How's the Cow?

"Sir, she walks, she talks, she's full of chalk, the lacteal fluid extracted from the female of the bovine species is highly prolific to the nth degree." (Milk) Ask a West Point graduate and they have heard this in plebe knowledge many times, but when you become a Cow/Junior, you have to actually check and make sure the New Cadets/Plebes know it. (1st Leadership experience for many)

I got to experience many things as a Cow and in the summer leading up to being a Junior at West Point. I went to Air Assault School and I did Cadet Troop Leadership Training with the 4/7 CAV in Korea at Camp Garry Owen. I learned so many things, it is actually difficult to pare down all the knowledge that I received during the course of that summer and the Academic Year. But, here we go.

3 Things from Cow Year at West Point:

1. It's never going to be perfect - When I was doing CTLT in Korea, I got the privilege of doing a CAV spur ride, which entails 12 hours of 12 different missions with small teams. At the end of this challenge, a soldier will earn the right to wear spurs and a 10 Gallon hat to represent the Cavalry Division. The day of the event, the Officer that I was shadowing let his Company Commander know that he wasn't ready, that he hadn't studied enough and was afraid to fail. LISTEN PEOPLE, whenever you go out on a limb, you try something new or participating in a spur ride, YES, there is a chance you are going to fail and it may never be perfect, but you have to at least try at going after your goals and dreams. Period. Just know that when you fail that it is just part of the learning process. That's all. Pick yourself up and try again (until you succeed).
2. First time Leadership can be difficult - My first leadership experience as a Cow came during a road march in rice patties at 3 AM in Korea. During the spur ride, you are allowed to fail 2 of the 12 events. The team I was on had already failed one mission (I didn't lead that on), so everyone was on edge about passing the rest of the events. The Officer in charge of our group picked me to run the next mission and I pleaded with him, "Sir, we already failed one mission, these guys have worked hard to get to this point. You're trying to make us fail and make me be the one to do it." The response, "Are you done Cadet? Good. Next get going to the next mission." My plead did nothing, (My New Cadet phrase of no excuse Sir didn't work this time). I took over the mission and found our expert in conducting fire missions and we passed. The Officer came up to me afterwards and said to me, "Believe in yourself Cadet, I know I did." How true those words would be needed for many years to come.
3. Learn how to bond (with each other) - We live in a world where people don't look you in the eyes, we have become cell phone zombies and are on autopilot. Don't be that. Learning how to bond with another person is essential to Leadership, but more importantly, it is essential to LIFE. You can't win over an interview with your ability to speed text or your "mad social media skills." You win over an interview from learning how to bond with the person sitting across from you. In Korea, we were required to attend an event that included all personnel. One of the Lieutenants decided to right his name as Kim Jong II. A few of us laughed about it and headed to our seats. After a few minutes and before the meeting began, I got up to use the restroom and came back to my seat. "LT Miller, COL Smith wants to talk to you." LT Miller, said, "Wait, What?!?" I told him very nonchalantly, "Something about your signature?" He slowly got up to go to the back and as he was about to approach the COL, I stopped him. "I'm just kidding, I was messing with you!" LT Miller began to laugh and punched me in the arm and we had a moment to begin our bond. It was perfect.

This series is about the four years of West Point. Please let me know your experiences from these times or what you learned in college that you still use today. Please leave a comment and share if you enjoy the article!

Dave Swanson is a motivational speaker, author, and former U.S. Army infantry platoon leader who engaged in more than 100 firefights while deployed to Sadr City, Iraq. The Dot on the Left is his first book. For more information, visit www.DaveSwansonSpeaks.com.