the new year approaches
with the new year nearly upon us, i thought it would be a good time to recount the story of one of my biggest mistakes, failures, screw ups, etc.
this one is chalked up as my biggest adult screw up. although, there have been some other good ones for consideration: running a motorcycle traffic cop off the road (ticket: aggressive driving), almost getting fired for being passive aggressive with an old boss, i dropped out of my first master's degree (i could have completed it, but it wasn't right for me. admitting that and quitting something was not easy), and telling my wife she looked fat in a dress (alright, i made up that last one, but it was funny).
this was a few years ago when i was still an army officer. i was the brilliant, "go-to", hot-shot lieutenant in the battalion and had been brought up to the S-3 shop (operations, it's where everything is run) to be a Battle Captain/Ops Officer. every year, for the 4th of july, the brigade ran a festival for the post (Fort Hood, largest post in the world) consisting of various activities and a carnival; to put the size in perspective, we had around 30-40,000 visitors in the 10-12 hours it was open to the public culminating in a fireworks show. one of the marquee events is the 5/10k run that a 2LT was in charge of. summarizing the situation, he was an idiot who did nothing. so, with about 1 1/2-2 months to go, i was tapped to go in and fix the situation (remember, i'm so wonderful [if you think i'm being arrogant, there's a heavy irony awaiting at the end of this story]). so, i started coordinating everything which was a little difficult because there wasn't much time left and it wasn't my company providing the NCO's (senior enlisted) and soldiers who would staff the event, so they didn't know me that well. anyway, i think we pulled it together pretty well: course mapped, personnel assigned to every street, signs, blown-up maps of the course, communications, awards, special timers, coordination with the MP's (military police) to block off traffic at major points, etc.
morning of: get everyone there around 0330 to set everything up, review last-minute issues, and generally ensure that there's enough time for it to go off without a hitch. i think the 5k began at 0715 and the 10k at 0720. around 0600, i would have liked to have toured the course in a vehicle to double-check everything, but i can't because traffic has been brought to a stand-still. no matter, i have people deployed through the whole course, we're good. hmm, still haven't heard from the MP's... went to the HQ tent, no, they haven't heard anything either.
"well, can you try to find them for me?"
"we'll see."
oh, nearly forgot, we have a new brigade commander; he's been there about 2-3 weeks and he's looking to burnish his reputation with this being his first big event that all of the generals will see. i have assured him numerous times leading up to this event that it will go off without a hitch. 0715 comes, "bang!", and they're off. walkie-talkie communication from the first checkpoint,
"uh, sir, there are no MP's at the major intersection right below us."
"hmm, damnit, ok, ok, it's a good thing we have 2 soldiers at every point, so one of you go down to stop traffic so the runners don't get run over."
"roger, out".
brief explanation of this checkpoint; there is a sergeant and a private who are one block north of said intersection. they are at the turning point for the 5k; the 10k goes straight through. in case there is any confusion, there is a sign at the aforementioned intersection pointing straight ahead, there is a color-coded sign at their checkpoint instructing 5k runners to turn off, and both of them have detailed maps of the course reinforcing what the signs say.
so, the first few 5k runners finish and run straight toward me streaming numerous expletives which they also were kind enough to provide with sign language in case i was deaf. hmm, it turns out that the PVT had not only not stopped traffic, but had turned them short and into the traffic as the new course path. the brigade commander was in this race; he was quite pleased with my performance so far. i remember standing at attention (i had to start giving updates every 5 minutes at this point, which it made kind of difficult to manage as the rest of it fell apart) and being informed on what a godsend i was to the military uniform. ah, but dear readers, it gets so much better...
where are the 10k runners? it's been over an hour, someone must have finished by now. okay, start radioing checkpoints: yes, yes, yes, no? start walking back down the street and see if you can find out what's going on. a few minutes pass.
"yeah?"
"there's a soldier from A co here for the Volksmarch."
