What club, group or sport most influenced your leadership character as a kid?

NJROTC. Four years. I had a Navy Capt (J. LaRocca) and a USMC 1stSgt (H. Pomerance) as instructors. They were GREAT men. I learned so much from them. Combined with the influence of my father (USAF CMSgt), they set me up for a great Marine Corps career.

My youth leadership experiences were mostly the Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol (CAP), and USAF JROTC. All three of these organizations taught the first thing a leader must learn...to be an good leader you must first learn to be a good follower. However, the group that had the biggest influence was far and away the Civil Air Patrol. It held my interest more than the others mostly because we got to fly airplanes on a regular basis. The cadets in CAP also had a real world mission participating in search and rescue missions for downed aircraft. It was on these "ground team" missions where I learned about teamwork, the concept of "results count", and the camaraderie of small, tight knit units. A large part of who I am today is a result of my time as a cadet in the Daytona Beach Civil Air Patrol Composite Squadron from 1968 to 1971.

Soccer. It made leadership and being a team player easy to understand.

Baseball. I learned quick at the age of 8 as I was traveling around the country playing in AAU tournaments that I was a part of something greater than anything. Whether it is honoring the history of the game, playing the game in a way that honors it, respecting your opponent but yet wanting to humiliate them to understand the importance of being accountable to the team. I remember hearing the ramblings that baseball is a sport in which you can hide a terrible defender.....that may be true at the tee ball level when you plug someone in the outfield, but at the competitive level the baseball will find your weakest player....

Anyways, baseball has taught me not only traits that have made me successful in life, but traits that helped me be successful in the Army as well.

Unfortunately bad Apples exist everywhere and my Scouting Career was preempted and my two older brothers were pulled from the program because of a Scoutmaster who made a really poor choice. As a former Scoutmaster myself, I would have loved the program as a youth and cannot imagine not having accomplished the Eagle rank.

However, I found an outlet in Cross-country and Track. No real 'program' there, but opportunities to lead came everyday in working hard, in completing the workouts to spec, even when unsupervised(which was often the case due to the distances involved for Distance Runners and Cross Country runners in the early 80's), in cheer leading other athletes on the team. I was the recipient of the only known Outstanding Leadership Award for our Cross-Country program, to date. Still have the plaque. Take care of yourself, so you can ensure you can take care of others. Drive yourself, so you can encourage others. Look for what needs to be done and either do it or lead getting it done, don't just decry it not getting done. From changing spikes to ensuring water in the cooler, little things make big differences.

I was an umpire for Little League baseball. Really powerful stuff.

As a 14-year old, I "controlled" the behavior of a whole bunch of people, including some 40-something year old coaches who I looked in the eye and suggested they get off my field and back in their dugout. I learned it early and extremely deeply - know the rules and apply them impartially with complete integrity - there is no possible rebuttal to doing it right.

i was actually a part of the marching band as a colorguard girl. i became captain in my junior year and taught me a bit about teamwork and leadership. it also brought me out of my shell and helped teach me different lessons. I will never regret it and will always have the lessons along with the memories it gave me.

The activity that was definitely a paramount in the development of my leadership was baseball from youth to high school.

I was a Boy Scout, a 4-H member, and also a member of the FFA. All great groups. The Boy Scout had to be the one that help me the most.

LOL, I was in girl scouts for about 2 weeks (I beat up the troop leader's daughter for bullying another girl) and got kicked out! I guess you could say I've always had an independent, protect the underdog streak in me!
S/F