WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Mike Wagers is a Ranger Network Mentor. Below is his note to a retiring Ranger. In addition to his time as a Ranger, Mike served 18 months in Vietnam with the 173rd, 15 of those as a Platoon Sergeant/Platoon Leader, and 10 specifically as a Platoon Leader.

We truly stand on the shoulders of giants. There is no book, no TED Talk, and no panel of so-called “experienced” business leaders that could capture even a tenth of the life experience Mike offers to Rangers. Ranger Buddy and the Ranger Creed carry deep meaning; something I personally didn’t fully grasp until after I left the service.

It’s on us to take advantage of the opportunities presented to us and to face the challenges that come our way. We learned in Regiment that you don’t do anything alone, and you don’t make the same mistake twice. Rangers don’t do handouts, but we will always be there to offer a hand up because at one point or another, we’ve all needed one, literally or figuratively.

RLTW!
Mike Hall
 
Hello Mike,
I am also Mike, Wagers that is. I am one of the Mentors that Mike Hall sent your info to. 

Probably the oldest of the lot, but with a lot of miles behind me. I was one of the original Platoon Sergeants in the 1st Bn. and prior to that I had served in the old Ranger Department of the Infantry School and as a Platoon Sergeant in C Company Rangers, that was deactivated when the 1st Bn. was formed.  After the 1st Bn. I served as a Drill Sergeant and then as a Platoon Sergeant again in the 25th Division, where I served as a PSG & 1St Sergeant and (after receiving a direct commission to 1LT) as a Company Commander. I was commanding one of the two Officer Candidate School Companies at Fort Benning when the Regiment was formed and was asked to help start up and Command the RIP Detachment (forerunner to RASP) in the Regimental HQ. When I retired in 1990, I was offered a consulting job in Saudi Arabia as an advisor to the Commander of the Saudi Ranger School and Special Parachute Company. That eventually lead to me starting my own company in Saudi and kept me there until 2016 (with a break from 2004 to 2011.) During that break my wife and I returned to a farm in Tennessee where we built a Cow/Calf Operation.
 
I retired long before you entered the Army and the thing about Mike Hall's introduction that caught my attention is your interest in the Cattle Business. Of everything I've done since retiring from the army my cattle business was very likely the one, I liked the most. I have recently entered the old age period of my life. We still live on the farm we built but all we own is the house and a little bit of land. I also fool around with raising Freezer Beef when the notion strikes me. I would love to hear from you and hear about what your plans are, near and long term.
 
I noticed your phone number is a 706 Area Code, my oldest son, daughter and grandkids and great grandkids all live in the Columbus, Ga. area. I have a close friend who lives just outside of Columbus who was one of the 1st Bn. Originals who still raises cattle that I could introduce you too as well.
Hope to hear from you.

RLTW!
Mike Wagers

MEMORIAL DAY

As we observe Memorial Day 2025 in an increasingly divided country, will this day be a day of unity, representing something bigger than all of us?  We can’t change the past.  We know we could have always been better, done better.   Let’s reflect on the why of this day of observance and the broader purpose, not the 24/7 news cycle but rather what this day was set aside for and what it means to our imperfect nation.
 
There have been periods of time where the meaning, and I think the relevancy of Memorial Day was lost, caught up in the hot topic of the day.  Memorial Day commemorates the sacrifices in meaningful, important periods in our nation’s history (armed conflicts).   The Civil War, WWI, and WWII were directly tied to our nation's survival.  These events directly affected virtually every single American. At the time, in that time, the good guys won. Everyone could agree on that.  Later, some questioned and second-guessed some of the decisions made, and if we really were the good guys. 

As time passed, our ultimately unpopular involvement in Korea and Vietnam was deemed unsuccessful in many minds. To most Americans, these conflicts did not have the nation's survival at stake. So many did not consider the sacrifice (both in terms of human life- ours and our enemy’s in some cases), let alone our treasure, was worth it.   This turned into political turmoil, with soldiers and veterans caught in the middle.

