I know I’m a little late to the game here but I’d like to target something that wasn’t part of the questions. LT McDonough seems to have been through thick and thin in his experience in Vietnam and I wonder if LT McDonough would be classified as a good officer figure for some of us to strive and model or are there things that set him apart from being a good officer? As I’ve read this book, I’ve found myself wondering if this is the way that we should strive as officers or if the LT could use a little work? I don’t think that I’ve read anything that is completely out of the norm as for how he has handled specific situations. He’s been dealt some pretty bad cards through his deployment but his depiction of officer standards seems to go above and beyond that of his peers.

To answer the debate on “leadership being positive.” I believe this is to debate that they must always have a positive outlook on all situations and come off with this front that they can handle whatever is thrown out to them. In all of the particular experiences I’ve seen the LT being placed in, his positive attitude seemed to grow throughout the book. In the beginning, we read about his moment of worry and spent the entire mission not moving but as it progressed his outlook became this attitude to keep moving forward. A positive leader creates a positive team and ultimately leads to the success of the group.