OLYMPIA, Wash. - Their feet have healed; their palates have been satisfied since. The warriors of Mangudai are nearly two months removed from the minimal food and sleep regimen they signed up for in early May and the line for food is about as long as the line of cars leading to Madigan gate.
“To all the Mangudai warriors out here tonight, thank you so much for what you do every day,” said I Corps Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell. “You have proven you are true professionals and you are true warriors.”
Troxell spoke passionately to the crowd of warriors and their families during the “Salute to Our Mangudai Warrior” ceremony presented by the Capt. Meriwether Lewis chapter of the Association of the United States Army at the Red Lion Hotel in Olympia June 20.
“What better way to develop leaders and build teams than through shared hardships over 58 hours of not having food and not having sleep and walking miles on end,” said Troxell. “Exercises like this allow us to validate our credentials and our abilities to lead the young men and women in our formations.”
“At times in our careers, we can go through times where we kind of get comfortable in what we’re doing,” said Troxell. “When we get too comfortable, complacency has the ability to set in and pretty soon if there’s too much complacency, we can become irrelevant as senior leaders and young men and women who are looking for role models will start looking in the other direction.”
The senior leaders who accomplished the 58-hour gauntlet of pain and anguish can confidently scratch complacency out of their vocabulary. The evening celebrated their ability to do just that.
Shrimp wrapped in bacon, sliders, pierogis, and an open bar was quite the contrast to the Mangudai menu, which consisted of little more than splitting a Meal Ready to Eat with a buddy and pig brains for dessert.
“The soup, coffee, and the pig brains came at the right time as anarchy was about to set in,” said Troxell quoting one of the senior leader’s comments on the after action review.
May’s Mangudai being over only marks the beginning of the next one coming soon this October. Are you Mangudai enough to tackle the challenge?