{"id":14248,"date":"2017-10-13T16:04:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T21:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/?p=14248"},"modified":"2021-04-22T10:34:21","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T15:34:21","slug":"former-secretary-of-defense-visits-mma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/14248\/former-secretary-of-defense-visits-mma\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Secretary of Defense visits MMA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Secretary<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Former Secretary of Defense and former CIA Director Dr. Robert Gates spoke to the Marine Military Academy Corps of Cadets on Oct. 12 about leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gates, an Eagle Scout, said the things he learned in Boy Scouts helped him become a leader in different organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only management course I ever had in my entire life was going to a national youth leadership training program,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing teaches leadership more than trying to get a bunch of 12 and 13-year-old boys to do what they don\u2019t want to do \u2014 and you\u2019re only a year older than them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gates then talked to the boys about decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you get as old as I am and you look back on your life, you see that lots of decisions that you\u2019ve made \u2026 don\u2019t seem very important at the time. You look back a long time later and you discover how incredibly important they were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this former CIA director, a small decision in college led to a huge career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only reason I agreed to see the (CIA) recruiter was to get a free trip to Washington, D.C. … and all of a sudden it changed the whole course of my life,\u201d Gates said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gates continued: \u201cAlways be on the lookout for opportunity; and always understand that the choices that you make will determine the course of the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He then advised the cadets to always protect their integrity and honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo matter what you do in life, the real leaders lead with integrity. Keeping your honor intact and maintaining your integrity are extremely important,\u201d Gates said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, the speaker encouraged the cadets to always serve others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake sure that service to others is always a component of your life. As you go through life … always remember to reach out and help other people in your community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another distinguished Eagle Scout was sitting in the audience: former NASA astronaut Michael Fossum. Fossum is presently the chief operating officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marine Military Academy is a college-preparatory boarding school for young men in grades 7-12 with an optional post-graduate year. Since 1965, MMA is the only private school in the world based on the traditions and values of the U.S. Marine Corps. Located in Harlingen, Texas, MMA has been home to thousands of sons from across the world and is quarters to the historic Iwo Jima Monument. To learn more about MMA, visit MMA-TX.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Secretary of Defense and former CIA Director Dr. Robert Gates spoke to the Marine Military Academy Corps of Cadets on Oct. 12 about leadership. Gates, an Eagle Scout, said the things he learned in Boy Scouts helped him become a leader in different organizations. \u201cThe only management course I ever had in my entire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14516,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14248\/revisions\/14516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mma-tx.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}