And Good evening sigai Brothers sweethearts and guests and welcome to the final installment of the military Brotherhood series titled Brothers in Arms military leaders panel hosted by the sigma Kai fraternities alumni learning Consortium this month we are paying tribute to the bonds of Brotherhood and service and honoring those who served in our Armed
Forces my name is James Hefner and I am a member of the member engagement committee with the sigma Kai fraternity and I’m joined by lesie Nichols the associate director of member engagement at Sigma Kai headquarters we have the distinct honor of introducing our moderator this evening thank you James retired Air
Force Brigadier General and significant Sig James J Burks known as Brother Jay within the fraternity boasts a distinguished military career spanning over 26 years Rising through the ranks as a medical service core officer he reached the Pinnacle as the Air Force Surgeon General senior healthc care administrator and chief of resources
Strategy and talent management Jay’s extensive leadership profile includes pivotal roles such as Chief of Staff to the defense Department’s senior Healthcare official various command tours and deployment to Afghanistan as an adviser to the Afghan Army after retirement from the Air Force he brought his military Acumen to the consultancy
Realm offering support to a diverse clientele from startups to established National firms Jay a board certified fellow of the American College of healthcare Executives contributes his expertise to boards and volunteer roles emphasizing his dedication to organizational and leadership development Beyond his military prowess Jay’s Civic engagement is profound he
Has held roles On The Board of Governors for the American College of healthcare Executives chaired the Air Force fiser house fund board of directors and contributed to the National Institute of Health Clinical Research Center Hospital board of directors a proud Ferman University Alum Jay actively participates in causes impacting
Veterans and their families education animal welfare and the rights of disabled persons whether mentoring individuals speaking on leadership or navigating the community golf course Jay’s commitments to service and and Excellence remains unwavering thank you brother Jay for leading our conversation Tonight good evening welcome to all we are delighted that all of you have joined us this evening and for those who will be watching uh the the recorded uh uh the recorded production afterwards uh welcome as well uh we certainly hope that you have uh uh something to learn
From the uh from the wonderful group that we pull together tonight and I want to thank brother he Hef and lesie for the kind introduction it is indeed my honor to join tonight’s webinar and moderate an engaging conversation with tonight’s panel tonight we have the privilege of hearing from a group of
Remarkable individuals who share a a unique connection through twofold their membership in our Sigma Kai fraternity and their dedication to military service and at this point I’ll go off script for just a second and say that I believe that as we look back sigmak Kai has a rich history dating back to
1855 and has produced transformational leaders in various Fields including the armed forces and it’s my personal view that sigmak Kai strategic differentiator really is around leader development the reason that Sigma Kai is so strong today and yesterday and tomorrow and the tomorrows after tomorrow is for that very reason it’s because of leader
Development and as all of us on the panel will talk about tonight U and everyone who wears the white cross knows this inherently the first duty of any leader is to create more leaders leaders who are grounded in values like those values of our beloved fraternity and so we’re thrilled to
Present Brothers in- arms a military leaders panel panel where we will hear from some of the highest ranking Brothers representing the different branches and we have what we would consider a joint uh meaning comprised of more more than one service military service panel with the United States Army United States Navy United States
Marine Corps and of course United States Air Force uh represented on tonight’s panel and you will find uh that each panel member each brother possesses unique and inspiring stories of Courage honor and the values instilled by our fraternity and their military service so let’s take a few minutes and introduce our
Panel and we’ll begin with Michael agalar Brigadier General United States Marine Corps retired Long Beach California 1972 Gerald Aguilar is a graduate of National Defense University and the naval war college and holds a master’s degree in strategic studies in National Security Affairs General agilar concluded his illustrious 31-year career
In the United States Marine Corps on January 1st 2002 his final role as the deputy Commander Marine forces South and Commanding General Fleet Marine forces South showcased his leadership as the Commanding General of Joint Task Force Panama ensuring anti-terrorism and force protection during the critical transfer of the
Panama Canal to the government of Panama throughout his military Journey General agar held diverse flying and command positions amassing over 4,000 hours 4,000 hours as an attack helicopter pilot and becoming the first person of me meic descent to achieve the rank of General officer in the Marine
