considering military officer career - seeking advice

[Captain]

I'm new to this site so i better get talking and meet a few of you fine people. I'm only young and have dreams of serving my nation proud. but where i come from (Down Under), people, especially the younger generation seem to know more about wars and battles that involved the United States than the wars and battles that involved their very own countrymen. there have been movies made, many movies about the wars that were fought, won and lossed, but how many of these involved the fighting forces of the Australian Defence Force???????????????

I am reading a book at the present called 'The Spirit Of Kokoda'

It is a book about how less than 200 or so Australian men, (sumtimes even just 39-41), took on the full force of the Japanese South Sea Detachment.
they were only 18 years of age and it is the Battle of Kokoda that saved our nation, Australia, from being invaded by the Japanese.

Where are the big Hollywood movies about this battle??? Not even the Australian film-makers have attempted to write a script about this. Not even our own younger generation in schools are taught of such battles and how we are a free nation.

In the book, a true story, one of the fierce scenes is described.

The Australian lines were invaded and the Japanese soldiers (1800) at that that location on the track had split the militia force into two. knowing that his fate for death was near and serving his country proudly, one soldier jumped from his cover and with his weapon, sprayed endless amounts of bullets into the Japanese.

one lone soldier no older than 17, ran to the enemy of more than 1500 men. seeing this, the other 14 men of the platoon followed this heroic act and the end result was more than 800 enemy soldiers dead and only 3 allie soldiers injured. the Japanese soldiers did not expect such an act of fighting. they were running on their impression to the enemy of its size.

this is a true act of courage.

[Captain]

Does anyone here except for Wazza know about the Battle of Kokoda? If so what do you know about it? Of course there hasn't been a feature film on it because not even our own Aussie schoolkids are taught of how Australia was protected from invasion.

[janecallanan]

Captain... Didn't know anything about the bettle of Kokoda, didn't even know that children in other countries never learned their own military history.That seems very wrong, and very disrespectful to the brave, the heroes and the fallen. Certainly movies would help to right this, but what else can be done?

[Tamaroa]

I did a search for Kokada and this is what I came up with:

Australians take back Kokada

Monday, November 2, 1942 www.onwar.com


In New Guinea... Kokada is recaptured by the Australian 25th Brigade. The reacquisition of the airfield here is especially important as it means supplies can be ferried in by air rather than lugged over the poor terrain of the Kokada Trail.

Not much is on it on the net. Sounds like it might be a good read.

FYI, My son spent some time in Australia, he was on a Submarine the Jeff City. He liked it there a lot. He was there on a training cruise and will be commissioned in May. Who knows maybe someday you two will cross paths. Good luck.

[kenmar]

....for bringing up Kokoda. After reading your post I also did some net searching and found an amazing site. I'ts called "The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway".

It tells an astounding story, not only about Kokoda, but the story of the whole Papua-New Guinea campaign from July 1942-January 1943..

This is a MUST read. If you go to the site and take the tour, you will see and hear descriptions of the campaign, with photographs, interviews and maps.

This story rivals any written about bravery and the hardships of war.

Everybody,.....do yourselves a favor. TAKE the tour.....


http://www.kokodawalkway.com.au/the_kokoda_track.html

ken

[Seascamp]

Captain,
A couple of issues involved here, I believe. The American WWII historical vision sees the USMC and the USN charging across the Pacific and rolling up the IJN and IJA. Fair enough, that is accurate. The US Army?s participation in the Pacific is somewhat of an ?Oh by the way?. I believe this has more to do with the conflict between Gen. MacArthur and the USN/USMC than it has to do with real history. The vast majority of combined Australian-US Army WWII/Pacific history is associated with MacArthur and is not yet front-page stuff. But it should be, for sure. In my personal library I have a book entitled ?The War in the Pacific, Victory in Papua?, and this is a historical narrative of the Papua battles including the Australian forces at Kakoda Gap. This was published by the US Army in 1949 and is excellent reading. There are lots of photos and talk of the Australian 25th, 7th and 14th brigades, and more. For those interested, this book is probably in your public library in the volume of books called ?US Army in WWII? and Samuel Milner authors this particular volume. As well, I believe that Time-Life did a WWII series a while back and I do recall that Australian Forces in Papua were well represented and Kakoda Gap is described.
A situational book that does a reasonable job of working through the MacArthur conflicts of the time is entitled ?An American Cesar? by William Manchester. He was a US Marine in the Pacific during WWI and also wrote ?Raggedy Assed Marine?, a classic humorous but sad saga of real Marines. Example: Manchester evidently was endowed with larger sized pecker and as a result the Marine?s nic-named him ?Tri-pod? and the book just keeps getting better with every page. So I?d say his views of MacArthur are representative of what the USN and USMC had on their mind at the time. Some would say ?bad attitude?, but Ok that?s fair as well. MacAuthor is described as both brilliant and arrogantly vein glorious so I guess we can pick one definition and there is lots to read about either way.

