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View Full Version : Leftwich Trophy winner motivated his Marines so much, they got matching unit tattoos



Rocky C
04-22-16, 11:23 AM
A Marine Corps captain who “built the best infantry company" his commander said he's ever seen is this year's recipient of the service's prestigious Leftwich Trophy.

Capt. Thomas Morrow led Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines through a unique deployment to the Asia-Pacific region in 2015. Before they departed Hawaii, it appeared to be just another six-month pump through Okinawa, Japan — but the deployment was anything but typical.

By the end of it, Morrow's Marines were so motivated by their company's cohesion, they went as far as to get tattoos of an impromptu unit logo.

“No matter how controversial tattoos may be in the Marine Corps, it is a testament to how strongly the Marines believed in the team we had formed,” Morrow told Marine Corps Times. “Personally, that felt great.”

Though the battalion was focused on South Korea, Morrow's Marines quickly spread out across the region, and disaggregated operations became the norm.

An 81mm mortar section trained with 5th Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, or ANGLICO, in Okinawa while a scout sniper and mortar detachment plugged into a three-month partnership exercise with troops from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Morrow’s Marines also provided combined-arms and air-assault support from mainland Japan to the Philippines.

Despite the distance, Weapons Company emerged a tight-knit unit that referred to itself as “the family.” It's for the leadership that build that formidable force that Morrow was selected to receive the 2015 Lt. Col. William G. Leftwich Jr. Trophy for Outstanding Leadership.

Morrow “built the best infantry company I've observed while serving in five different infantry battalions over 20 years,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Hoyle, 2/3's commander, who has since made Morrow his battalion operations officer. In addition to his “mastery of fire support and employment of supporting arms in close proximity to maneuver,” Hoyle said the captain does not fatigue.

"He leans forward, anticipates friction, and gets the mission accomplished every time, in the right way,” Hoyle said.

Building cohesion

Last year's Pacific deployment was a first for most of Morrow's junior Marines. That was made a bit more challenging when the first sergeant and key staff noncommissioned officers rotated out in the middle of work-ups.

But Morrow said he knew he had something special when the company participated in an Integrated Training Exercise at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, before deploying. He ran the battalion's fire-support coordination center during the complex live-fire and maneuver attack, which was supported by close air, artillery, tanks, engineers and amphibious assault vehicles.

Everything was flowing; the Marines executed the breach without any hesitation. That, he said, was the moment he realized his company was now a cohesive unit — effective, lethal, and able to “absolutely do anything.”

“I didn't expect any of this,” Morrow said of getting the Leftwich award. “I am still convinced it is a clerical error, and my name was supposed to be stricken from this. ... You could easily scratch my name and just leave Weapons Company 2/3 on there, and they would still rate this trophy above anyone else in the Marine Corps because they showed themselves to be the pinnacle of effectiveness as a team — and I am proud to be a part of that team.”

While deployed, the Marines' exchange program with the Koreans was a key event for the battalion. The bilateral training exercise is designed to promote stability on the Korean Peninsula and strengthen the partnership between U.S. and South Korean troops.

Weapons Company did not just train alongside ROK troops, but integrated their Korean counterparts into every facet of operations to mentor the joint team. Morrow’s Marines put rounds on ranges that U.S. personnel have never visited, and also conducted some grueling training at the military's ranger school in Gimpo, South Korea. That even earned them Republic of Korea ranger tabs.


The strong working relationship enabled a successful two-battalion, combined-arms, live-fire exercise that integrated everything from Air Force A-10s to Korean tanks and Paladin artillery. That won the praise of division leaders.

“He delivers decisive results, regardless of the mission, and his leadership has proven to be the critical enabler to his company's overall success,” Col. Carl Cooper, the regimental commander, said in Morrow’s award submission.

The Leftwich Trophy is awarded annually to a Marine captain in the ground combat arms community who “clearly and dramatically demonstrate[s] the ideals of courage, resourcefulness, perseverance, and concern for the well-being of our Corps and his enlisted Marines,” according to the award criteria.

It's named for Navy Cross and Silver Star recipient Lt. Col. William G. Leftwich Jr., who was killed in a 1970 helicopter crash while overseeing an emergency air extraction of a reconnaissance team in Vietnam.