Essay on Book Report for Rifleman Dodd

I was able to pull many leadership ideas that are applicable in both my military and civilian careers as a National Guardsman. The easiest thing to boil down in the book are the traits people wish to see in leaders, the Be. In research reported by The Leadership Challenge surveying thousands of people in business and government, four results are remarkably consistent- honest, competent, forward-looking, and Inspiring (Hesselbein 48). These are attributes that have become instrumental in identifying successful leadership and should be used as my basis. Within these traits lay four skills that every leader must acquire knowledge and mastery of; Interpersonal, Conceptual, Technical and Tactical skills. The Know. What is profoundly interesting is the authors description of civilian tactical skills "involving negotiating, human relations, and the like are often necessary to achieve objectives" (Hesselbein 52). Being able to effectively and strategically utilize key units (both in and out of the military) to achieve success falls under such tactical skills. The last portion of effective leadership I'll take with me is, Do. The biggest thing to takeaway here is that successful leaders act in three ways: "they pull together in teams…with a unified purpose, they execute to achieve results, and they lead change to leave the organization stronger than they found it" (Hesselbein 55). With emphasis on the latter part, a successful leader leaves the organization in greater health than originally

There were numerous times were people would try and pressure him into a decision by noting there was no time for indecision. He could keep his calm, cool manner and think a situation through before reacting. I think that being able to think things through no matter the situation speaks volumes to what a leader needs to be. He also showed that not every situation needed to be thought out at that time. He was known to have thought of contingency plans prior to actions as to cut out reaction time needed due to him thinking it through before implementation and able to switch tactics on the fly. He showed this attribute multiple times but one example sticks out in my mind’s eye. We had set up a forward position in Ramadi in what we thought was a hostile minimal area. Once we had set up our hasty area for command and control of an impending raid we came under small arms fire and a mortar attack. He had set up sectors of fire and counter fire areas before we had set up even though we were told numerous times that it was not needed. Due to his intellect, he had taken it into advisement but had planned on it not being as such and we were able to respond in kind and repel any such attack. I learned from him that no matter what happens you need to think things through and show a strong intellect so your soldiers are confident in your decisions and believe in you.

The United States Marine Corps has an illustrious history forged in the trials of combat. Throughout its history, irregular warfare has and will continue to pose challenges for Marines facing new and radical enemy forces. The rapid, opportunistic, and flexible capabilities of maneuver warfare enables Marines to combat ambiguous enemies whose warfighting capability and doctrine is based on irregular warfare principles. Marine Corps units are organized and equipped to facilitate rapid deployment and to maximize the potential of each asset available to the Marine Air Ground Task Force Commanders. As we wage war against our nation’s foes, the elements of the Marine Air Ground Task Force are prepared to provide mutually supporting roles for the

(U) Parker, William D, A Concise History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1969 (Washington, D.C.: HistDiv, HQMC, 1970), pp. 52 & 55–56,

The development of the adaptive Army leaders for a complex world is the most important Army strategic priority today. The Army must be able to preserve the peace and security of the homeland and to conduct assigned tasks effectively in the dynamic geopolitical environment too. Therefore, the adaptive Army leaders’ are necessary to react to the fast changing threats within the United States and abroad as well.

Irregular warfare brings many unusual situations and circumstances that the majority of the United States Marines would not normally experience in the American way of life. For instances, there is a nine year old Arabic child holding an RPG aimed at your convoy, do you kill him or do you not kill him? This is an immoral decision that has to be made or your fellow Marines may be killed. If you have not been prepared for this situation, you will hesitate and the child will fire the RPG at the convoy. These shock causing situations and circumstances will cause a delay in thinking or decision making which could lead to a life or death situation. Training to overcome gut wrenching situations by training to the mission, the priority of life, and experiences outside of normal life will allow a Marine’s second nature to assist him in the difficult decision to prevent

“Know the self, know the enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories” was a quote from the world renowned Chinese General and military strategist, Sun Tzu. I believe this quote speaks in multitudes to the basic fundamentals of tactics. To be successful in any battle, it is important that I not only know my strengths and weaknesses but those of my enemy as well. Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1-3 provides seven pillars that provide a solid foundation of military tactics. All seven topics are equally important; however this paper will be focused on achieving a decision, gaining an advantage, being faster, and making it happen (U.S. Marine Corps, 1997). As a Marine in a combat support military occupational speciality (MOS), it is essential to have a thorough understanding of tactics and its relation to my profession.

