CLB-2 lance corporals complete leadership seminar

Photo By Cpl. Sullivan Laramie | Sergeant Eamon Turnbull (right), a machine gunner with Wounded Warrior Battalion East, speaks to the graduates of Combat Logistics Battalion 2’s Lance Corporal Leadership and Professional Ethics Seminar aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., Dec. 12, 2014. The completion of the seminar ensures that future leaders have a firm understanding of the roles and responsibilities that the Marines will assume with higher rank.  

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, UNITED STATES

12.17.2014

Story by Lance Cpl. Sullivan Laramie 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Fifteen Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, Combat Logistics Regiment 2 graduated from the Lance Corporal Leadership and Professional Ethics Seminar aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Dec. 12, 2014.

The week-long course provided the Marines a stress-free learning environment to build upon their personal and professional principles, values and leadership abilities. The seminar was constructed around group discussions in small classes allowing each student to take as much as possible out of the training.

“It was a great course,” said Lance Cpl. Monica Rodriguez, a motor vehicle operator with the unit and a native of Philadelphia. “It was actually fun and it was interesting to see other people’s opinions on how to be a good leader. We all got to participate and there was a real connection.”

Small group discussions allowed the students to put forward their points of view and talk about different types of leadership and how personal backgrounds affect each of the choices leaders make.

“The instructors aren’t there to bore you,” said Rodriquez. “They’re there to keep the conversation going. We’re not really listening the whole time; we’re talking and teaching. In a way, it was the lance corporals teaching the class.”

The guest speaker for the graduation was Sgt. Eamon Turnbull, a machine gunner with Wounded Warrior Battalion East.

Turnbull shared some of his experiences and explained that leadership in the Marine Corps is not simply a matter of what is worn on a collar or sleeve.

“In a perfect world, leadership ability should come with higher rank,” said Turnbull. “The world is not perfect. Your junior Marines should want to follow you, not because they’re afraid of getting in trouble or because you’re a higher rank, but because they trust that you know what you’re doing and that you’re going to bring them home alive.”

The focus of the course is aligned with the Marine Corps’ mission to maintain readiness, create leaders and build ethical citizens both in and out of uniform.

“There is definitely a change during this one-week course,” said Sgt. Isidro Cobos, the chief instructor of the CLB-2 lance corporal seminar and native of El Paso, Texas. “The Marines come in on a Monday expecting slideshows, but then they realize it’s a group discussion. These lance corporals are the future of the Marine Corps, so I’m glad there’s a seminar to help them whether they stay in or get out after four years. These classes will help them develop as individuals.”

The seminar will be mandatory professional military education for all lance corporals beginning in October 2015, and its completion will be a requirement for promotion to corporal to ensure future leaders in the Marine Corps have a firm understanding of the roles and responsibilities that come with becoming a noncomissioned officer.

• Date Taken: 12.17.2014
• Date Posted: 12.17.2014 14:15
• Story ID: 150558
• Location: CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US