Last week, on August 26th, marked the 5th anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack in Afghanistan.
Days later, I learned it had killed one of my Marines — someone I'd been serving alongside just weeks earlier, before she deployed.
Sgt. Rosario Pichardo was the Marine I selected for that mission. She was sharp, she knew the environment, and she had exactly the skills we needed.
What I didn't know then was that she'd go on to take on a second role in country... one far more dangerous than the one I'd assigned her.
Now, let's get Proactive Over Reactive!
"They need me, Sir"
—Sgt Rosario Pichardo
My fellow officers and senior enlisted from our command in Bahrain were called into a conference room one late afternoon.
Our Commanding General was already seated at the head of the table. The mood was heavy, we knew whatever was coming was big. Rumors had been circulating, and a few Marines were already headed to the airport.
"We're pulling out of Afghanistan. Not next year, in a few months. Marines are already heading out to serve as liaisons, and we've been tasked with a major forward-planning effort." (paraphrasing the General's briefing)
I already had orders back to the U.S. But I'd done three tours in Afghanistan, including a year in the Kabul/Bagram area. So I spent my final weeks in the role helping plan the mission, including choosing the team that would push into the country.
I needed a few specific roles filled from my direct team. I picked Sgt. Rosario to lead Supply team efforts on the ground. She had the knowledge and the skills. And she was excited to be chosen.
None of us knew yet that the Marine Expeditionary Unit and infantry element coming in wouldn't have enough female Marines for the Female Engagement Team, a role required to process the overwhelming number of women and children arriving for evacuation.
Sgt. Rosario had served on a Female Engagement Team during a prior deployment.
She didn't just have the skills we needed for our mission. She had the skills needed for something bigger, and far more chaotic.
So she did what most wouldn't have. She handled her assigned job and when the gates needed help, she geared up and ran toward them anyway.
On August 26, 2021, the crowd at the gate grew large, a call went out for support, and she didn't hesitate. In the middle of the chaos, her officer-in-charge stopped her and asked where she was going.
She said: "They need me, Sir."
And she went.
Not long after, a suicide bomber attacked the gate. Sgt. Rosario Pichardo, along with 12 other U.S. service members, lost their lives that day.
The lesson I keep coming back to
I picked Sgt. Rosario because of the skills I could see on paper. I had no idea the skill that would matter most that day wasn't even the one I'd selected her for.
That continues to stay with me, year after year.
As planners, we build our teams and our plans around the risks we can name. But the people who make the difference are often the ones who show up for the risk nobody assigned them... the ones who see a need and don't wait to be asked twice.
Sgt. Rosario didn't have to go to that gate. It wasn't her job that day.
She went anyway, because she knew she was needed and she knew the mission was noble.
I don't have a clean project management takeaway to wrap this up with, and I'm not going to force one. Some things you carry because of what they cost, not because of what they taught you.
But if there's one thing I want you to sit with this week, it's this: notice the people on your team who step outside their lane when it matters.
Don't just manage the risks you planned for. Pay attention to who shows up for the ones you didn't.
Sgt. Rosario Pichardo was 25 years old. She was from Lawrence, Massachusetts. She is a Marine. And I'm damn proud to wear her name every day on my KIA bracelet, next to the other names I wear and remember every day.
Semper Fidelis,
Russ
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