Saved Rounds 9.6.24

Articles, resources, and responses for your weekend coffee

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Retrans - Responses from the Community

A response from CWO5 Gunner Cannon Cargile (ret) regarding our recent Podcast with Gen Julian Alford:

Gunner Cargile served as then LtCol Alford’s Battalion Gunner during the General’s time in command of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. He never left the FMF as an Infantry Weapons Officer, serving five years at the battalion level, four years as a Regimental Gunner, and five more with 2d Marine Division/ II MEF FWD, before retiring as a CWO5 after 30 years of service. Cannon wrote in to provide some more context on General Alford’s leadership at 3/6:

“I thought I might add a little more detail into what it took for the General to turn V36 around. Before then LtCol Alford took command of V36, there were several failures in leadership and command. V36 had been through some extremely challenging times. Two prior Bn Commanders had been relieved, two company commanders had been relieved, two Bn Gunners had been relieved, there were 34 pending Courts Martial in Wpns Co. alone, and the number of NJPs was astonishing!

I distinctly remember General Alford telling me, “Gunner, we got a mess here, and we’ve got to clean it up.” He said, “I want to build back the lost trust and confidence of this Bn! I want to empower the NCOs and build trust in the LCpl and below. I want our SNCOs and company-level officers to lead from the front and act like men.”  

 Once a week, without fail, the lieutenants and General Alford would gather at the volleyball court and have wargames. These wargames were much more than battlefield tactical decisions. This was the “one-on-one” time General Alford used to develop and mentor HIS junior officers. We had some truly amazing lieutenants and we had some lieutenants who needed some coaching. They ALL received his mentoring. The SNCO’s were not left out; they joined their lieutenants in the wargames and the General had a very unique relationship with them as well.

I would be remiss if I did not mention this: we had the absolute best group of company Gunnery Sergeants I have ever served with! The General knew this and incorporated them into everything. The Company Commanders were all solid and confident in who they were and what was expected of them. This is because they had an open-door policy with the boss and used it accordingly. The OpsO and XO were, without question, amazing. Their professionalism was beyond reproach; they had had a falling out during the prior regime, yet you would never have guessed it by the way they worked together.

Now, the glue that kept this all together was the General’s ability to get out and about on battlefield circulation and experience what his Marines were doing on a daily basis. You never knew when he would show up! And when he did show up, it wasn’t a health and comfort inspection! He didn’t ask how the chow was or are you getting letters from home. He asked warfighting questions, he joked when needed, and he kicked ass when needed. He called his Marines “by NAME,” and they loved it. General Alford transformed a broken, dysfunctional Infantry Bn into one of the finest warfighting Battalions in the Corps. And the proof is in two extremely successful back-to-back combat deployments.”

Editor’s Note: Dear reader, thank you for your patience as the CxFile reboots heading into the fall! We have a lot of great articles lining up and after a busy summer, we are ready to get back into our usual battle rhythm. We still need you to share your successes, failures, and ideas with the larger audience - a Lance Corporal somewhere depends on it! As always, we are standing by to help edit and or assist with the drafting process.

Stay lethal.