Who Was Gysgt Hathcock A Visionary Leader?
How can someone with 93 confirmed kills that was the most feared sniper during the Vietnam War be a visionary and ethical leader? GySgt Hathcock was a visionary and ethical leader. I will first explain why I think he was a visionary leader, then why I think he was an ethical leader, and I will end with my personal relevance. I will tell you how a little boy that wanted to be a Marine turned into one of the greatest visionary leaders in the Corps.
Visionary Leader The Gunny had wanted to be a Marine since he was an 8 year old little boy in Memphis. He learned to stalk and hunt out of the need to put meat on the table for his mom and grandmother. At 17 he joined the Corps and went to boot camp in the spring of 1959. After 13 weeks in San …show more content…
The image of that Marine always stuck in the Gunny’s head. How he was proud to be a Marine. Gunny had all his uniforms perfectly tailored, so that he would have the poster perfect look. He always had to show his honor to be in the Corps. This type of honor is a direct reflection of being a sniper. “Honor on the battlefield is a sniper’s ethic. He shows it by the standards and discipline with which he lives life in combat. By the decency he shows his comrades. And by the rules he adheres to when meeting the enemy” (Henderson, p. xi). It takes a strong sense of ethics and understanding of the rules of engagement (ROE) to shoot and kill someone. But the ROEs are there as that governing document. In Vietnam the Gunny did not like killing, he did it to protect his Marines. In a fighting position on hill 55 Gunny had a young boy in his sights, and he didn’t want to kill him. So he fired a round from the .50 caliber machine gun to disable his bike, but then the boy picked up a rifle and loaded it. He met the ROE and Gunny had no choice but to kill the young …show more content…
I remember being on the boat and a pilot debriefing a flight and saying my backup instruments did not work, but it is ok we don’t ever use them. I had to explain to the young Capt why he was wrong and how the books said it was down. Now, after wasting valuable time that we did not have, my troops had to jump thru hoops to get a different aircraft ready to fly. A couple weeks later the same Capt had to return to the boat with a total electrical failure. The only reason he was able to land was those backup instruments. I could have very easily taken the easy way out, but that would have been wrong. This is a Classic example of an ethical trap; I did not have to base my decision on military rules (LM0, Ethical Leadership, p. 5). I could have just said he believes it is right so it must be. But as I stated in the beginning Marines don’t do that.
So as I stated before, Marines are taught ethics from the beginning. This type of training is what causes Marines to be ethical leaders. Gunny knew this and used it, not only in his time in the Corps but thru out his life. GySgt Carlos Hathcock II was a true example of an ethical leader, by not only his actions but what he taught to his
Visionary Leader The Gunny had wanted to be a Marine since he was an 8 year old little boy in Memphis. He learned to stalk and hunt out of the need to put meat on the table for his mom and grandmother. At 17 he joined the Corps and went to boot camp in the spring of 1959. After 13 weeks in San …show more content…
The image of that Marine always stuck in the Gunny’s head. How he was proud to be a Marine. Gunny had all his uniforms perfectly tailored, so that he would have the poster perfect look. He always had to show his honor to be in the Corps. This type of honor is a direct reflection of being a sniper. “Honor on the battlefield is a sniper’s ethic. He shows it by the standards and discipline with which he lives life in combat. By the decency he shows his comrades. And by the rules he adheres to when meeting the enemy” (Henderson, p. xi). It takes a strong sense of ethics and understanding of the rules of engagement (ROE) to shoot and kill someone. But the ROEs are there as that governing document. In Vietnam the Gunny did not like killing, he did it to protect his Marines. In a fighting position on hill 55 Gunny had a young boy in his sights, and he didn’t want to kill him. So he fired a round from the .50 caliber machine gun to disable his bike, but then the boy picked up a rifle and loaded it. He met the ROE and Gunny had no choice but to kill the young …show more content…
I remember being on the boat and a pilot debriefing a flight and saying my backup instruments did not work, but it is ok we don’t ever use them. I had to explain to the young Capt why he was wrong and how the books said it was down. Now, after wasting valuable time that we did not have, my troops had to jump thru hoops to get a different aircraft ready to fly. A couple weeks later the same Capt had to return to the boat with a total electrical failure. The only reason he was able to land was those backup instruments. I could have very easily taken the easy way out, but that would have been wrong. This is a Classic example of an ethical trap; I did not have to base my decision on military rules (LM0, Ethical Leadership, p. 5). I could have just said he believes it is right so it must be. But as I stated in the beginning Marines don’t do that.
So as I stated before, Marines are taught ethics from the beginning. This type of training is what causes Marines to be ethical leaders. Gunny knew this and used it, not only in his time in the Corps but thru out his life. GySgt Carlos Hathcock II was a true example of an ethical leader, by not only his actions but what he taught to his