm seas and following winds!

One nation under God with his U.S. Marines standing guard.

Nobody can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion.
- Colonel Flagg

Never play poker with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.
- Algren's Law

"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid."
- David Hackworth

"We ain't making no goddamn cornflakes here."
-Col. Charlie Beckwith, founder of Delta Force