I believe part of it was frustration that the greatest nation on earth didn’t win quickly and resolve it. How could we win WWII and not beat tiny North Korea or a bunch of unorganized guerrillas in Vietnam?  I think people thought that somehow our soldiers had changed and, in many ways, did not represent us, or the best in us, anymore.  How else could we explain the failure?

I will say unequivocally that soldiers and their values hadn’t changed, but many people’s perceptions of them did. And so, the American people moved on. Even the horrors and sacrifices tended to be put out of our forefront. The veterans keep their experiences to themselves. They either wouldn’t or, in most cases, couldn’t talk about them, and if they did, people who had not been there just could not fathom it. Some tried to relate, some even empathized – but they simply could not understand. They say the mind cannot truly recreate actual pain–  physical or mental.  If it could, and when it does, that is when people go insane.  So, it was and is impossible to explain it to others- therefore, they quit trying.   Many did not want to be reminded, and the vets hoped to forget, but you can’t.
 
I had a step great Uncle, my first stepdad’s uncle.  I didn’t know much about him except he seemed to make a good living with his plumbing company, and never missed mass on Sunday.  Every other moment, it seemed, he was at the VFW, which is where we often found him, quite drunk.  One day, over at his house, when I asked about a sword sitting in the corner of his house, he was already into about a case of Carling Black Label beer by then, he told me it was a “Jap sword,” and that he was in the 1st Marine division and had been at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu. He told me about “grabbing a Jap officer by the belt and literally pulling the belt with the sword, through his decomposed body.”  No one wrote, and there weren’t movies that depicted how brutal combat really was, how it changed you.  I’d read about those places in school and saw movies about them, but nothing like the story Uncle Lawrence told me matched any of that.  It took me a long time to understand the life Uncle Lawrence lead, and why he was the way he was, but I do now. We moved on to another stepdad, and I lost track of him.  I heard his liver finally quit, and he died at age 55.  Some, who don’t understand, may think the VFW and his drinking buddies was the problem.  I thank God for the VFW and the men he drank with, men who understood the sacrifice of those who didn’t come home. 

I think that was very much the case in 1976 when I was graduating high school in Avon Lake, Ohio. The Vietnam War didn’t personally touch me. In fact, it didn’t personally touch anyone in Avon Lake.  Some guys in neighboring towns were killed over there, and you could find a mention in the paper if you read all the paper, but it certainly was not an event that gathered interest and attention. As a matter of fact, Vietnam and Korean veterans were often not made to feel welcome in even many of our veterans’ organizations, let alone mainstream America.

There were opportunities for me and my peers when we graduated.  I think I could have played college football, except for one thing– I wasn’t any good.  Because of money, college was not an option, but it also was not a big deal to go to college.  We had U.S. Steel, Ford Motor Company, etc.  Lots of people spent their entire lives there and lived comfortably.  They were still hiring in my part of the state. Even Cleveland was still growing to meet the labor demand.  But, I went into the service- the Army.

Later in my career, I was often asked why I joined the military, the Army. I would always correct them and let them know I did not join the Army- I went into the service. I think that is a significant change that happened, again slowly, but came with the advent of the all-volunteer force. The professional force served, and they are sometimes still referred to as service members, but the meaning has changed.  It is no longer looked at as a sacrifice.

But I really never had a good answer for why I joined. It was just what I and many others like me, including my future wife, did where I grew up. You went to school, and you went into the service when you graduated. My stepdad did, my uncles did, and the generation before that did. You served your hitch, then you came back, went to school, or got a job somewhere– and you got on with your life. There was just an unspoken expectation that it was important to serve.  The service was not about learning a skill or becoming financially secure, because we were still paid “draftee” salary even though we were now a “professional” force. Nobody went in with the idea that it would be a career, some officers, yes, but not the rank and file.

So, what did Memorial Day mean to me when I joined? I can tell you it meant that the pool was going to open, as well as the amusement parks at Geauga Lake and Cedar Point. There were no celebrations or remembrances that drew crowds. I am sure the VFW and the Legion had events, but those were “private.” There were not, not that I can recall anyway, any TV specials or big spreads in the Lorain Journal.  No all day war movies on Turner Classic TV.  I just don’t recall it being a revered and solemn day.  It was just a day that marked the start of summer.

