Brothers in Arms
Naval Academy Ties Translate to Battlefield Trust
Nate Gulosh ’05 entered his first combat deployment with an unexpected sense of comfort. The tension and threats for Marines in Fallujah, Iraq in the spring of 2008 were real — but the luxury of serving alongside two other Naval Academy alumni eased his mind a bit.
Gulosh served as commander of 3rd Platoon, Delta Company, 2nd Tank Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom, alongside classmate Matt Luke ’05 and under Lieutenant Colonel Rob Burton ’98, USMC (Ret.). The bond forged on shared experiences and values ingrained in Annapolis helped establish instant trust among the Academy graduates.
“I won the lottery for the first unit. Being surrounded by other Academy graduates, I didn’t have to guess what people were thinking. We had a shared experience — and quite frankly, we didn’t want to let him down.”
— Nate Gulosh ’05
Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, these Marines recalled the importance of ethical leadership and the shared experiences at the Academy that produced instant battlefield trust during the Global War on Terrorism. Burton, whose tank company suffered no casualties during their deployment, credited Gulosh and Luke for providing reliable leadership in tense situations.
Changing Mission
The U.S. military’s objectives were evolving when this group of Marines arrived in Iraq. As junior officers, the members of the Classes of 2004 and 2005 leaned heavily on the experience of Burton and enlisted leaders as the mission shifted toward partnering with the Iraqi military. “It was an environment where complacency becomes maybe the greatest enemy,” Luke said. “That’s where the discipline really has to win the day.”
Moral Code
“It was very easy to show up in a village with M1A1 battle tanks and wreak a lot of destruction,” Ashinhurst ’04 said. “But that’s not what we were there to do anymore. We were there to help set conditions for the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own security.” Operating independently in that environment can challenge your moral code, Burton said — which made the built-in Naval Academy trust essential.