"the Volksmarch?" one of the other events was a Volksmarch; apparently, it intersected my course which had never been told to me. the courses were given to us, so, somebody had to know this, they just never bothered to pass the information along. well, that can't be the problem, i mean, who could possibly confuse runners wearing numbers and running with volksmarchers, who just strolled around?...
"yeah, i guess he thought that they were off course and turned them on to the Volksmarch course..."
".... nevermind, i think i see some of them just now showing up."
a second wave of very angry runners appears and repeats the first group's performance of philadelphia eagle's fans toward me. then, both groups decide to now debate over who should actually be awarded what place. just before this, at one of my 5 minute reports, my bde cdr actually took an involuntary step toward me as if he wanted to strike me. fortunately, our deputy brigade commander stepped in to help me out at this point; he took the microphone, and i don't remember exactly what he said, but he did quell the mob enough that they put away the lynching rope they had been brandishing in my direction. i took up his cue, and i managed to talk them all down to a level of bubbling (as open to open) mutiny (i believe i joked that we appreciated their participation in the first annual fort hood marathon and got a photographer to take their pictures).
the after-effects: i went back and had to write a personal apology to the community that was not only published on the front page of the paper, but they put it in a nice red shaded box so it was the first thing that drew your attention. in addition, someone had the bright idea that i should map every conceivable distance that the 10k runners could have possibly and ran, and publish that as well. there are two positive things that came out of this public humiliation: 1) i was banned from ever participating in the event again; i believe that my legend is still invoked each year when they prepare for it; and 2) the NCO's came up and told me how much they appreciated what i did for them. i had taken full responsibility and, as you have read, the brunt of the consequences. they appreciated that i had done this and not let the soldiers all get burned. the way i see it, that was the right thing to do. they did the best that they could, and two small things went wrong that cascaded beyond immediate control, that's entropy in life. i lost my reputation as the hot LT, but i didn't let the situation get to me. i bounced back and learned from the experience.
i don't know how this story reads to an outside observer. i have been in far more stressful situations on ops in egypt, in sere school, deployment ops, etc., but never had a series of mistakes leave me in that kind of position. they say it's lonely to be a leader, and it certainly gets a lot lonelier when everything goes wrong.
this one is chalked up as my biggest adult screw up. although, there have been some other good ones for consideration: running a motorcycle traffic cop off the road (ticket: aggressive driving), almost getting fired for being passive aggressive with an old boss, i dropped out of my first master's degree (i could have completed it, but it wasn't right for me. admitting that and quitting something was not easy), and telling my wife she looked fat in a dress (alright, i made up that last one, but it was funny).
this was a few years ago when i was still an army officer. i was the brilliant, "go-to", hot-shot lieutenant in the battalion and had been brought up to the S-3 shop (operations, it's where everything is run) to be a Battle Captain/Ops Officer. every year, for the 4th of july, the brigade ran a festival for the post (Fort Hood, largest post in the world) consisting of various activities and a carnival; to put the size in perspective, we had around 30-40,000 visitors in the 10-12 hours it was open to the public culminating in a fireworks show. one of the marquee events is the 5/10k run that a 2LT was in charge of. summarizing the situation, he was an idiot who did nothing. so, with about 1 1/2-2 months to go, i was tapped to go in and fix the situation (remember, i'm so wonderful [if you think i'm being arrogant, there's a heavy irony awaiting at the end of this story]). so, i started coordinating everything which was a little difficult because there wasn't much time left and it wasn't my company providing the NCO's (senior enlisted) and soldiers who would staff the event, so they didn't know me that well. anyway, i think we pulled it together pretty well: course mapped, personnel assigned to every street, signs, blown-up maps of the course, communications, awards, special timers, coordination with the MP's (military police) to block off traffic at major points, etc.
morning of: get everyone there around 0330 to set everything up, review last-minute issues, and generally ensure that there's enough time for it to go off without a hitch. i think the 5k began at 0715 and the 10k at 0720. around 0600, i would have liked to have toured the course in a vehicle to double-check everything, but i can't because traffic has been brought to a stand-still. no matter, i have people deployed through the whole course, we're good. hmm, still haven't heard from the MP's... went to the HQ tent, no, they haven't heard anything either.