A second issue is what Hollywood locks on to as being representative. Thus far you Australians of WWII are represented as the friendly but ornery coast watcher that bails out ?Rock Tory? (John Wayne) in the movie ?In Harms Way?. That kind of thing happened but I wouldn?t call it representative of what happened in Papua, not in the slightest. Not at all fair but I don?t ever recall Hollywood having the reputation of being in the business of being fair, or reasonable or even accurate for that matter.

Scamp

[Tamaroa]

Thanks for finding that link. Now my curiosity is really piqued.

BillD

[kenmar]

"but where i come from (Down Under), people, especially the younger generation seem to know more about wars and battles that involved the United States than the wars and battles that involved their very own countrymen."

--------------------------------------------

Captain,a few years ago the Veterans in central Illinois started visiting schools toshare their military experiences with the children.The kids really get into itand askall sorts of questions.Hopefully this is going to make them moreinterested inhistory andalso teachthem about theprice offreedom. Do you guys havea similar program down-under?

Joe Frank, a Vietnam Veteran took it a step further. He sure made a positive out ofa terrible negative. Itticks me off the wayVietnam Veterans are often wrongly portrayed while guys like Joe get little attention.

FYI, I pasted a local newspaper article about the subject below.

...ken

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Junior high students visited by Vietnam veteran

By Bob Holliday
Pantagraph staff

BLOOMINGTON -- After schoolchildren meet Joe Frank, who was paralyzed serving his country in Vietnam, they may begin seeing Veterans Day as more than just another school holiday.

Frank, a past national commander of the American Legion, has used a wheelchair since his service in the Vietnam War. The former Army engineer, who is paralyzed from the chest down, was blown into the air when a nearby truck hit a land mine in Vietnam.

"I'd do it all over again," Frank said.

Frank, who lives in Sunset Hills, Mo., said he came back from war "a better person but a little different," referring to his injury. Frank works with other veterans who've suffered spinal cord injuries.

Tuesday through Thursday, he'll visit with students in nine Central Illinois junior high schools.

Lorin Stevens, assistant adjutant of the American Legion state headquarters in Bloomington, hopes Frank's visit, along with a 23-minute video about what Veterans Day means, will help students celebrate for the right reasons.

"We need to recognize veterans for what they've done for our country," Stevens said. "This video was the answer to my dreams. Now we have something to help students understand."

Nov. 11 originally was Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I in 1918. The holiday was renamed in 1954 to honor all veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Frank also appears in the video, which features a schoolgirl's conversation with her grandfather, a Vietnam veteran. At first unaware of what Veterans Day is about, the schoolgirl eventually concludes, after talking with her grandfather, that she also wants to serve her country

. Stevens, who was a high school principal in the Wenona area for 25 years, knows from personal experience that many students have no idea what Veterans Day represents. This has always bothered Stevens, a Vietnam-era veteran. He provided the video, produced by the American Legion three years ago, to nine area junior high schools for use in social studies classes. Other schools can request the video, Stevens said.

[PHO127]

Officers command, do not forget that you must be able to make a decision and stand by it.

If there is time and purpose seek advice from your senior NCOs but make your own decision. Officers Command.

Always stand by your men, Be stern, but fair. Always command.

There is a world of advice and recommendations from your NCOs some good some not so good use it, but Always Command.

You may be on an informal basis with the enlisted personnel and sometimes even go by your first name, my first name was SIR or my Rank, either was acceptable. You must command without hesitation, reservation or doubt.

