meeting Gen. Krulak c. mid-1990s

photo credits: USMC, public domain

2014-12-10 Doug writes in an eMail:

I met General Krulak when he visited Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort
(SC) in the mid 1990's.

I found out the general was around in the early A.M. when my NCOIC (top enlisted
man in a unit) came unannounced to my office, knocked on the door, and said:
"Sir!, um!, the Commandant of the Marine Corps is in the immediate area
and well!, ah!, Sir, General Krulak is actually talking with Corporal X's P-19
firefighting crew right now as as they're performing their preoperational
vehicle inspection".

Poor Doug practically inhaled his coffee and coffee cup on the spot.

Imagine being a Corporal (young supervisor of men) and turning around to find
the Commandant of the Marine Corps standing there - and if that isn't enough
(the general then showing genuine and real interest by saying "show me your
rig and what you're doing!"), sitting in it, playing with knobs and stuff and
asking questions while listening! I thought my NCOIC/enlisted staff were going
to have a collective heart attack 'cause you never know what a young Marine
might say!

Going outside I found Gen. Krulak, dressed in camouflage utilities, climbing
into our old/huge salvage crane with another Marine! A startling sight seeing a
4-star general ably climbing up an old vehicle like that...then I lost track of
him as I began talking with one of the General's staff...

I then went to Our Training/ClassRoom Area, thinking this Commandant (known for
such things) would probably be walking through the building meeting the rest of
the enlisted Marines in my unit. Sure enough, Gen. Krulak in a few minutes
walked into the shop and began to visit with Marines who ran the Training and
Supply sections. All the time asking good, personal questions about family,
military life, and all things Marine.

It was sincere visitation and not just official posturing - believe you me,
Marines can tell the difference in an officer a mile away.

In the course of time he was there, our eyes met and so I gave him a customary
and snappy Good Morning, Sir!! but he was not interested in me at all. Only my
Marines. So after answering one question initially, I kept quiet and enjoyed
the fact that the remainder were all answered by the most important people
he had come to visit.

And that, fellow Americans, is how it always should be when a Commandant of the
Marine Corps arrives at your doorstep totally unannounced.

Gen. Krulak then left to go back to Air Ops..all this happened because his plane
arrived early! so he had the gumption to use the time/go down and visit the
enlisted men and women of Crash Crew. His staff just followed along (as I found
out). I know it was real because there was no one from the S-3/Air Ops with
him! so there was no heads-up, no getting ready, no fluff-and-duff, no getting
ready at all.

I loved it. And so did my Marines. My kind of general and fellow man who
apparently hasn't changed one bit.

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Doug says, "the best leaders exhibit the best kind of leadership no matter where they are."
and says to read about Gen. Krulak's leadership at Birmingham-Southern College go to:
http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/12/the_leader_and_the_lackey_uabs.html
======

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_C._Krulak
"Charles Chandler Krulak (born March 4, 1942) served as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1999."