I chose this book because it seemed very interesting to me and have heard a lot of good things about this book. The book is about a British rifleman named Matthew Dodd during the Napoleonic Wars also known as the Peninsular War. During a fight with the French army he is cut off from his countryman. Rifleman Dodd gets stuck behind enemy lines and tries to stop the French from advancing. While doing this he is chased by French rifleman up a hill slope. He performs a hit-and-run tactic which is successful for him. But while in the tree line he meets a boy he calls “idiot” which tries to convince rifleman Dodd that he should stay with him because he knows where the villages are and can speak to the enemy. Later in the book he was able to regroup with his fellow countryman. At the end of the book

By reflecting on leadership techniques and methods exhibited throughout history, a more "situational" soldier can emerge, ideally being able to: analyze a given situation, potentially compare it to any knowledge of prior situations that might be parallel in nature, and respond to it appropriately and concisely with a vast arsenal of leadership experience. In this way, qualities of character and competence become reinforced over a large spectrum of individuals within the military. The many leadership traits that George Washington has since been renowned and celebrated for are becoming standardly indoctrinated in our current generation of servicemen and women (ADRP 6-22, 2012; Harvey,

Being open to suggestions is also a way to gain the trust of your fellow soldiers but more important than that it improves the thought process and different approaches that a mission might have. The trait that I would consider the most important in an officer is the will to never give up and always keep moving forward even in the face of dire situations where all hope can be lost. The will to never give up is essential to an officer as this can help him overcome any type of challenge but more important than that it boosts the confidence of the soldiers that are being led to battle. A leader should always set short term and long term goals as this can help set map as to how these challenges should be approached as they can be identified as attainable or not. A leader has to always set attainable goals as having false hopes can often than not lead to failure. In the end leaders are not born but can they can certainly be shaped by trial and failure but what makes them different is the idea of never quitting and keep moving forward ironically very similar to the definition of

The autobiography, American sniper, demonstrates a flawless example of both american patriotism and excellent, descriptive scenes. The main character, Chris Kyle, [guides] the reader through his fascinating life, including the choices he had to make, his priorities and relationships. The text makes the reader follow Chris through the up and downs of serving in the military. The message that pops out of the text is how battle after battle, kill after kill, he received the “sniper with the most kills” in the history of the United States of America. At the beginning Chris is just an unknown Texan, but by the end of the book he made history. The book includes pieces that his wife, Taya Kyle, wrote in which I think gave another perspective adding

The part of the book that I think is most effective at accomplishing the author’s mission is chapter three: Challenges. ‘Friction dominates war, it makes simple tasks hard’. The author touches on how friction affects us anywhere from the marine-air-ground task force down to the most forward fighting positions and how getting over the brick wall that is adversity is key to being able to lead marines.

“Nobody’s Perfect” is a realistic fiction book written by Marlee Matlin and Doug Cooney. This story has been told from the point of view of a deaf girl named Megan who was getting everything the way she wanted. Her house was filled with everything purple… purple invitations, purple cake, purple food, purple clothes, and purple balloons. Everything is going perfect until Ms. Endee announces that there is a new girl in their class named Alexis Powell. All 12 girls are invited except Alexis. “She’s practically perfect ... She is smart, pretty and good with a soccer ball”, Meghan thought. But, Meghan figures out that Alexis is acting strange every time she talks to her. For example she never looks at Megan directly at her face, and every time Meghan

This story is about a family and the family is called the Thundermans and they rescue people who’s in a really bad danger but they only use their powers only if they’re in a really bad danger. The characters names are Barb Thunderman and Max Thunder man Billy Thundermans Phoebe Thunder man Nora Thunder man and last but not least Hank Thunder man. The family’s job is to go on a mission to save people from a really bad danger they also help each other if one person out of their family goes to a dangerous place they save them. Their dad is a super hero whenever people needs help he fly’s and then saves the people that are in a really bad danger. The mom’s power is a lighting she’s makes it rain on the bad guys.

The first source in this investigation, which will be evaluated in depth is Lieutenant Colonel Andrew T. Noblet’s Master’s thesis “Tarawa to Okinawa: The Evolution of Amphibious Operations in the Pacific during World War II”, written in 2010. The origin is valuable because Noblet attended Marine Corps Base (MCB), Quantico (formerly known as Amphibious Warfare School), which is renown for practicing and developing amphibious tactics, strategies and warfare. Noblet later served as Deputy Director for the Reserve Support Unit at MCB, further establishing his credibility of his understanding of amphibious warfare. In addition, the date of the report, 2010, further strengthens the source, as it indicates that Noblet benefitted from hindsight, was able to account for a wide