Lessons from the Frontlines

CHAPTER 2Grit

There was a wall in basic training that I couldn’t get over. It was just over 2 m tall, and you had to climb it carrying full kit and your weapon. But I couldn’t do it even without the gear.

It wasn’t just the physical challenge—I wasn’t fit enough, wasn’t used to those kinds of demands. But more than that, it was a mental block. I’d approach that wall during the obstacle course and something inside me would just shut down. I couldn’t bring myself to even attempt it properly.

I was struggling badly as an infantry soldier in those early weeks. I kept forgetting things, missing details, making mistakes that got my weekend leave canceled more often than I got to go home. I was easily one of the weakest soldiers on my team, having trouble with almost everything that was supposed to come naturally.

Then one weekend, when my leave was canceled again and I was stuck on base, something changed.

One of my squad leaders was working with a small group of us who were struggling. I can’t even remember what the specific training was—maybe squad practice, maybe just general physical preparation. But something about the more individualized attention, the smaller group dynamic, just clicked.

When I went back to that obstacle course the following week, I got over the wall. Not easily, not gracefully, but I made it over. More importantly, I shifted from being perceived as one of the weakest soldiers on the team to being acceptable.

That experience taught me something fundamental ...