One of the controversial concepts explored at DI was the idea of the Leper Colony. This was a technique stolen directly from Hollywood, specifically from the Movie "Twelve O'clock High". The fact that it came from Hollywood should have been our first clue as to its value. The idea was to put all your losers, misfits and screw-ups in one sub-unit so they would not drag down the other units. It was also supposed to provide them with a challenge to become better.

In the movie, the Leper Colony was a B-17 crew made up of the screw-ups from other crews. They got the worst jobs and flew in a rickety plane that had "Leper Colony" painted on the side. The only way to get out of the Leper Colony was to keep your nose clean and hope that someone did something worse than you did to get there. It was General Savage's method of enforcing discipline.

This idea was brought to Drummond Island in 1980. The team assignments were handed down at Group HQ in Pontiac about a week after the selection board. After seeing the team assignments, the cadet officer assigned to Alpha Team, Eric the Terrible, was aghast. He didn't have a single man on the team that didn't have a quirk or personality conflict with another guy on the team. He went to the cadet commander and literally blurted out "You gave me every screw-up in Group XII." In hindsight, the fact that there were only six of them actually spoke pretty well of the Group.

The cadet commander was his normal sympathetic self. "Suck it up. They are your team because we think you can handle them." The Alpha commander was devastated. Here he was, a team commander at arguably the most cutting edge cadet activity in CAP, and he got the guys who were on the bubble. Of course, these guys were good enough to be selected for DI, so they weren't total losers or anything. They were just the ones with difficult personalities.

Eric the Terrible was someone I had great respect for. He wasn't sure if he was selected because they thought he could handle them or if they thought he was a screw-up too. Although he always had a rather sick sense of humor and a more casual style than the other officers, I find it hard to believe anyone would consider him a screw-up. If there was any question about his abilities, it certainly must have been answered during that year's ranger school. He took the school's hard cases and turned them into a team that led the way in almost everything.

He thought about what he should do during the planning sessions in the following weeks, and he finally decided that his team was going to succeed regardless of what anyone thought of them, or what they might have been, before this trip.

He didn't hold back the truth from his team. He told them that they all "enjoyed" a reputation that was less than envious. He made sure they understood that he would not allow any "lone wolf" behavior. They had an uphill battle if they were going to prove that it wasn't a mistake that they had been selected for the school.

To get the full effect, he decided not to tell them all this until they had already been shocked by the whole "first hours on the Island" experience. He figured the full psychological effect of being on the island (which was a whole different world) would make them more willing to listen. So he waited until they had experienced the silent ferry mind game, the bus trip across the Island, the POW cards, and the whole "No AWOL" briefing. The newness of the environment made them less resistant to suggestion. After setting up tents, Alpha had a team meeting. His speech was as alien to them as the Island around them.

The POW Card... (Click for full size.)

A key part of his little talk was that he included himself and his sins. He wanted to make sure that they understood that he was one of them. He had something to prove too. A really important aspect of this was that he really bought into being their commander. They were not just Alpha team. They were HIS team. They ate that up. Most of them had never had a commander who acted like he actually WANTED them.

"... From now on, I will give one word commands like sit, stand, come, etc. That is the way you train dogs, and we are animals. We will feed, because we do not eat. Human beings eat. When I say jump, you will do it and ask 'how high' on the way up. When we build something, we will let everyone know that we built it, and we will build it with the highest quality and as quickly as we can. We will do everything together. We will eat, sleep, crap, shave, stink, laugh, cry, and die together. We will work together and we will lead the way." This may sound like familiar stuff, but you will notice that he did not include the abuse or demeaning that other people sometimes think is leadership. This wasn't "I'm better than you and if you want to pass, do what I say". It was "We are in this together, and we are going from zeros to heroes together". That meant a world of difference.

At the end, he reminded them that they were good enough to make it to the school, so at least they were seen as having potential. He told them that he was asking them to be more than they had been before. In other words, their future was in their own hands.

The effect of this approach was noticeable to everyone. The guys who normally slowed us down burst onto the Island like gangbusters. They wanted to show the world that they were worthy of the beret and that they could rise to the challenge.

Those guys really came together. They put past differences aside, stopped being lazy, and leaned way forward. They did everything he asked of them, and they even thrived on being treated as animals. They tripped up now and again, but he knew it wasn't intentional. He would ask them pointedly. "Did you learn from it?" If the answer was "Yes, sir" and it always was, the subject was dropped and the infraction forgotten. Feeling they had let the team down (and that they had justified other peoples' opinions of them) was the only 'punishment' necessary.

The cadet commandant took Eric the Terrible aside about six days in to the encampment and talked to him about his team.

"Call your dogs off." Eric just stared back in disbelief. Here they had given him the Lepers and told him to fix them. Now they wanted him to make them like the guys they were before.

After a moment he replied "Sir, I can't do that. They have worked too hard to be held back."

The next thing the commander said was a bit odd. "Your guys are bringing down the morale of the other teams, and we can't drive down the other teams for the benefit of yours." Alpha Commander was filled with pride. They had given him the dregs of the group, and now they were telling him they were too good for the other teams.

On a personal note, I was a student in Bravo at the time, and there was nothing wrong with our morale at all. We thought Alpha's antics were funny (especially all the barking), and we were perfectly happy with our team. I can only assume the commander was referring to Charlie Team's morale. The only other reason I can think of is that the commandant was really talking about how the other team leaders felt, and not the teams..

We had noticed that Alpha seemed to think they were better than the rest of us, but I figured that was just an esprit de corps thing. Besides, our group culture back home was one of "We are the best in Michigan. We sure are glad we aren't in Group (insert number here), those guys are a pack of losers". This was normal behavior for us, even if it was a negative way to increase esprit.

However, Eric the Terrible must have seen it too. After he was told to "yank his dogs' chains", Alpha team did everything they could to help the other teams. I don't remember any problems between our two teams when Alpha tried to help. I think we had our act together enough that we didn't have the self-image problems that would have led to friction between us. We also had a more hands-off team commander, so I appreciated any help I could get.

Charlie Team wasn't so lucky. When Alpha Team members showed up to help them with projects, Charlie commander sent them packing. He may have thought they weren't needed. Maybe he felt it was a comment on his ability to get things done. There were many students who were surprised that he was made Charlie commander (most of us felt that because he wasn't as experienced as the other cadre and wasn't know as a "ground team guy", he was more like "us" than "them"), and he may have felt pressure to succeed on his own.

Since, just a day before, Alpha team had been walking around like their crap didn't stink (and everyone else's did), he may have taken this help as Alpha's way of saying "You guys suck, so Alpha will have to come save your butts". That is certainly understandable.

Despite this friction, there was no question that the Alpha commander had done wonders with his team. Because of this, and his work back at his home unit, he was awarded the Group XII Leadership Award. While those kinds of awards sometimes go to people who do very little (but more than anyone else), this one was certainly earned. The effects of his efforts would be felt throughout the group. The Lepers would become cadet commanders, drill team members, and even a future Ranger School cadet commander. The Leper Colony had worked wonders under a solid commander who was committed to his men and the mission. Unfortunately, we wouldn't be so lucky next time...