Corps a decorated veteran of the Gul War General agilar earn accolades such as the defense Superior service medal the Legion of Merit the bronze star medal the meritorious service medal and the Navy and Marine Corps commodation medal post retirement he served as the Federal Security director at San Diego
International Airport where his notable achievements included including supporting of the Coalition provisional Authority in Iraq and coordinating tsa’s response during Hurricane Katrina earned him the recognition as tsa’s Federal Security director of the year in both 2006 and 2011 General Aguilar’s enduring commitment to Aviation and security continued as he assumed leadership roles
In defense Consulting eventually becoming the executive director of The Flying leatherneck Aviation historical Foundation in 2018 and subsequently serving as the president and CEO of the newly established flying leatherneck Aviation Museum in 2021 General welcome we’re glad to have you here this evening thank you very much next David kleene
Lieutenant Colonel United States Army retired Penn State 1964 Colonel David Klein a Penn State graduate a Penn State University graduate demonstrated exceptional leadership during his colle legent years serving as both proconsul and Cil in the sigma Kai fraternity while pursuing a degree in secondary education with the biology Focus Beyond academics colon kle
Excelled as a four-year member of The Varsity Rifle Team and participated in ROTC commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army infantry in December 1964 Colonel Klein embarked on a distinguished 22-year of military career marked by significant leadership roles notable highlights include serving as a platoon leader at Fort Hood
Texas completing a combat tour in the Dominican Republic with the 82nd airor Airborne Division H commanding the 426 Supply and service Battalion in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division AER assault and finally serving as an Airborne adviser to the Cambodian forces his military accolades include two bronze star medals two Meritor service
Medals and multiple Army Commendation medals showcasing his expertise in Airborne operations evident in his earning of the master parachutist award transitioning to civilian life in 1987 Colonel Klein continued to excel earning multiple Advanced degrees in demonstrating entrepreneurial Spirit through ownership of Hillside Lodge in management of 37 residential rentals he
Remained unwavering in his commitment to Sigma Kai serving as the alpha Kai chapter adviser for 16 years and was recognized by the fraternity with the seven lights award in 2010 and the Order of Constantine in 2014 Colonel welcome sir next we have George lampy Major General United States Air Force retired Pittsburgh state
1965 General lampy a distinguished Air Force veteran concluded his esteemed 31-year military career in 1998 8 with extensive experience in Communications information technology and personnel management achieving the rank of Major General on September 29th 1995 he played pivotal roles in long-range planning initiatives at both headquarters Air Force and United States
Transportation command in his final assignment General lampy contributed to the functional management of over 77,000 77,000 military and civilian Personnel globally overseeing three critical air Force units and the joint Spectrum Center his advocacy in defense of Air Force positions and resource requirements extended to the highest levels including the Joint Chiefs of
Staff the office of the Secretary of Defense and the United States Congress General lampy’s academic background includes a ba a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pittsburgh State University a master of arts degree from Webster University and graduation from the industrial College of the arm for forces which today we know as the Eisenhower
School and the advanced management program at Duke University fuka School of Business his military declarations and awards include the Air Force distinguished service medal and the Legion of Merit and they reflect his exceptional contributions Beyond his military career General lampy received numerous accolades including the distinguished service award from the National Defense Transportation
Association and being designated as a significant Sig and he was inducted into Sigma Kai’s 150th anniversary Hall of Fame in 2005 post retirement he served as president of lampy Consulting until 2018 continuing to Showcase his continued leadership and expertise General welcome sir thank you and our final panelist this evening
Steve swed Larson Commander United States Navy retired Iowa State 1975 Commander Steve swed Larson a distinguished veteran of the United States Navy dedicated over 30 years to both enlisted and officer roles in various cryptologic disciplines spanning combat support information Warfare signals intelligence Fleet operations training and meteorology rising to the
Rank of master chief petty officer and I’ll just pause there and say that for those who don’t understand the significance of that the enlisted rank top rank is constrained by law at 1% so rising to the top 1% of the enlisted ranks before his commissioning and then
Retiring as a full commander in 2005 Commander lson held key positions such as executive officer of the naval security group activity in oxburg Germany and commanding officer overseeing electronic sensor installations for a significant portion of the US Global fast attack submarine Fleet notably in his final active D assignment
