Sulphur’s Mace Mobly had an outstanding athletic career at Sulphur.
A former Bill Landon Outstanding Athlete and three-sport star, he was a huge part of Sulphur athletics during his high school days.
But Mobly accomplished something over the last few months that most only dream about.
Recently, not only did Mobly completed boot camp in the Marine Corps, but he was awarded the highest honor possible.
The former Sulphur graduate was named the lone honor graduate of all battalions, the highest of honors for a single Marine out of over 600.
Not a surprise if you know Mobly, as his work ethic, character and commitment have always shined through.
But even for Mobly, this honor was quite the accomplishment.
“To be named the honor graduate is such a big deal that at first I didn’t even know what it meant to even be the honor grad of my company,” he said. “But now I have been able to really see how big of an honor it is and I am very appreciative of this award.”
It wasn’t just given - the former Bulldog more than earned it, honing in on his discipline and grit to lead the way in his company.
“Training was very difficult at first for sure,” he said. “You go from having the courtesies of a civilian to being told when and how to eat your food in a very short amount of time. That’s just one example but the best thing I can describe about recruit training in the marine corps is that you 110% get out of it what you are willing to put into it.”
“That attitude sets you up for nothing but success not even in the corps but also in life.”
And while Mobly was instilled work ethic and the ability to push through adversity during his athletic career on and off the field, it was nothing like what he experienced in boot camp, though he was able to channel some Bulldog grit.
“Bootcamp was for sure not anything like sports but everything was a competition between other platoons and companies,” he said. “The biggest relation to sports at Sulphur that I can compare it to is the willingness I had to try to outwork any and everybody that wasn’t in my platoon.”
“Which the way a platoon of guys acts isn’t any different than a locker room in any respected sport. The desire to win that was instilled in my at a very young age by Coach (Jim) Dixon and all my coaches throughout the years. That willingness for sure came back to light once I saw how competitive training was.”
But Mobly had to quickly adapt to being uncomfortable, which he quickly got used to and relished in.
“The biggest difference for me was how comfortable you have to get being uncomfortable,” he said. “At first, you think you just slide by in the back of the pack and stay in your comfort zone but you soon find out that there is none of that and after awhile you become fine with the fact that every day is gonna have something in it that makes you uncomfortable and you just get used to it.”
Mobly wanted to be in the Marines because he felt like it was the elite of the elite, so being able to make it through this stage and with such honor is everything he could have hoped for.
“At first, I felt no different about the marines but as I went through bootcamp my respect and gratitude for what they have done since being created only heightened,” he said. “I love that I chose the marines and hope to even try to fill the shoes of those before me to the level that is expected.” Mobly even spoke about how he grew during this process, developing a deeper love, appreciation and admiration for the special group he’d become a part of.
“It helped me grow in the fact that I proved to myself that I could do it in the way that I had envisioned before I left,” he said. “I joined the marines because they are the best, and I’ve never wanted anything for myself other than the best. It just took way more time, effort and willingness to endure pain than I have ever experienced. I proved to myself that I could do it and will continue to do so throughout my career.”
The key to his success was honing in on the drive that led him to the Marines in the first place - his why.
“My personal key for being successful at bootcamp was not ever losing my ‘why,’” he said. “Everybody has a ‘why’ that drives them to do something, even if it is little or small. At times, during training I lost my why and it made it 10x worse than whenever I had my why in my head while we were doing hard stuff.”
Eventually, Mobly took things back to his football days, harnessing in on the will to win and letting nothing get in his way.
“I compared it to football in a way. You’ve got to play the game with a little bit if hate. That meaning you have to almost hate anyone or anything that is going to be any sort of obstacle to you or your fellow marines objective. As for what’s next for Mobly? He has his sights set on special forces and is envisioning the path to get there.
“I’m looking forward to getting out of the infantry training battalion and then from there, trying to go through the special forces route and possibly getting selected to become a special operator,” he said. “I’m looking forward to doing a bunch of cool stuff and seeing awesome places and things.”
Regardless of where he ends up, its clear Mobly will have a massively successful career serving his country and is off to a start that most cannot compare to. “I hope that my future in the Marines holds the same thing that I have always wanted my future to be, and that is to just wake up everyday with a chance to better myself or the guys next to me in any situation, good or bad,” he said. “I want to look back on my time when I am done in the military and have no regrets because I’m gonna give it my 110% just like I have tried to with everything I’ve done.”
