Following is an excerpt from my upcoming book on leadership. The advice is for anyone in a leadership role that wants to sharpen their skills and get more production out of their team. The hard-won knowledge applies to any size business, whether a two-person operation or a 20,000-person operation or more.
By Gregg Sturdevant, Major General, United States Marine Corps (Retired) and Founder/CEO of Mission Critical Leadership Solutions.
“A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.”
Confucius
The aircraft was losing altitude and there weren’t many options available. We were flying over thick jungle vegetation and if I didn’t quickly come up with a plan it would simply be a matter of time before the helicopter I was flying would augur into the ground.
Always plan for the unexpected
From the first day a student pilot starts flight training there is one theme that is drilled into your head, particularly when you are flying a single engine aircraft; always plan for the unexpected. Where are you going to go if the engine stops working? If you are smart you carry that thought with you throughout your flying career.
I did and was better for it. I had to put that line of thinking to use one hot, humid morning in the northeast corner of Kenya. I was in squadron command in the middle of a seven-month deployment aboard a U.S. Navy ship. My squadron was one piece of a larger unit, a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which consisted of a reinforced infantry battalion, a reinforced helicopter squadron and a combat logistics battalion.
Combat Logistics Battalion-13 was ashore working on a series of projects meant to improve the quality of life for the local villagers. Anytime we did an exercise the combat logistics battalion would work with the local American Embassy to identify projects that would fit in the exercise schedule timeline. If I remember correctly, the big project during this exercise was to complete a wooden bridge that would connect one small village to another small village. The bridge had to be elevated to accommodate the rainy season. The wood used was local and hard as rock; it destroyed normal drill bits in a matter of minutes. Thanks to some creativity the ship was able to manufacture a drill bit that was strong enough to withstand the test.
At the same time the reinforced infantry battalion, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines was rotating smaller units ashore to conduct training; patrolling, shooting weapons at ranges, and working on survival skills.
On Sunday morning February 10th, 2002 my squadron was scheduled to fly a long-range helicopter training raid in support of the infantry battalion. Even though it was February the weather was still hot and humid (the only thing worse would have been working at higher elevations), tough operating conditions for helicopters.
We used six CH-46Es (troop carriers), two CH-53E’s (troop careers), two AH-1Ws (attack helicopters) and one UH-1N (Command & Control) for the mission. We launched from the ship and flew to a short airfield at Manda Bay, Kenya. There we landed, stripped off the heavy chains we used to strap the helicopters to the flight deck aboard ship, removed out cruise boxes (collapsible metal storage cases) and life rafts to lighten the load.
Next, we had a face-to-face meeting with the infantry unit we were supporting so they could brief us on their scheme of maneuver. We were limited to using just one large landing zone (LZ). The LZ we used to pick up the raid force would be the same LZ we would eventually drop them off in.
We took off as a large flight, three -46s (16 people per aircraft), followed by another three -46’s (16 people per aircraft), then two -53s (28 people per aircraft), being escorted by two AH-1Ws and the command and control UH-1N in a position where the Air Mission Commander can best perform his duties. We were the number three aircraft in the first flight of -46s. The route kept us a few miles inland from the beach over heavily vegetated terrain.
I was the co-pilot for a newly designated helicopter aircraft commander (HAC). This was an opportunity for the new HAC to log time as the pilot in command of the aircraft—a very important metric in the maturation process. When you are the pilot in command you are responsible for safe operation of the aircraft and safeguarding the crew and passengers.
What the hell was that?
“Paco” the aircraft commander was on the controls. We were approximately five minutes into the flight, flying along at 200 feet above the ground (probably a 100-125 feet above the treetops) when we experienced a huge explosion. We had just passed a large watering hole off the right side of the aircraft, the only suitable landing site within miles.
I quickly brought my scan inside to look at the gages and saw the ITT (Internal Turbine Temperature—the temperature in the core of the engine) for the number one engine rapidly shoot to the top of the gage, that engine was gone—smoked checked. We immediately started losing altitude, remember we were not very high above the trees to begin with.
Paco started to turn towards the watering hole, but I initially blocked the controls—we had a Cobra (AH-1W) just off the right side of our aircraft. The last thing we needed was a mid-air collision between two aircraft. I came up on the radio and declared an emergency and called a “knock it off” for the training raid. I wanted everyone to know we had an issue and to give me plenty of room to maneuver.
Once the Cobra was clear we started to make a gradual turn to the right and initiated our single-engine procedures which called for slowing down and dumping fuel. Other than dumping fuel (out of a drainpipe about the size of a standard garden hose—meaning our fuel wasn’t draining fast) there was nothing else we could do to lighten our load. We were going down and needed a suitable place to land.
We were too far away from the beach (truthfully, I never even considered going to the beach) but we had just flown past a large watering hole that would probably work. We also had the short runway back at Manda Bay which was my preferred option. The CH-46 landing gear includes wheels which allows the helicopter to do a run on landing much like an airplane does. There’s less power required for a running landing and you can keep your airspeed up—the goal is to make sure “power required” never exceeds “power available”.
With that in mind we continued our turn to the right. It quickly became apparent that we would never make it back to the runway which was about 10-miles north of our current position. Which meant we were going to land either in the trees or at the watering hole.
Ideally you always want to land into the wind. Unfortunately landing into the wind that morning would have required an approach to the top of the trees which were 75-100 feet tall and then the aircraft would have settled into the treetops. There was too much uncertainty associated with that option. Within seconds I made the decision to accept a quartering tail wind and land next to the watering hole.
