Quantico uses mud to build student leaders
David Turrettini, WG '02
Issue date: 4/23/01 Section: News
Mission: Deliver critical ammunition to your platoon on the other side of a twelve-foot wide river. Situation: Your five-person team has three eight-foot planks that it can use to traverse the water. The next enemy patrol arrives in ten minutes, so the entire team must cross over with the ammunition or face capture and fail the platoon.
This situation, along with several others, was faced by teams of Wharton students as part of the Wharton Leadership Venture trip to the US Marine Corp Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, VA on April 19 and 20. After a tumultuous “welcome” by the drill sergeants the first night, the eighty Wharton students were split into teams of five. Led by a drill sergeant, each ran through an obstacle course, as well as a Leadership Reaction Course, and interacted with Marines at every level. Our goal was to learn how the Marines teach and evaluate leadership while going through an intensive experience ourselves.
The challenge of crossing the river was one of many that comprised the Leadership Reaction Course, one of the many ways that the Marines test candidates’ leadership capabilities at Quantico. The approach that each team uses to overcome this challenge allows them to demonstrate the leadership qualities needed to graduate from the ten week Marine Corp’s Officer Candidate School (OCS.) Throughout our day and a half visit, which was sponsored by Lehman Brothers, the Wharton students were continually impressed by the Marine Corps’ ability to identify and develop leaders, as well as the applicability of this leadership development to the business world.
Many students expected a rigid command and control environment that subordinated individual initiative for the need to strictly follow orders. Instead, the Marine commanders emphasized that this strict environment actually sets a foundation of discipline on which initiative is built. At Quantico, what the Wharton students experienced was a stressful, demanding environment that evaluates candidates based on leadership potential (50%,) physical ability (25%,) and mental aptitude (25%.) These qualities provide a competitive advantage to any team, military or corporate.
This situation, along with several others, was faced by teams of Wharton students as part of the Wharton Leadership Venture trip to the US Marine Corp Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, VA on April 19 and 20. After a tumultuous “welcome” by the drill sergeants the first night, the eighty Wharton students were split into teams of five. Led by a drill sergeant, each ran through an obstacle course, as well as a Leadership Reaction Course, and interacted with Marines at every level. Our goal was to learn how the Marines teach and evaluate leadership while going through an intensive experience ourselves.
The challenge of crossing the river was one of many that comprised the Leadership Reaction Course, one of the many ways that the Marines test candidates’ leadership capabilities at Quantico. The approach that each team uses to overcome this challenge allows them to demonstrate the leadership qualities needed to graduate from the ten week Marine Corp’s Officer Candidate School (OCS.) Throughout our day and a half visit, which was sponsored by Lehman Brothers, the Wharton students were continually impressed by the Marine Corps’ ability to identify and develop leaders, as well as the applicability of this leadership development to the business world.
Many students expected a rigid command and control environment that subordinated individual initiative for the need to strictly follow orders. Instead, the Marine commanders emphasized that this strict environment actually sets a foundation of discipline on which initiative is built. At Quantico, what the Wharton students experienced was a stressful, demanding environment that evaluates candidates based on leadership potential (50%,) physical ability (25%,) and mental aptitude (25%.) These qualities provide a competitive advantage to any team, military or corporate.