“Get in, get it done, and get home”
The Shepherd“Get in, get it done, and get home” is Lawson’s three-part formulation of the operational outlook he associates with STA-F Selection. In a conversation about his impending work in Afghanistan, it expresses his belief that the job’s fundamentals hold across locations, even as his interlocutor warns that the country will challenge familiar rules and make the target difficult to find.
Formulation and Origin
Lawson recalls that, during STA-F Selection, the prevailing attitude was that location did not change the fundamentals of the job. He condenses that attitude into a sequence: enter the area, complete the task, and return home. The phrase’s clipped rhythm makes it sound like a practical maxim rather than an abstract doctrine, with the final step placing safe return alongside mission completion.
Use in the Afghanistan Exchange
The maxim appears as Lawson responds to a warning that Afghanistan is unlike any place he has operated in. His interlocutor counters that Lawson went through Selection long ago, that Afghanistan has a history of defeating outside forces, and that finding the target will not be easy. The exchange sets Lawson’s portable, training-derived principle against a specific theater presented as resistant to standard expectations. The phrase reveals Lawson’s stated outlook, but the conversation does not establish whether that outlook will prove adequate to the challenges ahead.
