This is part of a series shared ecumenically with members to whom I was assigned; the goal was to start conversation and deep thought, and many of these messages led to great conversations.
Train Hard, Fight Easy
Original Publication Date: 24 February 2022
I took Airframe & Powerplant classes many years from an old RAF mechanic. He used to repeat the mantra, “Train Hard, Fight Easy.” That has stuck with me through the years and I’ve noticed that it applies to many things in life.
CMSAF Bass recently posted that one of the most important things about a leader is that “they care”. There was some pushback because caring means different things to different people, to some “caring” means hugs and singing songs, but I thought of two stories of people that cared in non-traditional ways, whose caring meant training, not coddling.
Herb Brooks coached the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team. The obvious team to beat that year was the Soviet team, which had been skating together for over a decade and had won the gold medal in the previous four Olympics. The rules specifically called for non-professional teams, so the USA team was comprised of college students who had never played professionally or even with each other. Herb Brooks pushed them so hard the team came together not just to beat the Soviets, but to prove that they were better than Brooks said they were. On multiple occasions while pushing them to excel in training, he would yell, “You don’t have enough talent to win by talent alone!” After agonizing preparation and team building and practice, the 1980 USA hockey team did go on to not only beat the Soviets, not only to win the Gold Medal, but to rise to the standards that Herb Brooks had set for them. He had cared for them by pushing them to be the best hockey players they could be.
In Vietnam, PFC (E-3) Sammy Davis (not the singer) was a cannoneer on Howitzer artillery. During the day his Sergeant, James Gant, would push them to train hard, often having them set artillery fuses with blind folds on, polish bullets so they wouldn’t foul in the newly developed M-16, and perfectly organize their shells, fuses, and charges, no matter how long they expected to be at a site—all in excruciating heat. Before a fateful night in 1967 Davis would describe Sergeant Gant as “the meanest sergeant I ever seen in my life…he was old, a bitter old sergeant of 27.” But then, on November 18th, 1967, the Artillery Site was attacked at 0200 by a reinforced enemy Battalion. During the battle 31 of 42 Americans were killed and all of the survivors were wounded. PFC Davis fought valiantly, firing on the enemy and administering care to the wounded. Then he came upon Sergeant Gant, seriously wounded, laying in the mud. As Davis applied a compress and a shot of morphine—remembering his training—he looked into Gant’s eyes and had the revelation, “I knew that he didn’t hate me – that he loved me. He shared with us the things that he knew was gonna help us survive.” Davis and Gant would survive the battle. Sammy L. Davis would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work that night; you may have seen him receive his medal, as it was footage of him that was featured in the movie Forrest Gump when Tom Hanks was awarded the Medal of Honor. Would Davis have survived that battle, or saved his fellow soldiers, without the training and push of his caring, albeit uncouth, Sergeant James Gant?
In my faith background we said, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.” and, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time…later it produces a fruit of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Another way to say that is, “Train Hard, Fight Easy.”
Do you have someone pushing you to be the best? This doesn’t just apply to your military life, everything worth doing is worth doing well. If no one is pushing you, push yourself, and push those around you to be the best Airmen, Americans, humans, they can be. Is someone pushing you (in healthy ways) and it’s stretching you? Don’t think about the pain, think about the reward. If you feel stuck in a place where there is no challenge or way to push yourself, find a way to challenge yourself. If you feel stuck and have no idea what this looks like in your life, I’d love—as your chaplain—to help you find a way to excel in everything you do.
In my faith background we said, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.” and, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time…later it produces a fruit of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Another way to say that is, “Train Hard, Fight Easy.”
Do you have someone pushing you to be the best? This doesn’t just apply to your military life, everything worth doing is worth doing well. If no one is pushing you, push yourself, and push those around you to be the best Airmen, Americans, humans, they can be. Is someone pushing you (in healthy ways) and it’s stretching you? Don’t think about the pain, think about the reward. If you feel stuck in a place where there is no challenge or way to push yourself, find a way to challenge yourself. If you feel stuck and have no idea what this looks like in your life, I’d love—as your chaplain—to help you find a way to excel in everything you do.
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