In this episode, we discuss:
*Adam’s experiences with Marine expeditionary units (MEUs), including his thoughts on how to keep Marines engaged and developing as warfighters throughout a MEU deployment
*What it was like joining a unit of combat veterans as a new Marine
*Adam’s first combat deployment: Ramadi, Iraq
*What it was like being attached to the Army during the deployment
*The disconnect in intensity between Adam’s own combat experiences and the combat stories he had heard from more senior Marines in his unit
*The highs and lows of a combat deployment
*The necessity for trust, up and down the ranks, in Adam's battalion throughout the deployment
*What Adam’s typical encounters with the enemy looked like and how the enemy chose to fight
*Adam’s experience at the (now-defunct) Infantry Squad Leader Course in 2007
*Adam’s redeployment from the 11th MEU to Afghanistan as part of a security force mission in 2010
*What it was like working with Georgians and Afghans—and dealing with the tensions between the two groups
*Adam’s experience setting up, training, and leading a mobile assault section for Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, for its 2011 deployment to Afghanistan
*The deployment itself and how the enemy in Afghanistan differed from those Adam faced in Iraq
*Adam’s first firefight in Afghanistan
*Adam’s involvement as a senior sergeant in helping plan company and battalion-sized operations and the profound learning experiences he had observing “commanders’ huddles”
*Adam executing his first B-Billet at the School of Infantry-West (SOI-W)—after eight-and-a-half years in the same infantry battalion—and the many things he learned about the Marine Corps, its policies, and training at Infantry Training Battalion (ITB)
*How Adam ended up as an instructor at the Infantry Small Unit Leaders Course (ISULC)
*The evolution of ISULC at SOI-W
*Adam’s introduction to Staff Sergeant Neil McCoy
*The wide latitude the ISULC staff had in creating the course
*The ISULC staff’s introduction to me (Damien O’Connell) and DFCs
*The truth about Damien's so-called “skinny jeans”
*Adam’s take on why DFCs are effective teaching tools
*How DFCs encourage facilitators to be vulnerable and grow as learners themselves
*Adam’s favorite DFC
*Adam’s approach to facilitating DFCs
*Adam’s advice to young leaders who would like to develop their own DFCs
*The benefits and pitfalls of reaching out to people who lived through the events of a DFC
*What enlisted education was like when Adam was a young Marine and his thoughts on enlisted education in general
*The two things Adam would change about enlisted education and training
*The one thing Adam would change about the Marine Corps infantry community
*What excites Adam most about the future of the Marine Corps
*What worries Adam most about the future of the Marine Corps
*The benefits of reflecting on one’s experiences and thoughts
Links
Fangs of the Lone Wolf by Dodge Billingsley: https://www.amazon.com/Fangs-Lone-Wolf-Russian-Chechen-1994-2009/dp/1909384771
Hill 488 by Ray Hildreth: https://www.amazon.com/Hill-488-Ray-Hildreth/dp/0743466438#ace-g9766277718
"Maneuver Warfare: The way forward" by GySgts Neil D. McCoy, Adam D. DuVall, & Joshua L. Larson, & SSgt Luke T. Hudson: https://mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/Maneuver-Warfare.pdf
