The Perfect Upbringing of Sports and the Service

 The Perfect Upbringing of Sports and the Service

Joseph DiPietro

One of the primary reasons for starting Odin Development was my passion for leadership development derived from the incredible number of lessons I learned about leadership through both sports and the military. Looking back at the previous Odin’s Thoughts and other content, I have definitely been lacking on the military side of things. Certainly it is a little harder to incorporate that because of social media rules and privacy policies, and of course like everything about Odin Development – these messages and opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the Marine Corps. But really the traits we teach here align perfectly with the values of honor, courage, and commitment. So, with this Odin’s Thoughts, I wanted to take a chance to highlight an ongoing effort in our military and connect it back to something I am proud has been a part of my athletic history and upbringing.

As many of you know by now, the Secretary of Defense ordered a stand-down across the service to address extremism.  Additionally, the military has made headlines lately with regard to public comments about women in the service and related concerns that the military is worried about appeasement more than winning wars. Someone close to me asked my opinion on these issues, and to me they are directly related. My answer is boring, but simple, and an answer I never mind applying to any situation:

If someone is willing to work, sweat, bleed, and possibly die for me and my country, and they meet the standard of the service, why would I not want them to be a part of the team? Think of it this way – if you are unconscious in a burning truck, do you care about the color, gender, or sexual orientation of the person pulling you out to safety? I do not. And I genuinely believe the overwhelming majority of service members feel the same way. I do also believe we miss the mark occasionally on the “meet the standard of the service” part of my answer, but that is a different discussion for another time.

I am not saying for a second I do not believe incidents of racism, sexism, etc… take place in the service. I know these incidents happen, I have seen some and heard my fair share of examples from people I trust, and the same goes for the ongoing issue of sexual assaults in the military. These things do happen, and they happen in society too, so if you are one of those people who claims these atrocities do not take place, I promise you they do. Without a doubt, one incident regarding discrimination is too many, and while I would rather be conducting war games or exercises, I do not mind sitting through a class that might help reduce the number.

Where I struggle, however, is with the idea that this is a common thing in the service, and that service members are a collection of Nazis and white supremacists. That could not be further from the truth. I understand that bad news gets significantly more attention than good news, but service members deserve a hell of a lot more credit than they do criticism. Historically, there is not a group of people who have sacrificed more and worked harder to bring a more diverse and open population to freedom. Think about the lineage of our military:

-        -25,000 died in the American Revolution to earn independence and liberty for our own people, and kickstart a global enlightenment that has saved millions from poverty.

-        -365,000 died in the American Civil War in part to abolish slavery.

-        -117,000 died in World War I to combat European imperialism.

-        -405,000 died in World War II to combat fascism and imperialism.

-        -100,000 died between the Korean War and Vietnam War combatting communism.

-       - Nearly 10,000 died combatting dictators, genocide, and terrorism around the world.

-        -Various other operations to support freedom and combat injustice have led to other service member deaths, and these numbers do not include the countless wounded veterans, both physically and mentally.

You can disagree with our involvement in any of these conflicts; I am not writing to convince you of the validity of them. However, you cannot justify the claim that United States service members have not gone above and beyond the call of duty, not only to preserve freedom and liberty for Americans of all backgrounds, but to do so for millions (maybe billions) of others around the world.

It may be difficult due to security policies, but if you ever get a chance to spend time with a small unit in the military, take advantage of the opportunity. There may be some outliers, but typically a day spent with a squad or platoon across the service will include a day full of diversity of experience, thought, background, and personalities. No one in those units cares about material identities such as skin color; instead, those service members care about competency, professionalism, effort, and passion for one another and the mission. You will learn a lot about individual and team leadership, and society would learn the same.

You might be wondering where the sports aspect of all this comes in, and it may or may not surprise you that the exact same concepts apply to countless athletic teams and organizations around the country.

Growing up in Georgia, especially near Atlanta, I was surrounded by some of the most unique and special individuals and families. If you took a demographic and experiential cross section of my high school and the teams I grew up playing on, I doubt you will find a more diverse set of backgrounds among the families of my teammates. It was the perfect place to be raised, and while my immediate family had a major role in this, those teammates showed me how to be a member of any team, any group, and any culture.

Without a doubt I made many mistakes throughout the journey, and I continue to make mistakes today, but with each mistake a lesson is born that helps develop my leadership style and passion for helping others through sports and service. I thank God for all the teammates and families I had in my life, because there cannot be anyone more blessed than me with so many good examples and experiences to learn from. Those lessons directly shaped my leadership towards my service members, and I feel it is my duty to share those lessons as often as possible through Odin Development.

My story is not unique. There are other athletes and service members with nearly identical upbringings that shaped them the same way. However, without programs like Odin to harness and highlight those lessons, these young student athletes and service members risk losing an opportunity to grow. I pray young student athletes around the country, and maybe the world, can learn and grow from the same lessons and experiences that shaped me. When that happens, the miniscule amount of “extremism” that does exist today will cease to exist tomorrow. That is a goal worth pursuing, and an effort Odin is happy to be a part of.