Photo By Sgt. Ian Leones | Lance Cpl. Charles D. Steiger (left), a radio operator with Headquarters and Service...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – Reserve Marines with 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, graduated from the Lance Corporal Leadership and Ethics Seminar during Integrated Training Exercise 4-15 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, June 19, 2015.
The graduation concluded a three-month long course, which was held over the span of three drill periods from February through April.
Some of the topics covered in the course included leadership, ethos and societal concerns, said Staff Sgt. Mark A. Olivarez, operations chief of Company C, 1st Bn. In addition, readings from the Marine Corps Warfighting Publication Leading Marines and the essay Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard, an American writer and philosopher, were incorporated into the course.
One of the biggest challenges for the battalion was figuring out how to coordinate the course. For active duty Marines, the course is conducted over a period of five consecutive days.
“We started planning the seminar back in December,” Olivarez said. “In January, we taught the noncommissioned officers to be seminar leaders.”
With their units spread across Texas and Louisiana, the seminar had to be conducted at the company level during drill weekends.
"Doing it on a drill weekend presents its own challenge because we are limited on time,” said Sgt. Maj. Rocco C. DeCamillo, sergeant major of 1st Bn. “We went to the field two of the three months the course ran."
In order to compensate for the lack of time, the seminar leaders had to find innovative ways to lead the guided discussions involved in the course.
"We had to do discussions on bus rides to Fort Hood, Texas, because those were the only times we were all together," said Sgt. Max A. Gonzalez, a seminar leader and platoon sergeant of Weapons platoon, Company C. "As soon as we arrived at Fort Hood, Marines were tasked out to do assignments.”
Despite the setbacks, the Marines attending the course took away a lot of valuable lessons about leadership.
“Even without being an NCO, lance corporals can be leaders,” said Lance Cpl. Patrick V. Roavalenzuela, assaultman with Company C. “You don't have to have a certain rank just to be able to lead other Marines.”
The NCOs leading the discussions were able to instill a lot of information that the Marines can pass on to their own Marines in the future.
"I want my Marines to be able to turn around and teach these lessons to the Marines who come behind them." Gonzalez said. "These lance corporals will be in the spot I am a year or two from now."
As of Oct. 1, 2015, the seminar will be mandatory professional military education for promotion to the rank of corporal along with the MarineNet Leading Marines Distance Education Program.
"The earlier we start the foundations of PME, the larger the payoff we get in the end,” DeCamillo said. “It sets them up for success during the Corporal's Course and the other PME they will conduct in the future.”
By the end of the morning’s ceremony, the junior Marines received their graduation certificates and were able to celebrate their shared accomplishment as a battalion.
| Date Taken: | 06.19.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.22.2015 18:05 |
| Story ID: | 167702 |
| Location: | TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 341 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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