Midn. 3⁄C James Marshall, standing at far right, poses with fellow Marines from 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Marshall enlisted two days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and reported to the Naval Academy Preparatory School as a Sergeant in July 2005. Photo courtesy of Midn. 3⁄C James Marshall.

Q: Where were you assigned and what were your responsibilities?

A In February of 2003, I was a Lance Corporal at a unit called Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) Company 1. [I was sent] to Kuwait, and eventually into Karbala, and up into Baghdad. I was promoted to Corporal upon arriving in Baghdad and served as an infantry squad leader⁄section leader. My unit was responsible for helping clear out central Baghdad, and eventually helped set up what is now the Green Zone.

My second tour in Iraq...I served as a squad leader, this time at the rank of Sergeant, in Al Anbar. I was with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, Kilo Co. My Marines fought in some of the most violent combat the war had seen, in Operations Matador, New Market, and Spear. Many of my Marines were wounded, and continued to fight with indomitable courage. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was the stuff that they make movies about.

Q: What were your biggest challenges during your deployment, and how did you overcome them?

A:The biggest challenge for me the first time I went to war was showing courage in the face of danger. The only way I overcame that was to learn as much as I could, as fast as I could, and to use that knowledge to make smart decisions that let my Marines know that I would not hesitate when their lives were on the line. The other challenge I had was not letting the love I had for my Marines interfere with the mission and the reality that I was going to have to, and did, send many of them to their deaths. I am still overcoming that problem. It is a daily struggle for me.

Q: What do today’s Sailors and Marines need from their junior officers?

A: They want someone who is willing to take risks, to make mistakes, but ultimately to make decisions. No officer is perfect, just as no leader is perfect, and they understand that. Today’s Sailors and Marines will forgive you for your mistakes, but what they will not forgive you for is indecisiveness and weakness. When I was enlisted, my platoon commanders weren’t perfect, but they were hard workers who never cowered from a difficult decision. I am, and always will be, thankful for that.

My platoon commander, Capt. Anzevino, was the epitome of a Marine’s Marine. It didn’t matter what we were doing, he was doing it with us. When we would be filling sand bags, he would be filling them too. He always had a way of working like an enlisted man, but still acting like an officer. He was quite stoic, but you could see how much he truly loved his Marines in his eyes. When I left his platoon...on my way to the Academy, he told me, ‘‘Marshall, I hope that from my example you have learned this one thing, if nothing else: Mission first, Marines always.”

Q: Based on your personal experiences, what do you believe should be the relationship between junior officers and senior enlisted?

A: My first experience with that relationship was at FAST, where the platoon commander was a Captain and the platoon sergeant was a Gunnery Sergeant. At that point in their careers, the officer has much more experience and is noticeably confident and in charge. They had a great working relationship based on mutual respect and the knowledge of their respective roles within the command structure.

I think...the senior enlisted is the quiet professional, who ensures that the officer is well-trained and well-informed. The senior enlisted ought to also ensure that it always appears that the officer is in charge, even if [the officer] is still learning from that senior enlisted [in private]. It is also important for the officer to trust all of his enlisted leaders, whether they are leading petty officers or squad leaders, and make decisions based on multiple experienced leaders’ advice.

Q: What do you think is the most important thing our future officers need to understand as they head out to the Fleet and Marine Force?

A: Enlisted personnel today are smarter and better than they have ever been in the history of our military. You have to earn their respect, they won’t just give it to you. With that being said, many of them will follow you to the gates of hell and back if they know that you are sincere. If they know that you truly care about their lives not being wasted, they will put their lives on the line for you repeatedly, and without hesitation.

Being enlisted is hard, dirty, and rough work, often done by very intelligent and talented people. They also learn their jobs at hyper-speed, and normally take a great deal of pride in their work. The best way to get them to continue to perform is to place greater trust and responsibility upon them, not to presume to [have to] teach them right from the start. The enlisted men and women love to learn from an experienced officer, and conversely are often turned off by a junior officer with a few months’ experience attempting to act like a subject expert.

Often people think that leadership means that you need to go by a checklist that ensures you know everything about your people: the names of their grandparents, the first pet they had, what they had for breakfast that day. In reality, enlisted people are much sharper than that. They will see through anything that is not genuine. What they really care about is that you value their life, and that you are willing to see to it that they are not needlessly put into harm’s way.

Q: What advice would you give to the Class of 2008 as they prepare to serve in a wartime Navy and Marine Corps?

A: Know the ‘‘price of the status quo.” In Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale’s Courage Under Fire, he challenges us to throw off the posturing of the peacetime military beast, and examine our training and conduct from an objective point of view that asks the question, ‘‘What am I doing to accomplish the mission, and how can I do a better job of that?”

If I had one piece of advice to give the Class of 2008 it is this - the old way of doing things isn’t always the right way. It is crucial to constantly evolve your training to reflect the nature of the fight, and to never hold on to the status quo just because change might be painful. The pain of failure, and the anguish of watching those entrusted to you die needlessly, is far greater than the pain of change.