This was also a time when you were not encouraged, and in many cases forbidden, to wear your uniform off post in public. You didn’t wear your uniform home on leave.  It was not common to even be married in uniform. Brenda and I were married in 1978, when I was now a SGT in the best, most elite organization in the Army, the Rangers, and it never crossed my mind to wear my uniform.  My uncles, my father-in-law, the men in my family- no one asked why are you not wearing your uniform. These men were all Korean and Vietnam vets.

But things slowly started to change, really in the early 1980s. Most of the highest leadership in the military and the politicians that were connected in some way to the war in Vietnam had moved on.  The military started to be looked at as a “career” where you could live a decent life and learn job skills that would transfer, but it wasn’t a place that you thought about getting killed.  It wasn’t billed as a place where sacrifice was discussed.   It became “the military,” something you joined.  Inside, it was still “the service,” but it was not looked at like that by the American public.

President Reagan boldly told us we were strong and we were good and that there was evil in the world. He told the Soviets to “tear down the wall,” no more compromise.  He literally put our money where his mouth was for the first time since the end of WWII. He put our ineptness of Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, and the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission behind us. He invaded Grenada to show the Cubans we were still in charge. He started paying the military a wage that started attracting quality people.  But I think the major event in bringing back the memory and importance of Memorial Day happened on June 6th, 1984. President Reagan went to Pointe du Hoc in Normandy and revived our pride and accomplishments.

He said:  “The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers on the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades.  And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms. Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.”

He continued: “We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars: it is better to be here ready to protect the peace than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent”. 

Those men, the bravest of the brave, cried in public, and we cried with them, and at the same time, we regained our strength and pride.  We started wearing our uniforms in public again. We took pride in the men and women who fought the Vietnam War.  Vietnam vet license plates and hats became popular.  Former service members started putting it on their resumes that they had served.  My uncle Pat was one of them.  Heck, now we have a problem with people that were not vets, pretending to be!  We overthrew an evil dictator in Panama.  We freed the tiny country of Kuwait.  The wall fell.  Then, 9/11 happened.  It brought all of us together.  It was another event that, at least figuratively, affected every American.  Now, in hindsight, many Americans are not sure our Global War of Terrorism was done right, or was right at all.  Luckily, the veterans, for the most part, did not and do not feel the effects of what many considered political decisions. 

Our commitments to the Middle East, Europe, the Pacific,  and many other places continue. We do not all agree with the need, the desired outcome, or the politics of these engagements.  We left Iraq, and then went back.  Then we “pulled out” of Afghanistan with disastrous results, or so it seems today.  Many asked or are asking, was it worth it?  Many asked the same question after “stalemate” in Korea, “losing” Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, the Mayaguez Incident, Beirut, Eagle Claw, Grenada, Panama, Colombia, and so many others.  My answer is yes.  What would those places, and the world, be like today if we didn’t “go to help?”  I, and nobody, knows the answer to that.  But go to South Korea, let alone Japan, and see Asia, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Panama, and Colombia today. Yes, you can go to those places, even take your family and buy a Big Mac if you want.  Even Lebanon appears to be finally fed up and changing. What will Afghanistan and Iraq be like in 2050? We don’t know, but we know it won’t be like it was on 9/11 or today.  We do know the best predictor of the future is the past.  So, the odds are it will be much different than it is today.  We all recognize the best way to lead is from the front and by example.  However, any leader will tell you the path was rocky, unknown, and we made plenty of mistakes- but our intentions were pure, so we made it better for others, even though there were some ugly times. We all agree that the values of the soldiers serving today haven’t changed from those who served at Point du Hoc….We all agree they deserve our support.

Let’s hope this Memorial Day the focus remains on the sacrifice of those who gave their lives and on the families and friends and comrades in arms who lost loved ones.  

