What has been the most challenging obstacle for you to overcome as a leader and why?

For me as a Professional NCO I have a problem with my language. I continue to use vulgarity a bit to much. Being a Senior Drill Sergeant here at Fort Jackson we have had to closely watch what we say and how we address our privates. I know that for some people cursing isn't a bad thing but for me its something I know I need to work on especially being a future Senior-NCO. I want people to look at me as someone who holds themselves to a higher standard and is that be know and do NCO.

I had a young man, who was never raised properly by his parents. The hardest thing I had to learn, was no matter how much time and effort I spent on him, I was not going to be able to undo 20 years of bad influence. I mentored, counseled, smoked him and tried every motivational technique I ever heard of, but without him wanting to change, I had to accept I was not going to change him. For a guy who likes to get things done, that was the hardest lesson for me to learn.

Greatest personal challenge? Without question, being caregiver for my parents as they suffered from dementia. I am not, by nature, a patient man. So dealing with the progressive decay of their mental faculties and memories was a real challenge. Like all others jobs I have had, I probably could have done that better. But I did the best I could. Shortly before she died, in one of her very rare moments of lucidity, mom said "thank you for taking care of us." So I suppose that worked out.

The greatest obstacle I encountered in my military career was being an embedded trainer with the ANA. My ability to learn new languages has always been limited. Maybe just lazy. So working with the Afghan troops and contractors was slow and painful sometimes. In spite of that, we worked successfully together, had some very successful missions, and I think we left them better trained than we found them.