The Marine Recruiter's approach

Doug Giles challenge to call men to a man's task (see post below) reminds me of a Marine recruiter who visited my high school in 1979 in West Virginia. That day all the boys in the Senior class were assembled in the auditorium. There were recruiters there from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Each was supposed to take 15 minutes to describe the opportunities in their branch of the service. (I don't know why the Coast Guard wasn't represented.) We'd already been carefully instructed to behave like men and reflect appropriate glory on the school.

Each recruiter looked very impressive in their uniform. I remember thinking they all had terrific posture and short haircuts.

The Air Force guy went first. He had slides of gleaming jets sliding through blue sky. He took about 20 minutes.

The Army guy went next, and had slides of tanks, artillery, and how a rifle could be disassembled and reassembled in the dark. He took 20 minutes.

The Navy guy went next, and mostly had slides of a "Join the Navy, See the World, and get electronics training" variety. I think he took 15 minutes.

Our principal then introduced the Marine recruiter, and told us we would stay until he was finished, then there would be an opportunity to visit with the recruiters afterwards.

The Marine thanked the principal, then stood with his hands fiercely held behind his back, legs spread about shoulder width. He didn't say anything for 3 solid minutes, but just looked us over. I should say he looked through us. I swear he looked every one of us in the eyes. I distinctly remember feeling that his gaze penetrated my very soul, and looking down at my feet in embarrassment. There wasn't a sound in the room.

After his scan he said quietly, clearly, with great dignity, "There might be two you good enough to be a Marine." Every eye was fixed on him. He sat down after another 30 seconds of scanning us.

I don't need to tell you which recruiter was mobbed afterwards. IAbout twenty of my classmates went into the Marines after graduation. By this time I'd already decided I was going to be a molecular biologist and win the Nobel Prize for understanding cellular differentiation, so I didn't visit with any of the recruiters. But even today, I still wonder if I would be good enough to be a Marine.

Let's be men who call other men to a man's work.