ARAB, Ala. -- During a Jan. 27 presentation on leadership and the military experience at Arab High School, Aviation and Missile Command Sgt. Maj. Glen Vela easily took on questions ranging from his favorite job -- door gunner -- to why he joined the Army -- he liked the camo uniform -- from the school's 60 JROTC cadets.
But, when he was asked about the hardest decision he ever had to make, Vela had to pause for a moment before he answered.
Telling the cadets that several different "hard decisions" came to mind, he settled on one that spoke of his family's sacrifice.
"I was in the Army before the wars started," he said. "My mother and father live in Fort Worth, Texas, and they kept telling me to stay in the Army, that it was a good place for me to be. But, then the war started and I went to war immediately. I was one of the first to go.
"After that, I was talking on the phone to my mom, who's one of the biggest supporters of warriors, and she insisted that I get out of the Army. I said, 'But I love the Army. It's all that I know.' And, the Army needed people to stay in. The nation needed people not to turn their back on the Army. So, I decided to stay in, knowing I'd go back to war. In that phone call, my mom said, 'I want you out of the Army. You've done your time. Get out of the Army.' I couldn't do it. But it was a really hard decision."
Today, with 31 years of service, three deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, and more than 500 aviation combat hours, Vela is now AMCOM's top enlisted Soldier. He shared with the cadets his views on leadership, dealing with adversity and the sacrifices made by Soldiers and their families during the course of an Army career.
"You can read all the books on leadership that you find in a bookstore and they will all be different. When it comes to leadership, there is no-one-size fits all," he said. "But, at the very basic level, leadership is making people do thing they don't want to do without making them mad."
As he discussed leadership theory with the cadets, Vela asked them what the number one failure/success trait is associated with leadership. While one cadet easily nailed that answer -- communication -- the class was stumped when he asked them for the number two failure/success leadership trait.
There were many good guesses: organization, confidence, loyalty, discipline, integrity and faith, to name a few. In the end, Vela had to give the class the answer -- trust.
"First, a leader needs to be able to communicate the mission and the vision," he said. "Then, you have to be able to trust. If a leader doesn't trust their followers or if the followers don't trust their leader, then the organization is doomed for failure. Trust is a two-way street."
Vela also spoke on the seven Army values, asking the students which one they thought was most important and why.
"Why does the Army have its own set of values? People come in to the Army from all over the nation -- north, south, the east coast and the west coast. They all come in and they have all been raised a little differently with their own family values," he said.
"Sometimes when you get all together in one and you are not all raised the same way, those values may clash a little bit. So, the Army says, 'We will give you our values' and those values are added to the ones Soldiers were raised with. We all have a base foundation of the seven Army values (loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage), and when you are in the Army you are a Soldier who lives those values 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
As a professional organization, the Army has creeds its Soldiers and civilians live by, Vela said. He had cadet commander Andrew Schmitt read the Soldier's creed, and cadet Sgt. Maj. Luca Tetrault read the NCO's creed.
"Being a Soldier is a profession, and we are called on to conduct ourselves as professional Soldiers all the time. It's absolutely a way of life," he said. "The Army and the entire military puts a lot of confidence and trust in its creeds."
Vela offered answers to several questions from the cadets: What's important other than leadership? "Schooling." What is most important for a Soldier? "To be mentally, physically and emotionally fit." What was the best care package you received? "A package filled with bags of nachos and salsa from my father-in-law that was meant for the Super Bowl but that got eaten without any football." What's your greatest fear? "The first is losing Soldiers in combat. The second is leaving the Army when I retire."
To the question of what was the hardest thing to get used to, Vela again turned to an answer that involved his connection with family. He grew up in a large central Texas family that is big on family celebrations and holidays. But, the stories his four uncles told him about serving in Vietnam, led Vela to consider military life and to eventually join the Army family.
"The greatest challenge for me was missing those family celebrations, the birthdays and anniversaries and holidays. That's always been a challenge to me. But you have to deal with it in your own way," he said.
That challenge has been offset by the opportunity to meet new people and to see the world, to serve as a crew chief on Cobra, Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, to learn and then practice leadership skills, to make a difference in Soldier lives and to serve his nation in an honorable profession.
"I've loved wearing this uniform. I love being in the Army. I fell in love with this lifestyle," he said.
Social Sharing