When I was in basic training in Fort Knox, KY in 1997, my platoon sergeant was Drill Sergeant First Class Raphael Coppin.
He was a hard man. A man of conviction, discipline, and non-stop energy for flutter kicks, side straddle hops, or everyone’s favorite – the push-up!
He was also a little bit paranoid. Or so I thought…
Drill Sergeant Coppin would share with us all the lessons of life, military lore and history, and how to do combat on a daily basis.
A seasoned warfighter himself, he and another 11 Drill Sergeants in our troop had seen action in the 1990-1991 Gulf War.
War, combat, and chemical weapons were real to them, and I suspect he only wanted to prepare us for what came next.
One story in particular, or directive more like it, was centered around how he traveled to work each day at Fort Knox. He never, obviously, shared where he lived, but I suspect he was off-base somewhere.
“Never take the same road to someplace!” he would say. “Never!”
“Always have a backup plan, and keep switching routes. That way, the enemy doesn’t know what to suspect. It makes it harder for them to plan your death.”
I was 17, and had never thought about alternative routes to places I went to, or why, or how to make it a habit.
Drill Sergeant Coppin instilled more than his version of paranoia in me that summer. Let’s unpack the route choices a bit…
(1) First – to be able to take a different route each day to work, what do you have to know?
You have to be aware of your surroundings, and you have to widen your scope of what’s possible, what’s available, and what works.
(2) Second – the discipline to execute.
Sure, it’s easier to keep driving the same route to work each day… to forget what happens between home and away… and that’s when you become complacent and hit a deer… or a landmine!
(3) Third – make a habit out of knowing your surroundings, and reacting to danger, to new information, to clues about what’s up ahead, or what action to take in case of hostile intent.
In other words, prepare to be successful more often than not.
We all thought he was a little crazy. He would PT us for hours for no reason, or add in ‘bonus’ mileage to the road march because “It will be good for you, Private!”
And turns out, it was.
I am better off today because of him, and his teachings, and think of him every once in a while when I turn left instead of right at the end of my street…just to mess with chance.
I now act with purpose, with a plan, and with the knowledge that there are more choices than the default.
I’ve also learned to look for the small details, the pieces and parts that make up the whole, and take steps to exploit what can be. Like your route to work…
How will you get to work on Monday morning? Maybe there’s a better way… And whatever you do, don’t be predictable!
The Ghost of Coppin might be right around the corner to correct you, and having a few plans up your sleeve might not be so crazy after all…
Set the PACE, then execute!
RIP Raphael L. Coppin, 1SG, 19Z, 1959-2003, Fort Knox, KY