As we head into Memorial Day, do not thank a vet for their service. This day is for the ones who died during their service.  I also say it is a day to celebrate the fallen. I believe they died so we can be free to have cookouts, drink beers, open your pool for the summer, go camping, or whatever else you do here in America on this or any other weekend. Just remember, at some point during your fun that people did die, and families and friends lost loved ones for these freedoms in service to others, then go back to having fun- that is what they would want!

For you veterans out there, Memorial Day is when we can open that secured door to be with those guys who were on our left and right.   That’s what Memorial Day has always been about.

RLTW!

mike

MORE THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

1. Leaders must always display professionalism if they want to earn the trust of their organization, peers, bosses, associates, and outside organizations.  A big part of that is to take serious things seriously, but don’t take them personally.  When you cross that line- or give the impression you do- relationships will be different.  You won’t get the honest bottom-up feedback you need to make the organization and yourself successful, and people outside your organization will look elsewhere for partners. 

2. A few ways to look at time management. 

   1. The Basics - Don’t do things that other people can or should do.  But to be an effective leader and organization, there needs to be systems/checks to ensure that people are doing those things. Effort and time must be invested to ensure people understand what is expected of them and that they are properly resourced.  The systems/checks must be a combination of direct and indirect methods.  Work hard to ensure the checks are not perceived as micro-management or show a lack of trust.  If that is the perception, it will stifle innovation, motivation, and you will lose your best people.  

   2. The Advanced – Plan your time to work at 70% of your capacity. Define what that capacity realistically is- what is sustainable for you and your team.  Work to understand how your capacity affects the effectiveness of your team.  You can’t work at a constant sprint; you can’t do more with less.  It’s not balance, it's what is sustainable to enable you and the organization to get better, innovate, and at a minimum, be the fastest follower in reacting to changing situations.  If you constantly work at 100% of your capacity, you will not have time to deal with the unexpected.  When the unexpected does come up, like, well, every day, you will not spend time on certain things.  The problem is that the things you are not going to do because you are dealing with the unexpected, more times than not, will not be picked up by others.  This creates gaps and decisions that have not had 2nd and 3rd order effects considered.  This leads to “good decisions” being made over and over again.  Consistently working at 70% of your capacity leads to 70% effectiveness.  Attempting to work at 100% of your capacity leads to 50% effectiveness.

RLTW!

mike

MORE THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

1. Work to understand how you are perceived. How you see yourself reflects your strengths, but how others see you often reveals your weaknesses. Your strengths will only take you so far as the higher you get the fewer touch points you get with people, and their perception of you will be based on indirect contact, hearsay, snapshots, and things you say and do taken out of context.  Seldom will someone else tell you how you are perceived, how others see you, what you really are, in others’ opinions.  You must work to put yourself in vulnerable situations, where candid feedback can happen without people feeling they are personally attacking you and retribution will happen.  You must drive those situations from the top down.
    

2. Learn from people you don’t like.  Often, we don’t learn from people we don’t like because we let our egos and emotions cloud our ability to be constant learners.  What we often don’t like about others are really our insecurities.  Once we can accept that, we can become better leaders and people.  If we don’t, then we will find ourselves in situations- new or broader responsibilities- and can’t figure out how to influence the organization to get better, i.e. how to influence people with much broader perspectives and what it takes to motivate them.
    

3. If you want to grow, don’t surround yourself with like-minded people.  In most cases people with similar backgrounds, likes, goals, also think and come up with similar ideas that please the group- not the larger organization- stifling innovation.  You must put yourself in situations and develop communication channels and scenarios, to stimulate those that aren’t like you.  Otherwise, they just go along with the group you surround yourself with.  You have to be the one to reward people who take risks. 

RLTW!

mike

MORE THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

1. Don’t let others decide what and where you spend your time.  When you do, you will only know what they think you need to know NOT what you need to know.
    

2. Be consistent but be ready to change.  Organizations don’t grow or innovate unless the leaders at every level act like they are open to change and that they seriously want bottom-up feedback by doing more listening than talking.  Too many leaders say they are open to feedback and change, but don’t act that way or, they don’t put themselves in uncomfortable situations where they will get honest, thoughtful, meaningful input.  Or they fail in one of the basic tenets of leadership: Give credit for everything that goes right, but, take responsibility for everything that goes wrong. 
    