He he led intelligence combat support and special technical operations in support of operations Iraqi freedom and enduring Freedom Dr Larson a suac kumati graduate at The Bachelor Balor level and a distinguished PhD graduate received the defense meritorious service medal meritorious service medal in multiple joint service and navy Marine Corps accommodation Awards post
Retirement he assumed executive roles in cyber operations within the the Department of Defense Dr larsson’s commitment extends Beyond military service he actively participates in church sponsored activities veteran support and charitable organizations a lifelong Sig the commander contributes significantly to Sigma Kai serving on the serving on the facilitator faculty for the transformational leadership
Workshop the scli officer training academy and supporting initiatives like Horizon’s Workshop as a white cross trust donor he funds a general scholarship for sigai undergraduate Brothers showcasing his enduring dedication to both military service and our sigai fraternity Commander welcome and to all of our brothers and fellow veterans welcome we are delighted to
Have all of you with us this evening and now after those uh remarkable uh biographical highlights uh I I I know that those who are participating this evening and those who will hear this series later on uh are are probably just left in awe at the level of expertise uh and the commitment
To both our fraternity and our nation through military service embodied in uh in you4 gentlemen and particularly as we focused on leadership and values-based Leadership and focusing on leadership being about others uh as one of my favorite quotes goes leadership is not about the leader it’s about those who
Are LED and we have a few questions maybe to guide us through our thinking on that and we’ll certainly value from hearing from your perspectives and so I’d like to just Begin by asking the first question uh and just ask for some uh some Reflections from each one of you
Uh and we’ll go in order uh and then we’ll we’ll let the conversation take us from there and what I would like is for each of you to share some of your key Leadership Lessons that you’ve learned throughout your career but particularly as you Advanced along in rank within
Your respective military careers and general lampy can we begin with you sir yeah when I think about the leadership I think about something I learned from one of my bosses at the Pentagon back in about 1980 when he said a leader must have two important characteristics one he must be
Going somewhere and two he must be able to persuade others to go with him now I don’t think that that was his original quote but I don’t I I credit it to him but I’m sure he got it from well in advance of that and I think it characterized leadership very
Well thank you and general agilar your reflection sir yeah thank you uh first of all again thank you for allowing me to join these uh distinguished Brothers It’s a absolute honor to be on the panel with them uh but kind of along the same lines uh I think what I learned early on
Uh as we’re all young officers we’re very excited and very anxious to do a good job and you end up as any hard charger would do wanting to do everything yourself but as you advance through rank you have to learn and understand that you will depend upon
Those that you are leading to accomplish whatever the goals the objective or the mission might be and eventually I came to this conclusion with the help of a very good uh friend of mine uh General Pace who was the chairman of the joint chief of staff when I worked for him uh
And those were three important lessons uh or principles uh he shared with me goes the first thing an effective leader has to do is be able to clearly articulate the goals and objectives of what needs to be done uh if you don’t know where you’re going uh anywhere Road
Will do and it’s the leader’s responsibility to be able to articulate that the second one is as the leader you have to ensure those that you are leading are properly resourced to accomplish the goals and an objetive Ives don’t ask them to do something they’re not prepared to do the third one
And probably the most important one is get out of their way you don’t have to micromanage them you don’t have to be there all the time you have to develop a trust in those that you are leading so I think that’s uh probably what I would
Share with our brothers here and what i’ learned in leadership thank you General and and next up Lieutenant Colonel Klein if you could share some of your observations sir thank you for having me uh tonight this is a quite an exception exceptional opportunity not only to pass on a little
Bit of my leadership education in the military but also as a mentor to the alphai chapter at Penn State and being able to take that experience that I got in the military and trying to try to pass it on to these young men uh sometimes you think they get it and
Sometimes they don’t sometimes they hear you and it’s years later they contact you and find out and you find out that they were listening in the end anyhow I I I like this question to begin with originally I used to think that leaders were bored not
Made and as I went through life I realized that you could be educated you could be trained to be a leader but as I get older in life I also realize that some people are born to be a leader but they still need the training so it’s a mixture of
