It was dark. Fog could be clearly seen billowing out of the mouths of ten sergeants as they listened to the sergeant major speak passionately about the physical training to come.
Sgt. Maj. Jean-Paul Courville, sergeant major of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, took two Marines from every shop in the command to give them a Professional Military Education session on leadership and taking the Marine Corps back to its combative roots in physical training.
The Marines who went on the PT session with Courville worked hard, doing everything from pull ups and jogging to circuit courses. The MALS-16 Marines also completed a lower body workout that included squats, lunges and alternating leg-lifts, as well as a core workout.
“The whole purpose of this is combat conditioning in small groups instead of having 200 [noncommissioned officers] in one large formation once a month,” said Courville. “I chose to do this every Friday with ten Marines. Why? I get a chance to know who you are and where you work.”
Courville spoke on topics ranging from physical fitness to leadership and mentoring.
“Some of you have seen Marines retire or get out of the Corps, and do the same job as a civilian,” said Courville. “What you can’t contract out as a civilian is being a Marine. That means the entitlements of being a warrior, our warrior ethos, running our combat fitness test, going to the rifle range and living day-to-day as a warrior.”
Courville impressed upon the Marines that being a warrior and being combat ready in everything they do is crucial. The Marines listened.
“The sergeant major really drives the point across that every Marine is a warrior and a rifleman first, and we train like that on a constant basis to keep that mindset,” said Sgt. Clayton Coker, the receiving noncommissioned officer in charge at the aviation supply department of MALS-16 and a Dawsonville, Ga., native.
Coker described Courville’s inspiration as a wave crashing against a shore.
He said the Marines take all of the inspiration and motivation that Courville gives them, use it, then give it right back to the sergeant major.
Courville’s motivation and inspiration showed the entire morning as he and Gunnery Sgt. Jonathon P. McIntosh, the squadron gunnery sergeant, performed all the exercises he told the sergeants to execute.
The Marines watched as Courville demonstrated the way he believes Marines should be led – from the front.
“Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower used to give a simple instruction about leadership,” said Courville. “He took a string and put it on a desk, one string, and he pulled the string then he would say ‘look, if you pull it, it will follow you anywhere; but if I push the string it absolutely does nothing.’ So think about that in the context of leadership. If you pull something, it’ll follow you, but if you try to push something too hard it doesn’t go anywhere.”
Once finished with the workout, Courville sat with the Marines and spoke more on inspiring and mentoring, how they needed to not only seek it for themselves, but to actively give inspiration and guidance to the Marines in their charge.
After a brief back-and-forth question and answer session, the Marines stood in a circle with their hands on top of each others’, and then on the count of three, gave a loud chorus of “Marine Corps,” concluding the PT session with the sergeant major until next Friday, when Courville takes another ten Marines.