Show and Tell Fighter pilot shares lessons in leadership with B&G Club
On Friday afternoon, a room full of children at the Boys and Girls Club sat on the carpet to listen to a speaker, jittery as children are but respectful.
The speaker talked about leadership and doing the right thing even when no one is looking. Then he shared some of his experiences as a pilot and a soldier.
Duane Liptak, former Marine pilot and special operations officer, was the speaker. He is now vice president of Magpul Industries, based in Austin.
Explaining the characteristics of leadership, he described the difference between honesty and integrity.
Honesty is when you don’t cheat on your paper because the teacher is watching, integrity is not cheating even when no one is watching, Liptak said.
On courage, he talked about telling the truth even if you will get in trouble for it and saying no to your friends when something is wrong.
Highlighting the difference between ar- rogant leadership and servant leadership, he acted out two different head cooks for a hotdog competition one full of himself, the other sharing and supporting the mission.
Liptak also described peer leadership in groups of friends.
Throughout his talk he shared his military experience.
“Flying an F-18 is like driving a really fast car while also playing a videogame and talking on the phone,” he said.
He brought his helmet, flight suits and dress uniform to show and tell, which brought out the big stories.
Liptak did have to eject from an F-18 over the Atlantic Ocean. He told about both engines being on fire and trying to run through the checklist to save the aircraft. But he and his partner had to pull the eject handle.
They held onto their raft in the water for an hour until the Coast Guard found them. However, he did suffer a broken back.
“It was not a fun day,” Liptak said. “It was a lot more fun than if I couldn't have gotten out of the airplane.”
The children asked if he recovered and was okay. He said yes for the most part.