"well, can you try to find them for me?"
"we'll see."
oh, nearly forgot, we have a new brigade commander; he's been there about 2-3 weeks and he's looking to burnish his reputation with this being his first big event that all of the generals will see. i have assured him numerous times leading up to this event that it will go off without a hitch. 0715 comes, "bang!", and they're off. walkie-talkie communication from the first checkpoint,
"uh, sir, there are no MP's at the major intersection right below us."
"hmm, damnit, ok, ok, it's a good thing we have 2 soldiers at every point, so one of you go down to stop traffic so the runners don't get run over."
"roger, out".
brief explanation of this checkpoint; there is a sergeant and a private who are one block north of said intersection. they are at the turning point for the 5k; the 10k goes straight through. in case there is any confusion, there is a sign at the aforementioned intersection pointing straight ahead, there is a color-coded sign at their checkpoint instructing 5k runners to turn off, and both of them have detailed maps of the course reinforcing what the signs say.
so, the first few 5k runners finish and run straight toward me streaming numerous expletives which they also were kind enough to provide with sign language in case i was deaf. hmm, it turns out that the PVT had not only not stopped traffic, but had turned them short and into the traffic as the new course path. the brigade commander was in this race; he was quite pleased with my performance so far. i remember standing at attention (i had to start giving updates every 5 minutes at this point, which it made kind of difficult to manage as the rest of it fell apart) and being informed on what a godsend i was to the military uniform. ah, but dear readers, it gets so much better...
where are the 10k runners? it's been over an hour, someone must have finished by now. okay, start radioing checkpoints: yes, yes, yes, no? start walking back down the street and see if you can find out what's going on. a few minutes pass.
"yeah?"
"there's a soldier from A co here for the Volksmarch."
"the Volksmarch?" one of the other events was a Volksmarch; apparently, it intersected my course which had never been told to me. the courses were given to us, so, somebody had to know this, they just never bothered to pass the information along. well, that can't be the problem, i mean, who could possibly confuse runners wearing numbers and running with volksmarchers, who just strolled around?...
"yeah, i guess he thought that they were off course and turned them on to the Volksmarch course..."
".... nevermind, i think i see some of them just now showing up."
a second wave of very angry runners appears and repeats the first group's performance of philadelphia eagle's fans toward me. then, both groups decide to now debate over who should actually be awarded what place. just before this, at one of my 5 minute reports, my bde cdr actually took an involuntary step toward me as if he wanted to strike me. fortunately, our deputy brigade commander stepped in to help me out at this point; he took the microphone, and i don't remember exactly what he said, but he did quell the mob enough that they put away the lynching rope they had been brandishing in my direction. i took up his cue, and i managed to talk them all down to a level of bubbling (as open to open) mutiny (i believe i joked that we appreciated their participation in the first annual fort hood marathon and got a photographer to take their pictures).
the after-effects: i went back and had to write a personal apology to the community that was not only published on the front page of the paper, but they put it in a nice red shaded box so it was the first thing that drew your attention. in addition, someone had the bright idea that i should map every conceivable distance that the 10k runners could have possibly and ran, and publish that as well. there are two positive things that came out of this public humiliation: 1) i was banned from ever participating in the event again; i believe that my legend is still invoked each year when they prepare for it; and 2) the NCO's came up and told me how much they appreciated what i did for them. i had taken full responsibility and, as you have read, the brunt of the consequences. they appreciated that i had done this and not let the soldiers all get burned. the way i see it, that was the right thing to do. they did the best that they could, and two small things went wrong that cascaded beyond immediate control, that's entropy in life. i lost my reputation as the hot LT, but i didn't let the situation get to me. i bounced back and learned from the experience.
i don't know how this story reads to an outside observer. i have been in far more stressful situations on ops in egypt, in sere school, deployment ops, etc., but never had a series of mistakes leave me in that kind of position. they say it's lonely to be a leader, and it certainly gets a lot lonelier when everything goes wrong.
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