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Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 8:00 pm
I know that this seems dramatic, and maybe it just stinks, but I am hoping that demonstrated leadership qualities set me apart. So I told a story where leadership played a role. Please let me know what you think.
In March of 2007 I was preparing to deploy to Baghdad, Iraq. It had been three years since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, but the country was still being rebuilt and still very dangerous. As part of my preparations for the deployment, I attended a two week combat skills course. The course was designed to provide those without a combat related job, with a crash course on battlefield tactics, first aid, and responses to enemy threats. The capstone event for the course was a convoy mission to a hostile village to deliver a contracting officer.
My team leader was an attorney that held the rank of Major. He developed the plan of attack which was blessed by the instructors and then briefed down to the team. The Major’s plan seemed sound; our eight truck convoy would approach the village from the south, with two gun trucks in reserve as a quick response force, deliver the contracting officer and head out. Total time on station: no more than 10 minutes. We arrived at the village at around noon. The Major ordered the lead truck ahead alone in order to check for enemy resistance. The truck crept through the narrow passage leading to the village square without incident, waited for two minutes, and then radioed back that everything seemed safe. As the rest of the convoy began moving toward the objective, the lead truck was hit and disabled by an improvised explosive device. They set a trap for us and we walked right into it.
Excited chatter from the radio filled my truck; “The command truck is hit! The Major is gone!” It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. My heart pounded. I was next in line for command. I didn’t know what to do. I was not a combat Airman, I was a paralegal. The Airmen in my truck starred at me as I grabbed the radio. The sound of small arms fire filled the air as simulation bullets pelted our trucks. “This is Name, I am assuming command, all trucks advance to the objective!”
The convoy began to roll toward the village under heavy small arms fire. “All trucks, fire at will!” I knew that we needed to achieve fire superiority if we were to successfully complete the mission. Our trucks fanned slightly and the sound of our rifles began to fill the air. I could see the enemy retreating and taking shelter in nearby buildings. We were beating them back. About 20 yards from our objective, mortars began to fall on us. They were sighted and ranged on the road and it was only a matter of time before they began falling on our trucks. “Incoming! Dismount and take cover in the tree line! QRF, approach from the south and provide suppressing fire.” As the QRF began to open fire on the village, I gave my last command of the mission; “move toward the objective!” As we began to advance on the objective, the termination horn sounded. We had successfully completed the mission. The total loss of life was confined to the Major and his crew, but as it turns out, his death was by design.
During my out brief with the instructors I was told that part of their curriculum was to test a junior ranking member’s ability to take over in the event of the commanding officer’s death. I was commended for my quick thinking and decisive leadership during a deliberately stressful situation. At one point I was asked when I felt that I should take over, to which I replied that I didn’t remember taking over, I only remembered trying to help everyone else accomplish our mission. It was instinctive for me. I recognized a gap in leadership, and knew that I could fill it, so I did. The only other option would have been to do nothing, which would have jeopardized the mission and place lives at risk. Of course, this was just a drill, a simulation, but this “face it head on and beat it” attitude is how I operate as a leader of Airmen to this day. I feel that this specific trait of instinctive and brave leadership is what sets me apart from other applicants, and I believe it is what the legal profession needs now more than ever. To me a career in the law requires leadership. Often times the job of an attorney asks you to help change a situation, for the better. Without a foundation of leadership, you cannot be brave or bold enough to challenge a situation that needs changed. I know that I have the leadership ability necessary to further this cause, I just need the legal education; I want to earn that at THIS LAW SCHOOL!
In March of 2007 I was preparing to deploy to Baghdad, Iraq. It had been three years since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, but the country was still being rebuilt and still very dangerous. As part of my preparations for the deployment, I attended a two week combat skills course. The course was designed to provide those without a combat related job, with a crash course on battlefield tactics, first aid, and responses to enemy threats. The capstone event for the course was a convoy mission to a hostile village to deliver a contracting officer.
My team leader was an attorney that held the rank of Major. He developed the plan of attack which was blessed by the instructors and then briefed down to the team. The Major’s plan seemed sound; our eight truck convoy would approach the village from the south, with two gun trucks in reserve as a quick response force, deliver the contracting officer and head out. Total time on station: no more than 10 minutes. We arrived at the village at around noon. The Major ordered the lead truck ahead alone in order to check for enemy resistance. The truck crept through the narrow passage leading to the village square without incident, waited for two minutes, and then radioed back that everything seemed safe. As the rest of the convoy began moving toward the objective, the lead truck was hit and disabled by an improvised explosive device. They set a trap for us and we walked right into it.
Excited chatter from the radio filled my truck; “The command truck is hit! The Major is gone!” It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. My heart pounded. I was next in line for command. I didn’t know what to do. I was not a combat Airman, I was a paralegal. The Airmen in my truck starred at me as I grabbed the radio. The sound of small arms fire filled the air as simulation bullets pelted our trucks. “This is Name, I am assuming command, all trucks advance to the objective!”
The convoy began to roll toward the village under heavy small arms fire. “All trucks, fire at will!” I knew that we needed to achieve fire superiority if we were to successfully complete the mission. Our trucks fanned slightly and the sound of our rifles began to fill the air. I could see the enemy retreating and taking shelter in nearby buildings. We were beating them back. About 20 yards from our objective, mortars began to fall on us. They were sighted and ranged on the road and it was only a matter of time before they began falling on our trucks. “Incoming! Dismount and take cover in the tree line! QRF, approach from the south and provide suppressing fire.” As the QRF began to open fire on the village, I gave my last command of the mission; “move toward the objective!” As we began to advance on the objective, the termination horn sounded. We had successfully completed the mission. The total loss of life was confined to the Major and his crew, but as it turns out, his death was by design.
During my out brief with the instructors I was told that part of their curriculum was to test a junior ranking member’s ability to take over in the event of the commanding officer’s death. I was commended for my quick thinking and decisive leadership during a deliberately stressful situation. At one point I was asked when I felt that I should take over, to which I replied that I didn’t remember taking over, I only remembered trying to help everyone else accomplish our mission. It was instinctive for me. I recognized a gap in leadership, and knew that I could fill it, so I did. The only other option would have been to do nothing, which would have jeopardized the mission and place lives at risk. Of course, this was just a drill, a simulation, but this “face it head on and beat it” attitude is how I operate as a leader of Airmen to this day. I feel that this specific trait of instinctive and brave leadership is what sets me apart from other applicants, and I believe it is what the legal profession needs now more than ever. To me a career in the law requires leadership. Often times the job of an attorney asks you to help change a situation, for the better. Without a foundation of leadership, you cannot be brave or bold enough to challenge a situation that needs changed. I know that I have the leadership ability necessary to further this cause, I just need the legal education; I want to earn that at THIS LAW SCHOOL!