#1--Adam DuVall

In this episode, we discuss: *Adam’s experiences with Marine expeditionary units (MEUs), including his thoughts on how to keep Marines engaged and developing as warfighters throughout a MEU deployment *What it was like joining a unit of combat veterans as a new Marine *Adam’s first combat deployment: Ramadi, Iraq *What it was like being attached to the Army during the deployment *The disconnect in intensity between Adam’s own combat experiences and the combat stories he had heard from more senior Marines in his unit *The highs and lows of a combat deployment *The necessity for trust, up and down the ranks, in Adam's battalion throughout the deployment *What Adam’s typical encounters with the enemy looked like and how the enemy chose to fight *Adam’s experience at the (now-defunct) Infantry Squad Leader Course in 2007 *Adam’s redeployment from the 11th MEU to Afghanistan as part of a security force mission in 2010 *What it was like working with Georgians and Afghans—and dealing with the tensions between the two groups *Adam’s experience setting up, training, and leading a mobile assault section for Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, for its 2011 deployment to Afghanistan *The deployment itself and how the enemy in Afghanistan differed from those Adam faced in Iraq *Adam’s first firefight in Afghanistan *Adam’s involvement as a senior sergeant in helping plan company and battalion-sized operations and the profound learning experiences he had observing “commanders’ huddles” *Adam executing his first B-Billet at the School of Infantry-West (SOI-W)—after eight-and-a-half years in the same infantry battalion—and the many things he learned about the Marine Corps, its policies, and training at Infantry Training Battalion (ITB) *How Adam ended up as an instructor at the Infantry Small Unit Leaders Course (ISULC) *The evolution of ISULC at SOI-W *Adam’s introduction to Staff Sergeant Neil McCoy *The wide latitude the ISULC staff had in creating the course *The ISULC staff’s introduction to me (Damien O’Connell) and DFCs *The truth about Damien's so-called “skinny jeans” *Adam’s take on why DFCs are effective teaching tools *How DFCs encourage facilitators to be vulnerable and grow as learners themselves *Adam’s favorite DFC *Adam’s approach to facilitating DFCs *Adam’s advice to young leaders who would like to develop their own DFCs *The benefits and pitfalls of reaching out to people who lived through the events of a DFC *What enlisted education was like when Adam was a young Marine and his thoughts on enlisted education in general *The two things Adam would change about enlisted education and training *The one thing Adam would change about the Marine Corps infantry community *What excites Adam most about the future of the Marine Corps *What worries Adam most about the future of the Marine Corps *The benefits of reflecting on one’s experiences and thoughts Links Fangs of the Lone Wolf by Dodge Billingsley: https://www.amazon.com/Fangs-Lone-Wolf-Russian-Chechen-1994-2009/dp/1909384771 Hill 488 by Ray Hildreth: https://www.amazon.com/Hill-488-Ray-Hildreth/dp/0743466438#ace-g9766277718 "Maneuver Warfare: The way forward" by GySgts Neil D. McCoy, Adam D. DuVall, & Joshua L. Larson, & SSgt Luke T. Hudson: https://mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/Maneuver-Warfare.pdf