"Basic" Lessons from a National Guard Student Veteran
When Joseph Fadule ’26 returned to Harvard after a gap year, his schedule looked quite different.
Between classes, working at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, and club meetings as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club champ, he was also training one weekend a month, and two weeks each summer, with the National Guard. Fadule explained that he joined the Guard because “it felt like something I’d regret if I never tried. I didn’t want to wake up one day and think, what if I’d done that?” Though it’s easy to glorify the hero’s journey that feels, as he described, like “something bigger than myself,” his gap year challenges taught him valuable lessons that apply far beyond the military.
Lesson 1: Don't Rush The Journey
“The first week of basic training felt like months,” Fadule reflected. “I remember looking at the calendar in my notebook and thinking, this is impossible.” Eventually, he gained perspective and focused on the present moment. “I just told myself — make it to lunch. Then make it to dinner. One day at a time.”
Greatness Takes Time
In October 2024, Fadule received an award for having one of the top 5 fitness test scores in his brigade.
Lesson 2: Invest in Relationships
When asked what he missed most about basic training, he unsurprisingly didn’t say the drills. It was the people. “Basic training was incredibly diverse,” he said. “We all had different backgrounds and opinions, but we worked together.” He paused for a while before adding, “We’re way more similar than we are different. We just need to actually talk to each other — face to face, not through screens. Even though it’s meant to be tough, I look back [on that time in my life] fondly because of the community,” he reminisced. He described the friendships he made there, such as with his “battle buddies”, as “lifelong.” Before enlisting, he recalls being more individualistic. Now, he’s learned how much strength there is in interdependence. “I’m way more aware of how much I need other people — and how much they might need me.”
Friends for Life
Fadule and his "battle buddies" celebrated together on graduation day from One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood in August 2024. Most of them are currently serving on active duty.
Lesson 3: Remain Humble
When it came to basic training, “everyone’s under stress, and everyone thinks they know the right way to do things,” Fadule remarked. “It gets tense.” He learned to stay calm and not let others’ tempers dictate his own. “Having the discipline not to feed into that was huge.”
Doing The Honors
In May 2025, Fadule conducted a "first salute" in Sanders' Theatre for a friend's commissioning ceremony.
Lesson 4: Accept the Unexpected
When Fadule arrived at Air Assault School, he was looking forward to grueling physical work — long runs, heavy packs, obstacle courses — like an action movie training montage. Instead, he got endless classroom sessions on helicopter operations. “It wasn’t the kind of hard that I wanted,” he admitted. “But then I realized — if I came here to be challenged, I don’t get to pick what kind of challenge it is.” Once he accepted that, everything changed. “My mindset shifted. I started embracing it, and by the end, I actually enjoyed it.”
Proud Mom
Fadule’s mom attended his graduation from Air Assault school in September 2025. During his schooling, he learned about rappelling operations.
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