Leaders never lead from behind

If there is one thing Rob Brown knows, it is that true leaders never lead from behind. Rob was 23 years old Marine Corps First Lieutenant when he stepped on a landmine in the Republic of South Viet Nam. The day was Thursday, January 25, 1968 and Rob was on point and in front of his men. He always wanted be the first to have contact with the enemy. "The first time my platoon was ambushed, my men hunkered down and simply took the fire. It wasn't that they were afraid. It took me a moment, but then I realized-they were waiting. They were waiting to be led."

Rob was not a particularly big kid nor was he necessarily strong. By his own admission he wasn't a born leader either. "But I finally got tired of the bullies" he said, "So I exercised with a homemade weight set I made out of concrete and pipe." When a local gang leader attempted to push him down a flight of stairs he grabbed him, lifted him off the floor and thrust him against a wall. Shocked, the punk nor his gang ever approached him again. His small victory was short lived however. Not long after he received a rejection letter from the Cadet Selection Committee at West Point. "I was devastated beyond words. My life's purpose and greatest dream went down in flames." Athletically inclined, handsome and armed with an IQ somewhere north of 160, admission to another school elsewhere was not difficult. Rob chose Ohio State.

At Ohio State he continued his regular work-outs and focused on his studies. He joined ROTC and excelled. However as luck would have it, college proved too expensive for him and his impoverished family. To buy time and plan his future he dropped out of college and joined the local Marine reserve unit. From the Reserves he entered the Marine Corps. In boot camp he was selected squad leader and graduated first in his class. "I learned in boot camp that by helping others when they were unable to help themselves, I earned their respect...in those days, Marine Corps boot camp was not a test of strength or conditioning, it was psychological. It was a test of willpower and simple leadership." That willpower and leadership won him an appointment to Officer Candidate School. Seven months later, Rob was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. After a quick stint at Recon School, it was off to Viet Nam.

"They can say what they will, but Viet Nam is a beautiful country. The sky, vistas and jungle were like nothing else I had ever seen" says Rob. Quickly he adds, "And it was also damn dangerous for the unlucky as well." As if almost matter of fact he shares that the platoon he was assigned had had its prior platoon commander captured and skinned alive by the enemy but not before suffering the loss of eighty percent of its men. In the coming months he trained and drilled his team. He rebuilt their confidence and their Esprit de Corps. But soon he would face his ultimate test.

While on routine patrol Rob accidently triggered a land mine. No one is sure of its size or who placed it. But it had Rob's name on it. The explosion severely injured him and it was his corpsman (not corpse-man) and a medevac that saved his life. He spent one and half years in military hospitals and underwent more than sixty, that's right six-o, surgeries. Today, 45 years later with his left leg long gone he faces what he says is his most difficult challenge yet. His stump no longer accepts its prosthesis. "Regardless of what I do, how long I rest or sit, the pain is nearly constant. It has become unbearable." He tells me he spends his every waking hour searching for relief. Embarrassed for the lack of words and thinking how stupid it would appear to tell him I am sorry, I ask only if he has any regrets. He quickly jerks his head around and looks me squarely in the eye and says, "Yeah, I do. I regret I was forced to leave my men on the battle field that day. I know they survived without me, they were Marines. But a leader never abandons his men, regardless of the circumstances. Leaders never lead from behind." Rob should know, he nearly died being trying to be that kind of leader.

Visit from HQ Marine Corps, Major General, Philadelphia Naval Hospital, first 6 months spent in traction and only left that bed when I was slid on the operating table as many as 3 times a week. It was a year and half total before I was released back to active duty at Parris Island, MCRD. My only form of exercise was the bar I used to pull myself up to a limited sitting position.

Gene Ferraro, CPP, CFE, PCI, SPHR

Gene is a past president of NCISS. He and Rob have lunch together once a month. Rob can be reached at wapitirob@gmail.com.