First … I am a huge fan of General H Norman Schwarzkopf. Read his autobiography a few years back, and came to the conclusion that, even though he doesn’t view himself as a hero, he’s about as close a thing to a modern American hero this country has seen in quite a few years. His deft and masterful handling of the coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War more than two decades ago is legendary among modern military commanders, and the story of his rise from a junior officer in the US Army to head of the United States Central Command in the Middle East is a very compelling story about a young man following in his father’s footsteps to become an incredible leader of men. This past week, I was reminded of something that General Schwarzkopf related in his book, “It Doesn’t Take A Hero”. In December of 1976, then-Colonel Schwarzkopf was selected to command a brigade of the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Upon assuming command, he asked his key staff officers what they’d like to see stopped, and what they’d like to see continued. Since the previous commander had had the troops performing menial and silly drills, the staff chiefs told Schwarzkopf that they’d like to see all the Mickey Mouse drills stopped, and that they’d like to go to the field where they could receive real and practical training. Schwarzkopf listened, and proceeded to train his brigade with meaningful and relevant combat-readiness exercises. By the following year, his brigade, which had been nicknamed the “circus brigade” prior to his arrival, was one of the top-performing units in the Infantry. I mention this only because it came to mind last week as I was attending a training exercise for work. At the end of the day, we were asked to give an evaluation of the day’s program, and the first thing that came to my mind was the response of Schwarzkopf’s staff – “stop the Mickey Mouse and give me some real training that is practical and that I can use in my work to help improve in the job that I am paid to do”. I consider myself a life-long learner; at age 45, I believe there’s a lot left for me to gain knowledge of before I decide to go on full-time crappie-fishing sabbatical in 25 years or so. I have a deep desire to learn new things, I strive to acquire new knowledge, and I really enjoy discovering new ways of doing things that I previously had little or no knowledge of. Give me the chance to try something different or attain new skills and I will jump at that chance. Don’t give me construction paper to fold into a little tent and come up with a tribe name for my group. Don’t show me a picture of a refrigerator and ask me to rate it on how clean it is. Don’t give me paper plates to play with on the floor. Yes, all of those things were a part of our training day. It actually got so bad that colleagues and I were discussing options that we would consider more enjoyable as well as more valuable. One suggestion was a colonoscopy. Another was a root canal. Yet another was that they’d rather attend a funeral. Still another colleague suggested attending his OWN funeral! He was kidding, I think. I’m sure everyone, no matter your occupation, has had the same type of experience; I know that anyone who has ever been a part of a bureaucracy knows and understands what I am talking about. The law requires training and I don’t know of anyone who would not be eager to improve the way they perform their job – as a matter of fact, my superiors (who are wonderful, by the way) allowed me to attend training in November which provided me with some of the best ideas and methods that I have ever gotten in my 20-plus years of teaching. It certainly wasn’t their fault that the outside training provider was not what was expected. However, as most educators are fully aware and as the former classroom educator who was presenting the material ought to remember, not much gets accomplished when there is little to no engagement between those who are there to learn and those who are there ostensibly to teach. As General Schwarzkopf said in his book, “We have to be able to do better than that.”
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- I recall a whipping for using a slingshot to shoot ball-bearings at the mailbox - that one hurt!
- For those who remember the old Watkins products, I bought a bottle of Watkins White Cream Liniment the other day at a little stand at the outlet store in Corsicana. What a vile and offensive smell this stuff gives off! I mean, it flat stinks! But it sure does work!
- Saturday evenings + a card table + 28 dominoes = some very good times.
- Bumblebees, grassburs, and scorpions – useless, all!!
- Had some great battles with the cousins with a few square bales of hay and a big chinaberry tree!
- Decided that if chinaberry fights were cool, then horse apple fights would be way cooler. Didn't take long to realize this was a bad idea. No, a VERY bad idea.
- Had a big worm bed when I was little. Sitting around the other day looking at all those used cow mineral tubs … thinking a couple of those might be useful in growing some big ‘ol fishing worms for the Spring!
- Has there ever been a cooler pair of shoes than Converse’s Chuck Taylor All-Stars?
- An awesome childhood flashback! Shopping in Mesquite with Mama, and lunch at Griff’s Hamburgers, Woolworth’s, or Wyatt’s Cafeteria. Great times!
- Can’t mention shopping as a kid without mentioning BigTown Mall. To a kid, a magical place! Sad now every time I drive by that big vacant space.
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