Dreaming of Service

“Since I was five, the only thing I wanted to do was be a Marine,” said Capt. Dryden Phelps ’19, who grew up watching coverage of the war in Iraq on television. “The thing that stuck with me was Fallujah, watching what all the Marines did. I wanted to be one of those guys.”

Phelps grew up in south Texas and attended an all-boys military school in pursuit of his goal. After spending four years there and graduating, it was time to think about his next steps towards becoming a Marine. He would eventually meet a Marine master sergeant who had served with a Norwich lieutenant in Vietnam. “He told me that Norwich lieutenant was the best lieutenant that he had served with in combat. That motivated me to go there,” said Phelps.

“Since I was five, the only thing I wanted to do was be a Marine,”

Phelps had a narrow focus once he was on campus: become a Marine. “The Norwich Marine program is unparalleled compared to its peers,” he said, pointing to how hard the Marine cadre trains. “I saw the leadership training and outperforming the vast majority of the Midshipmen on hikes, PT, and whatever else. That was extremely motivating, and I decided that I wanted to be that guy.”

“I went into Norwich very piss and vinegar, but I matured a lot,” he said. “I wanted to fight the Taliban.” Many in Phelps’s generation shared the sentiment and joined the military when they came of age. “All of us wanted to go and serve our country and take it to the enemy. But over time at Norwich, I got exposed to what actually makes the Marine Corps.” Phelps pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Studies In War and Peace because he wanted to be as prepared as possible to become a soldier. “It’s a deep study of why soldiers do what they do, and why we follow orders, and why we should protest against other orders,” he said. “It gives it this kind of humanities perspective behind combat scenarios and really prepares the mind of a young soldier.”

“It’s understanding that yes, you have your battle drills, strategy, and tactics, but the same situation cannot be solved the same way every single time, nor with the same leadership style.”

During his sophomore year, Phelps had the opportunity to go to Kosovo and Macedonia where he attended a leadership seminar. He was able to interact with the Kosovo Security Forces and the cadets of the Macedonian Military Academy, as well as a variety of other countries’ organizations, through “a giant NATO exercise” for junior leaders. “At that time, the global war on terror was still a really big thing, and we were uniting and discussing ways to combat terrorism around the world through the lens of decision making in combat,” he said. “Here I was, I think 19 or 20 years old, sitting there talking to colonels in foreign armies about combat and how to employ forces to handle everything from noncombatant evacuations to full-on warfare.”

Phelps learned how to be a soldier and a leader while on The Hill, and credits the exposure to different opportunities like the trip to Europe and the Norwich Artillery Battery for his military preparedness. “I got exposed to what actually makes an army and what differentiates the Marine Corps,” he said. He learned the intricacies of what makes militaries function and how management can impact the forces. “It’s understanding that yes, you have your battle drills, strategy, and tactics, but the same situation cannot be solved the same way every single time, nor with the same leadership style.”

This philosophy guided his senior year at Norwich. “With graduation and the Marine Corps kind of facing me directly in the future, I took a backline approach on the Corps and became a training NCO, focused on my exterior activity of the artillery battery, and focused on my education,” said Phelps. “What came out of that was understanding different leadership styles and philosophies.”

His preparation would serve him well at his first duty station, Camp Lejeune. “I realized how if I hadn’t taken that time in my senior year to focus on my growth and education, I would not have been the lieutenant that I was at Camp Lejeune for my first group of Marines, and I certainly wouldn’t be the officer I am now if I hadn’t focused on that,” said Phelps, adding that his biggest point of growth was in problem solving, both in the line of duty and outside of it. “You have to be their commander not only in the field, but you also have to be the person that’s going to back them up in their own personal lives.”

“The guys on the other side of that fence are professional soldiers that do this every single day; we are professional Marines who do this every single day. 

Phelps would spend four years at Camp Lejeune before his next opportunity came knocking. He was offered to take over as the executive officer for the Marine Corps Security Force Company at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “I had just gotten home from deployment where I had been in the same infantry battalion for three years, and I was offered the position on the recommendation of my commander.” Phelps jumped on the offer and is now the executive officer of the Marine Corps Security Force Company at Guantanamo Bay. This is especially impressive considering he was a lieutenant at the time, and the position is meant for those with the rank of captain.

As an executive officer at Guantanamo Bay, Phelps has a unique set of responsibilities. On one hand, he is responsible for the administrative and operational functions of an overseas-posted rifle company, and on the other, he is responsible for the security of the base and its inhabitants. The base is surrounded by a 17.4-mile perimeter and Cuban minefield, for which Phelps is responsible for overseeing Marines in the towers and on patrol.

Additionally, in the absence of his commander, he must interact across the fence with Cuban officials. “The guys on the other side of that fence are professional soldiers that do this every single day; we are professional Marines who do this every single day. We understand that geopolitical factors could change the way that either one of us do our job, but we’re going to be professionals at the end of the day and neither one of us is going to try and be the aggressor,” he said.

“There’s always the imminent idea that you are in a place that does not necessarily want you here,”

While the lifestyle at Guantanamo Bay might not be one that graces the cover of magazines, Phelps called it the “most secure neighborhood in the world,” because Marines handle external security and Navy sailors the internal security. Plus, those on the base have the only McDonald’s in Cuba, movie theaters, a hospital, and plenty of things to do outdoors. “The beaches and spear fishing are really nice,” said Phelps. “The Caribbean water is gorgeous.”

While he realizes that everyday life is good, he knows that just over the fence is the potential for his world to change on a dime. “There’s always the imminent idea that you are in a place that does not necessarily want you here,” he said. “We have to be cognizant of that and ensure that we are consummate warfighting professionals day in and day out. That is truly the most important thing for the Marines here to get.”