One day when all others about you are loosing it, someone will look to you and say OK LT (or CPT or Col) what do we do now?? You must be able to command with authority and assurance, without hesitation or doubt. You will be the one they look to for guidance and leadership.

You will make misteakss, try to minimze them, learn from them and do not make them twice. Do not let the men see you puke because you are so scared, if they do, blame it on the mess hall, or anything else that comes to mind.

It is important that you understand the 3 Ms of command.

Mission-Accomplish the mission with the minimum amount of stress and hassle possible.

Men-Always look after your men, they are second only to the mission. Look after your men and your men will look after you, Don't look after your men and your men WILL LOOK AFTER YOU.

Me-THERE IS NO ME.

ALWAYS COMMAND

[thebrad]

I started to read on the Kokoda website - but am at work, and will have take it in shifts since it's so big. No internet at home...(why I've not responded for a few days)... guess I'll end up 'working' late and read it then.

I've posted another unrelated article at the bottom of this message. My supervisor (who is the only person at my work with any sort of authority that knows I am pursuing military... anyone else would fire me in the tradition of everyone else they find out is sending out resumes) sent me this. She stumbled on it in research. The article is about marketing and branding for companies and orgainizations - and about how NOBODY competes with the Marines in advertising campaigns. Her evidence it through recruiting and renlisting stats and such. I thoght it was interesting.

Captain - you've inspired me to go on a similar rant... mine is on the midwest US though - Eastern Nebraska specifically...

I understand your frustrations on lack of military history education specific to your country. The same thing happens here! I took all three US history and two World History classes at my high school. If I was drawing on just what I was taught in HS - I could not tell you much of anything about the causes or catalysts in any conflict the US was involved in except for our civil war. Pretty much everything I learned on the topic came from all of the books on these topics I read on my own. Almost an entire quarter was speant in discussion about the lost colony of Roanoke (sp?) - granted: the mysterious disappearance of an entire community on the East Coast is an interesting part of US history - but pretty insubstantial vs. just about ANYTHING else!

My theory is that this lack of focus is a regional issue. There is an AF base in Omaha, but for the most part those stationed to it stay close - and it's not too often that you see anyone from it off-base as anything other than another civilian. The only times you see someone in uniform around here is when they are trying to recruit you, or they are a vet in a parade (happy veterans day! I love my country and am sincerely thankful and appreciative of everyone who was willing to risk everything to make the US what it is).

I've been able to witness the common attitude towards the military first-hand to some extent. Although I've been trying to keep my pursuit of a military life half-way under wraps until papers are signed, in the interest of keeping my current employment a few extra months, I can't help but talk about it to just about everyone that is appropriate! Atleast 75% of the people respond very negatively "are you crazy?" "do you know what you are doing" "oh... [as they walk off]" The few that respond positively and stick around to talk usually either volunteer that they have a friend or family member in service and how great it's been for them - or turns out to have moved to the area from another part of the country. I talked with my recruiters(both the Army recruiter and the Navy recruiter that I WAS working with) about these issues - and they both said that this area historically has the WORST recruiting numbers with relation to population vs. the rest of the country.

I'm not really sure where I am going with this. I do not have any feelings of not joining just because of this lack of local support (it's evident in a lot of my friends too...), it really serves mainly to strengthen my resolve! It frustrates me that here in the middle of the country - sheltered by thousands of miles from anything hostile... the population gives little respect to what protects their way of life (I still think Nebraska's old motto: The Good Life was very accurate). Man - speaking of reading articles in shifts since I'm at work... this got pretty damn long itself. I'll jump off of my soapbox now...



here's the article I mentioned above:



The All-American Brand
by Kristine Kirby Webster
The other night I was sitting and knitting, and working mentally on a presentation I am putting together.

Specifically, I was trying to encapsulate in a few points the hallmarks of a great brand. I decided that a great brand is enduring, establishes affinity, and engenders loyalty.

After mulling over these hallmarks, I found myself wondering what I would consider to be the Great American Brand. Would it be Sears, the original catalog powerhouse? All the Ma Bells, the forerunners of telecoms today? Would it be McDonald?s and their ubiquitous arches? How about Coke and their national and global reach?

