There are many styles for exercising leadership; some very flamboyant, some quiet, but with confidence.  But every leader must at times lead with extraordinary boldness.  Boldness, steadfastness, aggressiveness, veracity, courageousness, all indispensable attributes of character found in great leaders. Some leadership situations require great courage as in “Follow Me” or “Flight Lead is In,” while some situations demand the quiet persistence of exercising the moral but “harder right.”

Courageous leaders, I can point to many from my Air Force career, Medal of Honor winners, Air Force Cross recipients. But the courageous leader I know best has never been recognized for his act.  He was the Squadron Commander of the 20th Special Operations Squadron in 1991 and he led them flying MH-53 Pave Low helicopters.   The situation was in the air campaign during the First Gulf War where our special operations task force was asked to solve the problem of Iraqis firing SCUD missiles into Israel. We needed to keep the Israelis out of the war.  The solution was to insert Special Forces soldiers deep into Iraq for reconnaissance of the SCUD mobile launch areas and further destruction of that enemy capability by our own forces. The insertion of the teams and their desert vehicles was to be done with MH-53 and MH-47 helicopters. But most crew members were skeptical because only the MH-53s had the electronic countermeasures to penetrate the heavily defended Iraqi airspace. That was until this 20^th SOS commander stood up during the task force meeting and said we can do it if the MH-47s follow us; “Pave Low Leads.”   The missions involved very heavy weight helicopter operations with very low-level night flying over the nondescript Iraqi desert with low-level night vision refueling on the return flight.  The insertions and subsequent SCUD destruction were a complete success and the Israelis never responded to the SCUD attacks thanks to that squadron commander’s courageous leadership.

How about the “harder right?”  I had an interesting experience when I was Commander of 15^th Air Force. 2  A female officer pilot was having an inappropriate affair with one of her male enlisted crew members. The Wing Commander wanted to have her stand before a court-martial.  I agreed and began the process to convene the court.  This was my responsibility and I was particularly sensitive to the fact that not too many months prior there was a similar situation and it was left to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force for his action. As always, he took the “harder right” and suffered much negative press coverage.  I couldn’t afford to let this happen to him again, so I was determined that the process remain at my level, whatever the consequences.  As we came to the point where we were about to file charges, that officer’s private attorney told us that I would receive a flurry of negative press coverage in an attempt to ruin my name if we proceeded with the court action.  My response was, we’ll accept that risk, but we’re going to proceed with what I viewed as a just action.  We won the case and the press coverage was minimal at best.  This was the “harder right” but my trust was with the Lord in this and other matters like it.

So where does one gain the attributes of bold courage and the persistence of “the harder right?”   God’s Word for Joshua before he was to lead the Israelites across the Jordon River into the promised land was, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Duet. 31:6) And Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes . . .” (Acts 1:8) These are promises for all who count on Him.  It doesn’t mean that every situation will be successful according to our wishes, but it does mean that the greater Kingdom purposes will be served.

Are these resources available to you?  They are, just ask, first to know Him and then for His power to lead with courage and the persistence of “the harder right.”

1 “Pave Low Leads” Courage, Persistence

2 The commander of a Numbered AF is a court-martial convening authority and has several AF Wings under his or her responsibility.