In chapter 17, LT. McDonough said “I had never had to sell a patrol before. I had always just given the order … I was proud of my salesmanship.” This little blurb stood out to me because usually, LT. McDonough was able to just tell his subordinates to do something since he had the authority over them. But this time, he had to budge them to do it. This showed that LT. McDonough had pretty high emotional intelligence because he was able to pause and control his thoughts, where he knew that none of his soldiers would have wanted to go to on the beach patrol. Then he was able to convince some of his soldiers because he was able to empathize with them and was able to convince them. But going into whether I agree or disagree with his decision to send his men on the beach patrol – I agree. It is obvious that he had good intent. Personally, I am not surprised of his lack of action because I thought there was nothing else he could possibly do.

When I began reading chapter 20 and LT. McDonough was describing CPT Moray looking clean and rested, it just created a bad first impression. But his interaction with LT. McDonough was good where he was able to communicate to each other effectively with no hierarchal and condescending language. What struck me is when CPT Moray said that he would stay with 1st PLT because it would allow him to access the radios which means that he would have been four thousand meters from the objective. This struck me because in ROTC, we are often talk that the leader must go with the element that will have the most impact but CPT Moray seemed to have no intention in going with that leading element which slightly shows what kind of leader he is – perhaps a lazy one or a coward?