Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, based in New River, NC is known as the Gunrunners. This was my squadron. I was back today to see a buddy take command.

A Marine Change of Command ceremony is a big deal. Last August I wrote about a retirement ceremony and called it strike up the band. Well, the band was there today and so was I. Why would I drive two hours to watch a one hour ceremony, have a few snacks afterwards and drive two hours home? I can’t exactly say why? But this is what Marines do. Actually, this is what great organizations do; they honor their past and celebrate milestones.

The passing of command is a milestone. For this squadron we are talking over 25 aircraft and several hundred Marines. While this responsibility would be huge any day of the year, in July the Gunrunners go back to Iraq. For the incoming Squadron Commander it will be his fourth time. The outgoing commander got choked up as he thanked his Marines for their inspiration. He said when they were in Iraq and he was feeling down, all he would do is go for a walk to see his Marines. He said, “What many wrongly called leadership was simply me getting inspired by my Marines.” Interesting. Do your people inspire you?

Another aspect of the ceremony is the pass in review of the Marines. To underscore tradition and legacy, the incoming commander, who reviews the troops, invited all past commanders of HMLA-269 to stand with him. There were seven in attendance.

And let’s not forget the family. Twenty years ago the spouses got an honorable mention at such a ceremony. A decade ago they got flowers. Today, in this case, the wives of the incoming and outgoing commanders got flowers. The outgoing spouse was asked to stand with her husband and receive a citation from the Commanding General. The Corps recognizes the support and sacrifice of family. Do you? What do you do for the spouse of an employee putting in crazy long hours for a prolonged period because of staffing or schedule issues? Too often the answer is nothing.

I once took over a failing project at a consulting company and with hard work and some extra travel I turned it around. The client was happy, the managing partner was very happy. He called me in to ask if there was anything he could do to thank me. I said he could send some flowers to my wife. He asked why? I said never mind. I was thinking she should be recognized for her support and such a showing by the firm might increase her support of the firm also. He didn’t get it. He clearly wouldn’t have been a good Marine. Come to think of it, he wasn’t much of a leader anyway.

Today was special for HMLA-269. How many special days do you have at work?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.