Paco made the turn to final and as we were approaching 75 feet I took the controls (there was no negotiating point, he had signed for the aircraft but my 3,500+ flight hours outweighed his 550 or so flight hours). On short, short, final I pulled the nose of the aircraft up into the air and almost immediately gave the collective (the power mechanism) a pull up to the point that it could go no further. About that time we hit the ground. It felt like we bounced, but in retrospect I think the landing gear functioned the way they were designed by compressing, a half-second later the nose of the aircraft fell through, when it hit the ground the nose strut (the forward landing gear) was sheared off.
We skidded to a stop and the “grunts” (an affectionate term for an infantry Marine) ran out the back of the aircraft and set up a security perimeter around the aircraft—just like they were trained to do. We shut the aircraft down. As I was climbing out of the cockpit one of the grunts came running back up the tail ramp screaming, “Don’t go back there, there’s a lion”, I immediately responded with, “Don’t worry, I won’t!”.
That was Sunday morning. Four days later, on Valentine’s Day 2002, that aircraft was flown back to the ship. It had sustained minimal damage. The infantry battalion provided security for the site while my squadron removed and replaced the bad engine, dug a hole that allowed them installation of a new forward landing gear and secured a popped chin bubble by drilling holes in the plexiglass and weaving wire through the holes like you would the eyelets on your shoe.
Once the aircraft returned to the ship it would be weeks before it would fly again. The best news, everyone, all 16 people aboard my aircraft (4 crewmen and 12 passengers) walked away from that hard landing without any serious injuries.
I credit a lot of our success that day with training we received in flight school that continued to be practiced every time we went flying—always plan for the unexpected. When I took the controls, I picked out a point where I intended to land. We never made it there, instead we landed closer to the watering hole which actually worked in our favor. The closer one got to the watering hole the softer the ground…when we impacted the ground the majority of the energy associated with gravitational pull was transferred from the aircraft to the ground. If we had made it to the point on the ground where I originally wanted to land, the ground would have been firmer and the aircraft would have most likely sustained more extensive damage.
Practice makes perfect…or at least gives you a fighting chance
Granted there was some luck involved but most of the success came from hours and hours of hard work, practice, and rehearsal. In airplanes we pulled the power back and practiced flying a proven pattern to hit certain points around the farmers field we were shooting the approach to, at 200 feet we would add power and climb back up to 2,500 feet and start all over again. In helicopters we simulated losing both engines and performed a maneuver called a practice autorotation. An autorotation allowed you to keep the blades turning as you were falling out of the sky, as you approached the ground you pulled the nose up hard to slow the rate of descent, pause for a second, then push the nose back over so you are close to a level flight attitude then pull up on the collective (power lever) which slowed the rotor blades down but allowed you to cushion your landing.
The goal is to turn the difficult into the simple
Anticipate the unexpected…in the event something bad happens you want to work through the issue and come out on the back side with that same feeling you had in school after completing a test—”it was easy, I over studied”. Over studying is not a bad thing. The goal is to turn the difficult into the simple.
How long is your view?
Allow me to offer a couple of examples. From a short-term perspective, let’s start with depth of the bench. Do you have one or more people with specific skill sets that you consider the single point of failure in your organization? If something happens to them the company will have a difficult time moving forward? If that’s the case, you need to quickly take action. You have two choices, train someone already on staff to perform the critical skills or hire someone who already possesses the necessary skills. It is important to have redundancy. Your company always has to be capable of functioning, to include when one of your heavy hitters is on vacation.
From a mid- to long-term perspective I will give you an example tied to the U.S. Government’s ability to provide a federal response during public health emergencies. At the start of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the value of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) quickly became obvious. The Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is responsible for overseeing the SNS. “The Strategic National Stockpile helps prepare state, local, tribal and territorial responders to react effectively during an emergency when stockpile items are deployed” (Source: https://www.phe.gov/about/sns/Pages/training.aspx). SNS’s main purpose is to provide a managed inventory of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to ensure the right resources are available and can get to the right place at the right time.
The Strategic National Stockpile’s initial response was noteworthy, but it quickly became apparent that the magnitude of COVID-19 would overwhelm the system which was really designed for a regional response.
Another thing that became apparent with the onslaught of COVID-19 was the United States, and much of the rest of the world, had outsourced medical supply production to China. This is truly a national security issue that I am hopeful the healthcare product manufacturers and our elected officials will correct.
Finally, I want to share an example of a long-term planning effort that we probably all unknowingly benefit from. If you go to the Shell Oil website (https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/the-energy-future/scenarios.html) you will find a wonderful description of Shell Scenarios.
To navigate an uncertain future Shell started Shell Scenarios.
“We have been developing possible visions of the future since the 1970s, helping generations of Shell leaders explore ways forward and make better decisions. Shell Scenarios ask, “what if?” questions encouraging leaders to consider events that may only be remote possibilities, and stretch their thinking. Our scenarios also help governments, academia and business in understanding possibilities and uncertainties ahead.”
Shell has some amazing scenarios designed to improve our lives and make the planet a healthier place to live. Shell is looking for opportunities but also attempting to safeguard against being left behind by their competitors because of a lack of foresight.
Granted things don’t always go according to your plan but without a plan you are, as the U.S. Navy says, “Dead in the water”.
Here are the takeaways from this chapter:
Always plan for the unexpected AND the future
- Are you prepared to adjust a plan being executed if something unexpected pops up?
- Do you understand that by anticipating the unexpected you will be able to identify issues earlier and respond more quickly?
- As a leader are you looking 12-months out? 3-to 5-years? What about 10-years?
- What changes are you making to set the conditions to achieve your vision?
For more information or a free consultation contact me at: www.linkedin.com/in/greggsturdevant/ or gregg.sturdevant@gmail.com. Retired Marine Major General Gregg Sturdevant, Founder/CEO Mission Critical Leadership Solutions.