Lessons Learned from the Army-Navy Game

January 10, 2022

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In a postscript to our last edition of the VET, I invoked the phrase many Army veterans use each year in the run up to the annual Army-Navy football game: “Go Army, Beat Navy.” Alas, Navy was the better team on the day and defeated Army 17-13 when the two played this past December marking the 20-year anniversary of 9/11. Consequently, I have spent the last few weeks paying debts owed to my Navy “friends.”

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If you didn’t watch the game or are unfamiliar with the rivalry, Navy was an underdog having only won only four games to Army’s eight for the season. But records don’t matter when the two teams meet on the “fields of friendly strife.” The Midshipmen, playing with heart, pride and determination, pulled off the upset and spoiled what was a fantastic season for the Cadets.

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I was able to attend the game with my family, their first ever and my first in 25 years.  On our return trip, my wife (who is also a veteran) and I took stock of the experience and the characteristics we observed of both players on the field and those in attendance. Below are three takeaways from that discussion I see as particularly relevant to leaders in our portfolio:

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• Values: “That was the nicest, most well-behaved crowd at any sporting event I’ve ever been to” (my wife’s quote). I think her comment ties to something I’ve said repeatedly which is that veterans come with a core set of values that align almost perfectly with the values of growth stage businesses. To illustrate that point, we developed a Word cloud using the mission statements from several Summit portfolio companies – many of these words accurately describe the values exhibited by veterans
• Creative Thinking: each year both academies develop custom uniforms for the game honoring units, ships, etc. This year Army’s uniforms honored Special Operations soldiers and, during the game I reflected on my friend’s recent retirement ceremony. He spent twenty years in special operations and, as a testament to his service, Lieutenant General Braga, the commander of SOCOM (Special Operations Command), hosted the ceremony. In his speech General Braga mentioned how adept Special Operations soldiers of ALL branches are adept at non-linear thinking. As you consider open positions in your companies that require autonomous operation and/or creative thinking, ANY solider with a Special Operations background would likely be a fit
• Flexibility: the play of the game was a fake punt by Navy in the fourth quarter that all but sealed the victory for the Midshipmen. Interestingly, the coaches didn’t call a fake…it happened due to a miscommunication at the line. Senior linebacker Diego Fagot said he made a line call because Army overloaded one side. The Freshman Navy center mistook it for a fake call and Fagot got the first down despite being hit in the facemask with the snap. As our company leaders will attest to, fast growing companies require employees to be flexible and perform in the face of adversity.  Veterans are simply wired this way

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In closing I’ll leave you with this: just 334 more days until Army beats Navy…

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Charlie Mike*

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Dave & the Summit Partners Veterans Community

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*“Charlie Mike” is the military phonetic alphabet for the letters C and M which stand for “continue the mission,” a phrase commonly used in tactical situation

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(NOTE: you can help by forwarding this email to veterans within the Summit network so they can join the community and/or our LinkedIn Group)