Both first of all you have to be a willing leader you you have to be willing to accept the responsibilities be willing to do things that maybe other people don’t want to do so I B it down to really three three categories and some of them have already been mentioned
And probably will be continue to mention the rest of the the night here first we call it now servant leadership we didn’t know that term when we first went in on active duty but servant leadership entails a lot of things but servant leadership means taking care of your troops make sure
They get their mail make sure they get fed there’s a lot of things that a leader has to do to to fill fulfill that group of servant leadership the second thing has already been mentioned and has develop trust trust is earned not given and I want to
Say that again trust is earned not given you have to earn the trust of your troops and sometimes that takes time and it takes a little convincing but you have to prove what you say you have to do what you say and you have to back up
The troops and last what’s uh probably just as important you lead people by wanting to know where they they need to be led and that includes to me uh training and and education I certainly wouldn’t want to take troops into combat without the proper training for example and I’ve
Done that so those three uh functions I I boiled down leadership into this servant leadership develop that trust and get the training and education that you need and also that the troops need to do their mission very good sir thank you and and Commander Lon Dr
Swed just swed please uh first of all I would like to express my thanks for being part of this panel uh you heard the backgrounds of a few Eagles here in this group and I’m a little bit lower altitude more like a duck if the uh certainly everything that everybody has
Said is is completely appropo and I agree with all of it um what I would add is that my experience um has shown me that uh the effective leaders have an indepth understanding of the entirety of the context within which they are trying to operate not just for themselves they
Certainly need to be aware of their own triggers and strengths and awareness of weaknesses uh but for everybody on their team all of their followers all of their teammates um to the extent that they understand the entirety of the context I mean not just organizationally but culturally resource-wise environmentally for the
Folks that they’re working with and can influence that uh context favorably uh then they’re going to more than likely be successful leadership is uh all about being other oriented uh it is almost never about me uh it is about the team of the people uh that you’re working
With uh they are going to raise you to success rather than if you try to drive it relying purely on your own resources and that’s that’s about It very good and thank you and uh you know it’s interesting as as I listen to uh those uh those Pearls of Wisdom from from each of you that these Les are applicable not only in the military context but I would suspect that if if any one of us were
Sitting with uh the local sigmak Kai chapter or our home chapter at our at our Elma moer and we were asked to speak to the uh to the officers of the chapter or to the brothers of the chapter we would give very similar answers because many of these princip principles are uh
Are enduring and I I also believe that leadership is about action uh putting those principles those values into action uh and several of you referenced uh going somewhere being uh being directionally focused on those goals uh and then convincing others to to come along and we do that by trust and I’m
Going to maybe take my first audible uh or second or third audible of the evening and pick up on that theme for just a moment because I think it’s absolutely critical can uh uh would any of you uh uh be willing to share a few thoughts on on trust and and where you
Saw Trust as a strategic differentiator or conversely uh maybe where you saw an erosion of trust that that caused uh damage in a leadership context uh and just throw your hand up if you’d like to take that one I can see you on the side of the
Screen anyone want to talk about or or I’ll just call on somebody um I tell you what why don’t I’ll just start in my bottom right General General agular could you share a few words about about trust in in the leadership context sure uh I think and I forget who
Mentioned it but um you absolutely when you’re working with of course I’ll use military terms subordinates or people that you’re responsible for uh you have to earn their trust uh in order to ensure that they will follow whatever guidance you provide them or your leadership an important part of that
Trust in a leader is being able to demonstrate professional competence uh in whatever you’re doing uh and so I think that’s an critical part of earning Trust of individuals is that you whatever your position may be uh you have to earn their trust by showing competency I’ll I’ll go back on a
Personal opportunity I had in the Marine Corps kind of a a unique assignment as an aviator you know you want to spend most of your time in the cockpit or at the bar or uh maybe chasing something but uh at there’s some point in time where you you get pulled out of the
Cockpit in what we call a staff assignment as a young major uh I had an unusual assignment for an aviator I was sent down to the Marine Corps drill instructor school down at MCRD San Diego uh and I had the opportunity uh to become the director of the drill