3. Be fair but stand by your principles.  What you tolerate is what the organization tolerates and is who you are- people do, see that.  Don’t complain or hold others responsible for failures as a result of things you tolerate, directly or indirectly.  Fix it by fixing yourself.  
    

4. Your opinion of people is not always the right one.  It’s critically important for you to not have “your people.”  People in the organization know who is pulling their weight and contributing and who is not.  If you hang onto these folks, then others will assume that is the way you are also, and your word will carry no weight.  

RLTW!

mike

MORE THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

1. Only spend your time on things that only you can do.  Time is your most valuable asset, and too many leaders spend time on things that either others can do, should do, or that only have a near-term impact when their real contribution must be on mid and far-term actions.  Many leaders fall into this trap because it deals with their strengths and recent experiences, and that is where they are comfortable, but that is usually about the past, not the future.
   
   2.  Many leaders only know what people tell them- that’s the easy button.  Many leaders spend most of their time with their direct reports, and/or only a few direct reports, or in areas that "they know.” This leads to groupthink, to only marginal improvements, creates environments of reaction at the expense of innovation, and prevents an organization from growing.  Leaders need to spend quality time with the level of the organization that really drives the culture of the organization so they can understand what is really working and not working and whether their strategy is being implemented and understood. This does not mean solving their problems on the spot or necessarily agreeing with what they say.  Don't be the leader that listens to someone and tells them, that's easy, I'll fix that right now.  The fact is, in most cases if there was an easy solution to the issue brought up, it would have already been fixed.  You at that level do not have the Situational Awareness or experience to address many issues brought up by associates several levels below you. This usually leads to second and third-order issues for someone else.   Listen, research it at the RIGHT level, and provide feedback.  Most people want someone to listen and consider what they have to say.  Most are smart enough to realize there are other factors out there.  Feedback is key, real feedback. Foremost, leaders should have culture, not tactics, as their most important focus of time.  Tactics are best solved at lower levels, with proper guidance, resources, and empowerment.  
   
   3.  Talking and taking the time to explain and listen to a mid-level employee produces a "rule of nines" because your actual words, vision, and strategy will spread faster and more effectively than holding any meetings with your direct reports, memos, rolling messages on a TV, town halls, webinars, etc, put together.  
   
   RLTW!
   
   mike

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership
This kind of leadership is the difference between good and great organizations.  Leading by example- leading by walking around- has always been the most important trait of a leader, but you must believe and live it. It can't be an act.  The first person you must lead is yourself.  Is that who you really are?  Leading by example is sort of easy but being sincere and truly humble in your interactions is hard to do consistently.  Be vigilant on how others perceive you, not how you perceive yourself. People that you don’t like or are not comfortable with will bring out your weaknesses.  Seek out those interactions, because your friends won’t tell you things you need to hear sometimes, even though they see the same things.  No one is as self-aware as we think we are!  It's so easy to take for granted how hard people work to make your job easier.  Don't just appreciate it, realize it.  It's much more than thank you.  Trust is showing you are ready to accept failure, give credit for everything that goes right, and take responsibility for everything that goes wrong. Take serious things seriously, but don’t take them personally. 
 
Leadership Under Pressure
We all like to fancy ourselves that we are at our best when under pressure.   Whether you succeed or fail is based on how well you planned and prepared for the event upfront.  All decisions are really under pressure if you are a caring leader.  We make decisions based on our past experience, the current situation, and what people tell us.  Being successful in acting under pressure is a combination of your experience, knowledge base, and utilizing the experience base of those around you.  Sometimes it’s discussion, but mostly it’s trust in those around you that has the best chance of success.  It's managing risk.  Not trusting others because you are afraid of personal risk is more common in less experienced leaders.  Experienced leaders trust, even though the personal stakes are higher.  Effective problem solving is quickly evaluating the situation based on your relevant experience and then utilizing the resources available, those around you, and their experience.  If we are part of the plan, we will be successful- we won’t let ourselves fail.
 