No. The great American brand, in my eyes, is the United States Marine Corps.

Now, I can almost hear many of you saying, ?Wait just a minute, Kristine?.the Marines don?t sell anything! How can it be the Great American Brand??

I admit it. When most people think of branding, they think of it as a part of a sales plan, one designed to generate profits. But brands needn?t be about sales.

As the hallmarks of a great brand demonstrate, the bond and the relationship created is the most important goal of a brand. It can?t be stated enough: the true promise of a brand is only realized through the customer-brand experience and the resultant relationship.

The Marines are the smallest of the U.S. military services. But if you were to gauge size merely by the number of bumper stickers on cars across America, the Marines would win hands-down as the largest.

And the Marines aren?t content to simply rest on their historic laurels. They consistently promote their brand through multi-channel marketing efforts (both externally and internally) more precisely and effectively than any other service, and many organizations.

Perhaps that is why they have numbers such as the following that would make any for-profit business jump for joy:

? The Marines have consistently met their monthly recruiting goals for more than seven years running.

? For the Fiscal Year 2003 (which started October 1, 2002), there are 6,100 openings for Marines wishing to re-enlist during this year. As of October 11, 2002, more than 5,100 Marines had requested re-enlistment. At that rate, three weeks into their fiscal year they would meet their annual goal. (Talk about excellent retention!) One of the main functions for success in branding is consistency. The Marines have had some form of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor logo since their founding in 1775. The Commandant of the Marine Corps always has the license plates ?1775? on his vehicle.

Almost all Marines begin or end all conversations, correspondence, etc. with ?Semper Fi,? their motto (?Semper Fidelis,? meaning ?always faithful?).

And, of course, who can forget the Marine Corps bulldog? All of these symbols combine to reinforce the brand and serve as markers of loyalty and a sense of community.

In their book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Al and Laura Ries note that ?if the entire company is the marketing department, then the entire company is the branding department.?

This is absolutely true of the Corps. Each Marine is a walking, talking advertisement, and a persuasive one at that. The Marines understand the importance of their brand--both externally and internally--more than any other service, and more than most companies. To the Marines, their brand is a living, breathing, historically-based but constantly evolving thing.

Every strong brand today recognizes that the brand is not a static thing; it needs to be constantly evolving to meet the needs of their customers, and it needs to be nurtured and promoted in order to endure.

The Marines understand the need to go out and find those Marines of tomorrow. They are sponsors of such events as the X Games, NASCAR, NFL Football, and other sporting events that are attractive to their target audience.

They don?t just sit around waiting for candidates; they use the proactive nature of their brand and message and mission to go out and attract people who want to be Marines. They promote not only the tangible benefits of the brand--the uniform, the respect, the ability to serve your nation, and a chance to see the world, but also the intangible--the feeling of pride, of belonging to a select group, of aspiring to be someone great. (Another Marine tag line is ?The Few, The Proud, The Marines.?)

They also use their proactive nature to ?keep? the Marines who have served in the past. Have you ever heard the oft-said phrase, ?Once A Marine, Always A Marine?? The Marines make great efforts to retain the affinity and relationship between the Corps and the Marine even after a person?s active service is over.

To this end, they have a program called ?Marine for Life.? The Marine for Life program?s mission ?is to provide sponsorship for our more than 27,000 Marines each year who honorably leave active service and return to civilian life in order to nurture and sustain the positive, mutually beneficial relationships inherent in our ethos 'Once A Marine, Always A Marine.'?

The Marines clearly understand the importance of relationships, longevity, and of loyalty. Besides being a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield (pun intended!), they are a force to be reckoned with off it. They have a large contingent of Marines--past and present--as well as their families, whom they can rely on to promote the needs and the vision of the Corps, from the halls of government to the smallest farm communities, from inner cities to Fortune 500 boardrooms. The amazing reach of their message is only superceded by their consistency of purpose and message.

What can your brand learn from the Marines?

That consistency is vital, that loyalty is a valuable asset, and that relationships created in the brand promise and delivered on by the brand fulfillment are lasting. That treated well, you can create and have customers for life.

So, perhaps your brand needs to go to boot camp and learn some brand promotion and loyalty techniques from the Marines.

Is your brand up to the challenge?