Don't Thank Me! A Veteran's Day Post

Don’t Thank Me

Oftentimes we thank the individual for their service on Veteran's day, but most people doing the thanking (usually civilians and civilian politicians) forget that we volunteered for this.  Others talk about sacrifice and the pain “we” endure as service members. Both of those are facts of life as a member of the armed forces, but I don’t want to be THANKED.  Today I extend the thanks to a one of a kind brotherhood and an organization that is credited for my success. I will be forever in debt to my country for providing me the opportunity to break the mold and shatter the “poor” inner city kid glass ceiling. Thank You to the US NAVY and The United States Armed Forces for letting me join and allowing me to serve.

My take away from 7 years of Active duty, Enlisted of course…“Don’t call me Sir, I work for a living”ETC(SW) Dooley

EDUCATION: Showed an underperforming inner city high school kid from a low income bracket that he can outperform his peers despite guidance counselors, teachers, and coaches writing him off because of his low “GPA” and bad attitude. Thank you ASVAB and AECF School, through my MBA. (ALL PAID for by Uncle Sam)

UNITY: That a team of individuals is much stronger than the individual themselves. Sacrifice for your team and all parties will win. The loneliness and despair at the beginning of boot camp  as an individual recruit turns to solidarity, pride, and unity as we toss our “RECRUIT” baseball caps in the air and place the “NAVY” hat on our heads. My membership to this organization still pays dividends every time I do business or meet with another service member and we immediately bond.

YINZ ain’t a word (Although I don’t agree)- when my shipmates asked me if I was going to the NEX(store) with them, I said “I am going with YInz”. They left without me and when they got back they said, “You said you were going with Yinz!” who they thought was another sailor because we call each other by our last names.  Side note: YALL is apparently acceptable?? I'm not buying it.

FOLLOWING orders and FUN: Doing what you're told can trump doing what you want. After Basic training I filled out my wish list (the orders “I wished” to receive) 1: Norfolk Virginia 2: East Coast 3: Continental USA. Then I got my orders to Guam. I had no choice. I bitched and moaned all the way there, got off the plane, and for the next 3 years had the time of my life traveling to Japan, Australia, Singapore, and working long hours with some of the greatest friends I have ever known. We did a little partying too. Jason, Jonny Law, Brett, Damon, Justin, Keith…Remember Guys - Loose Lips Sink Ships 🙂

LEADERSHIP- Look at the young men and women who have served during the last 13 years - To train for a short period of time, then to trust a young man (as young as 17) with making a decision to take, or not take, another person’s life in order to protect our country and place yourself in the way of this potential harm or death. AMAZING. This is why our service members are the future of business in America and the Future of America. Good Luck Professor Donothing at every college campus in America teaching that.

9/11- Reminded us what it means to serve- I came into the Navy in a time of peace and half way through my tour that all changed. When the towers were falling it was time for services members around the world to roger up, no time to reflect or watch the news, prepare for deployment. TODAY We say (civilians like me)“let us never forget" but did we? Our Active Duty service members have not. So let’s make sure we (civilians and politicians) do not become complacent.

AND HOW TO tie a tie, to swim, to shave properly, to press a shirt, shine shoes, be polite(yes ma’am no sir), the art of the sale(recruiting and SM1 Conatser), love education, be the best, love physical fitness, take a beating, the triumph of winning, look professional, respect others, be compassionate, the power of brotherhood,  love other cultures and countries, have fun, respect and love the strength of Americans…and on and on.

As I type this I realize I can go on for pages about all the great things I received from the NAVY but I also know no one is going to read this.  So I will stop. In closing, I chose to serve out of high school and that was deemed inferior to an traditional American college education by popular culture and my choice paid big time. RE360(my company) is built around military style leadership and the lessons I learned while serving,  Work hard and take care of your team, do what’s right, loyalty, HONOR, COURAGE and COMMITMENT, these are the secrets to our success. GO NAVY.