Instructor School in fact uh as far as I know I’m still the only Aviator to have held that Billet uh and so I recognize right away as an aviator and the ground uh and Dave will probably appreciate this ground people feel have different thoughts about aviators uh and
That’s the same in the Army uh certainly in the Marine Corps so uh as an aviator with certain composities and skills I was in a very different uh uh area of expertise and in this case with the drill instructors this was the school that makes the Marines who would be who
Would become the leader and develop uh the recruits into Marines uh and so what I learned uh as when I was assigned to that Billet that being an aviator Aviator was not going to get me too far I had to develop trust in demonstrating my competency to these
Young staff sergeants and sergeants who eventually would take and these young young men and women who wanted to become Marines and lead them and mold them into Marines so uh I I think there’s example for me personally how important it is to show professional competency if you’re going to lead someone that’s very
Important in my opinion to developing trust and of course being honest and all those other characteristics that you would uh expect in a leader thank you I think you focused there also on that that aspect of lifelong learning whatever whatever profession a brother chooses to uh to
Enter that uh that ongoing uh building of confidence y uh and I I think a combination of Competency and then compassion for others uh builds that uh builds that trust and uh Dave Klein I see you raise your hand really like to add to that um my last assignment was
Teaching leadership at Fort leworth and I used to tell my captains this story I I would say and I had command at every level I commanded the Europe’s largest Depot 1100 people I commanded a Depot in also in Korea you can not lead and you not cannot command from behind the desk
Get your butt out from behind the desk go visit your troops um I did an experiment one time I walked around and I criticized everybody and pretty soon people were walking around with their heads lowered uh they wouldn’t see I they see me coming they would hide I let
That go for a couple days then I went around and I started complimenting people on the littlest thing but complimented them pretty soon their morale was up their head was lifted they were walking walking around looking not at the ground but looking up and uh
You’ve got to get back you’ve got to get away from the desk and a lot of people get tied behind the desk and they don’t get out with the troops and that builds the trust Mike and uh if you don’t do that I don’t think you’ll be an effective
Leader y absolutely uh Commander Larson swed um I’d just like to comment that the the trust equation is one that goes both ways I mean certainly uh as uh brother Mike said the individuals have to be able to trust that you’re in a position of Competency so that you can help them
To address the challenges and find uh you know good routes of resolution and everything but you have to be um they have to be able to trust you in good news and bad news um they have to believe that you’re a person of Integrity that you are going to operate
From from a position of fairness regardless of whether it’s a matter of discipline or if it’s a matter of correcting a mistake I remember once I had a young second class pedy officer who inadvertently deleted a database and this was early on when computers were relatively new and database software was
Not as sophisticated as today and he was just firmly convinced that I was going to take him to Captain’s Mast and maybe Court Marshal because it was a Personnel database and I just I accepted the mistake it’s always been my policy to understand that mistakes will be made um
And told him all right well you know that’s completely fine you’re going to get to be the one to fix the mistake and you know I explained to him what that meant basically fat frering all that data back into the database and everything else because we had it in
Hard copy still and he accepted that and the entire crew understood you know the the discipline the reason why it was levied and and it built Trust it showed that I trusted them and it built trust for them with me or for me so it’s a it’s a two-way street excellent
Integrity accountability uh setting high standards and then holding others and yourself accountable uh to those standards thank you very much um if we could then let’s let’s pivot to another question and I would like for each of you to uh think about and share uh your most significant or or very significant
Uh leadership challenge that you faced during your military career and how did you address the challenge and perhaps weave in how your uh uh how your your values-based approach rooted in uh your Sigma Kai Brotherhood uh helped you address those challenges later in life that you incurred encountered in the
Military and why don’t we start this time with uh Colonel Klein brother da wow this this was a hard one for me because we all face different channels challenges when we were on active duty believe it or not I put down as my first challenge was the separation
Tours uh most of the time you left the wife and family behind and kids and and that was hard but I had a motto to myself I said never quit uh I used to tell every pledge class here at Penn State when I was a chapter advisor to
