Knowledge

During a recent trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, I learned a few valuable lessons: I am not as smart as I thought I was, and following established rules and policies protects me from harm. These lessons, although embarrassing, later saved me from greater harm in a different national park and may have prevented a tragic accident in my unit a few weeks later.

Many years ago, I was a young platoon leader (PL) deployed to Mosul, Iraq. One afternoon, after completing a round of checkpoint missions, I heard about a track meet the forward operating base was hosting. As a hard-charging PL, I took my job seriously, but I also believed in personal downtime.