The Ultimate Marine Recruit Training Guidebook

>> PEGGY: You have probably heard about "the few and the proud" we have a book by gunnery Sergeant Nick Popaditch, who wrote a book about this. Nick, you are known as the Segal marine. Tell us how you got that nickname? >> That was in downtown Baghdad, it was a day that the Iraq people and the United States marines came together as allies in building a new nation. Wetor down a statue of Saddam Hussein and I was smoking a cigar and when I got home I found out it was on front pages around the world. >> PEGGY: You looked happy. >>> It was a great day, those people and the military came together for a great thing and I was proud to be part of that mission. >> PEGGY: Tell us about your military experience. You entered into the marines when you were young. >>> I joined when I was 18, I served as a training crewman, and I got out after six years, worked in construction and I came back in in 1995 because I missed the corp, and I served as a drill instructor and platoon Sergeant. >> PEGGY: Tell us how you lost your eye? >> That was during the battle of Felusia and I had a tank behind me and if you had asked me before it happened to make a mental picture of how it's going to happen, I probably would have pictured something similar, good guys, bad guys both; one of them managed to hit me but it was amazing work, the Marines saved my life that day, the corpman in the field covered me up and they worked on me and they saved me. >> PEGGY: It's not something you talk about in your book. This is your second book. It has a lot of history, the nickname of "leather neck" how that came about and the first female marine in 1918, which was surprising to me. In reality this is a step by step guide to prepare yourself for going into the Marine Corp. Do you think this is extra necessary now or do you think you wish everybody would have had it? >> I wish everybody would have had it, honestly but serving as a drill instructor and going back in my own experiences is the things you think you need to know are not at all what you need to know when you show up. It's about how to prepare yourself to train. You don't need to know how to right face or left face, it's a matter of showing up ready to train. >> PEGGY: For instance? >> When I first got to recruit training one of the things I heard early on is that everything that happens here will happen for a reason. We don't care if you know what that reason is but just know that. I was the sort of individual I could take that on faith. I explain that to them and I'm not going to tell them all the why's, but some of them and everything will happen for a reason it's to build courage, honor, commitment, and character and it's to build blocks of leadership. >> PEGGY: You talk about this so this is something that I think can be extrapolated to the civilian world. What do you think civilians can learn from marines? >> Everything because we know how to think under duress. >> PEGGY: But people think you just follow orders, right? >> That's the perception, people think everybody in the military is black and white and it is the furthest thing from that because in combat there are a million possibilities for every situation. We give you a mission and give you limits to that mission, rules of engagement, SOPs, these sorts of things and there are a million ways to attack the problem so if you think like everybody else you're not contributing. We teach you how to bring your talents into pursuit of the team goal and that's a misconception. >> PEGGY: You have run for Congress twice, against Susan Davis most recently, why did you want to go into politics? >> Because it's a win win scenario, building character and we're problem solvers, we go in and make a difference as Marines and I didn't like the direction the country was going, as far as political leadership so I ran. Let me say again, Susan Davis, what an honorable opponent, beat me fair and square and she has nothing but support from me. >> PEGGY: We are out of time, Nick Popaditch author of the ultimate marine recruit building training guide, thanks for talking with us. >>> Thanks for having me in.