Leader Communications
Leaders always overestimate what people above and below them know.  It’s the leader’s responsibility to work to fix that versus being frustrated.  Be realistic about how often you touch people and even more importantly the quality of that touch.  Working hard at communication builds relationships like nothing else and is money in the bank to build trust.  A handshake and taking five minutes to truly listen to what somebody does builds more for motivation than can be measured.  Effective communications: 1) Listen first. 2) Put yourself in uncomfortable situations. 3) Be prepared.  Know who you are talking to and their job. Find shared experiences and demonstrate that you care about theirs.  4) Have a deliberate purpose for the communication.  5) Be consistent and transparent.  6) Don’t promise what you cannot personally deliver.  It’s more important to genuinely listen than to flippantly agree.   

A TIME FOR REFLECTION

With Veterans Day just a few weeks behind us, several unit commemorations recently, and the Holidays approaching, it’s a time for reflection. These events often bring us back together to share the good times and sometimes difficult ones. But we usually don’t talk about the hard times. Each of us carries those differently. The good news is found in the camaraderie—the shared understanding and connection we experience when we’re together. Yet, afterward, when the gatherings end and we’re left alone with our thoughts, the weight of reflection can creep in. Memories of those lost, the challenges we’ve faced, and the realization that, for some, the most defining times of our lives might feel like they’re behind us. That letdown can be daunting. It is for me.

But when that happens, I remind myself that I’m not alone. I lean on those who’ve been through it with me—often without them even knowing. I know those guys will always be there for me, always, no matter what. They don’t need to tell me; I just know. I know that I have family and friends who rely on me in big and very small ways, who care about me. I don’t need constant reminders to believe that. And when it feels like too much, I’ve learned that the best way to help myself is to help others. Helping others isn’t about seeking recognition; it’s a way to find purpose and strength. Sometimes, when we look back at our service, the impact didn’t come from grand gestures or accolades. It came from the little things: the shared moments of struggle and survival, the bonds forged in adversity, the trust that was built in silence.

With the holidays coming up, I hope we can all focus on the good we can do for others, big and small. It’s those simple acts of kindness and support that can help lift us out of difficult times and keep the spirit of service alive. A fellow veteran once shared something with me that resonated deeply: “It’s not about empathy or making excuses. It’s about understanding that you don’t fully understand—consideration, not judgment.” Human connection and interaction are always unique, and successful relationships come from trying to see things through someone else’s eyes. That must always be a two-way street.

If you have a Combat Veteran in your family and you don’t like their moods or behavior around the holidays, please consider these six things:

1. Your combat veteran has served in countries where people are blessed to receive a tattered pair of shoes or have clean water to drink; he/she no longer lives the “first world illusion” and no longer cares that if you buy one PlayStation, you can get a second one for fifty percent off. In fact, they find it hard to appreciate any of the gluttonous commercialism and overindulgence that permeates American holidays. Standing watch, boring as it was, had so much more purpose than going to the mall.

2. Your Combat Veteran is thankful for the most basic things; not thankful for mega-sales and million-dollar parades. They are thankful to be alive, thankful to have survived both the wars far away and the wars they struggle with inside.

3. Your Combat Veteran is thankful that it wasn't them that got killed or wishes that it was them that got killed instead or is torn painfully between the two. Either way, their celebrations are forever complicated by guilt and loss over those who died. Some of the most thankful times in their life (lucky to be alive) were some of the scariest. Their feelings of thanks and celebration often conjure up memories that are equally painful.

4. Your Combat Veteran is not like you anymore. At some point, for some period of time, their entire life boiled down to just three simple things: when will I eat today, when will I sleep today, and who will I have to kill or will try to kill me today?

5. Your Combat Veteran does not need a guilt trip or a lecture; they already feel detached in their grief while others so easily embrace the joy of the season. They need understanding and space; empathy not sympathy.

6. Your Combat Veteran does love his/her family and is thankful for the many blessings in their life…and they are thankful for you.