The Marine Corps Years

Where the standards came from. Former U.S. Marine and retired police detective corporal.

People assume the policing came first. It did not. Everything I use now was set in the Marine Corps, years before I ever worked an active shooter case.

Drill instructor

I was a drill instructor. That job is not about shouting, whatever the films suggest. It is about taking people with nothing in common and getting every one of them to the same standard inside a fixed number of weeks, knowing that the ones who fall short will be someone’s responsibility later.

You learn very fast that a standard nobody enforces is not a standard. It is a suggestion with a nice font.

Ground Ordnance and Weapons

By 1999 I was in Ground Ordnance and Weapons, in the headquarters section, working directly for the commanding officer. Around that time I was selected for Gunnery Sergeant and for Warrant Officer at the same time. Either one would have been a career.

What the Corps actually taught, and where it shows up now

Standards are enforced or they do not exist Why a written policy nobody audits does not protect anyone.
Rehearse the thing you hope never happens Why prevention is a practised process, not a document in a binder.
The brief before the mission decides the mission Why the months before an attack matter more than the minutes during one.
Nobody is coming faster than you can prepare Why response times are a planning input, never a plan.

The education

I had no formal high school education. I earned a GED on active duty, then an associate’s degree, and I was still working toward my bachelor’s while I was in. The master’s came much later. I mention it only because the Corps is where the habit started, and because plenty of people are told early that the ceiling is lower than it is.

Related

From the archive

Understanding how these events unfold is what makes prevention possible. → The P.R.O. Model™

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