Every every pledge class I said the easiest thing in the world to do is quit when you quit now you’re going to quit the rest of your life fortunately we had pledge classes that lost only a few people and I’d like to think that that
Was one of the the reasons that they did but there are lots of things that you could list for uh significant challenges could be the military job combat jobs uh Personnel jobs I mean dealing with Personnel Personnel probably was high in my list on what it on my on the time
During my duty day uh I would probably say say that 40 50% of my time dealt with people Personnel problems so Personnel was was a big thing um and then personally I realized early on I went on as a Reserve officer and I I worked for a sergeant E6 notice how I
Said that I worked for a sergeant E6 who said client if you decide to stay in Army get your butt out of the Infantry and get a regular army commission which I did but I realized to do that I had to get more education myself so I went on
Got two master’s degrees in courtesy of the army and I think that helped with my promotion but also have helped with my maturity um but long we all face challenges and we could all we all list list specific challenges but my my biggest challenge was meeting the new situation knowing
The troops getting to know the troops and as as some people have already said and we’ve discussed it already earning their respect and Trust thank you you brother Dave and and general lampy brother George yes I I found that challenges exist almost everywhere on staff so on and so forth
But for me the greatest challenges I think that I had to deal with were as a commander as Squadron level and and when you’re placed in command you’re given basically control of the lives of X number of people and everything from recommending them for a decoration to referring Court Marshal charges and and
It becomes a matter of back to the trust situation again as well and I think it’s important to to deal with those challenges by by trusting in your troops uh until they give you reason to not trust them and to get to know your troops and to to realize what their pros
And cons are and what their needs are and uh uh it’s it’s a being a commander unit Commander is one of the most gratifying jobs you can ever have in the military but it’s also one of the most challenging yes sir thank you I I can I can Echo
That and uh as as U as you noted the uh the the the Personnel issues uh and uh you know this was also shared previously that the Personnel issues become the most challenging and as a commander uh Commander sits in a position where the where the mission and
The people intersect and uh and and that is that is CR critically important as you think about you know Mission first but people always and and when you have to take those actions as a commander I know that when I would have to take an action as a commander maybe it was an
Adverse action uh against a uh uh against one of our Airmen uh for uh for something that he or she did shouldn’t have done always having to separate the individual from uh the action that uh that occurred and making sure that even in those times where as a commander I
Was in a position of having to administer some kind of some kind of discipline uh to uh to one of our a uh that I that I also made sure to uh to maintain the the dignity uh and the respect uh of the individual uh and and
And you know treat them uh treat them with respect and dignity as as a person certainly they made uh they may have made a mistake and that had to be dealt with uh but not in a way uh that uh uh that was negative toward them as a
Person and and hopefully in many cases in a rehabilitative kind of way and I found those to be some of the uh the most challenging situations and actually some of the uh uh some of the times where you you could see somebody based on how you interacted with them and and
And afforded them that respect and dignity uh that it actually became a life-changing uh event for them uh and they uh and they turned around and and moved in a positive direction uh General Aguilar brother Mike your thoughts on the on the question well thank you and
Let me jump on Dave’s point about people I think in the milit military especially and even my postmil military career uh dealing with individuals was uh it Remains The Challenge uh it’s it is especially in the military a people organization I think in private sector you’ll find even with the development of
AI and other technology people are going to be the key but I’d like to share with the other brothers uh a particular incident uh a little off the Personnel part is uh an experience I had uh when I took had the opportunity to command my first Squadron uh unfortunate
Circumstances uh I was slated to get a squadron uh and unfortunately one of my sister Squadron cosos uh got in an aircraft accident and was killed so they shifted me since I was already selected for command and in line and and on site over to a squadron that had just lost
Their commanding officer uh and some other pilots who were involved in the midair Collision uh so I had to take a squadron that at that time was clearly tagged as a failing Squadron uh and that was a tough situation uh for me personally and the challenge was the S Squadron was
Scheduled very shortly after I took command to go out on a major exercise we called uh out in 29 Palms we called a combined arm exercise and we were the Cobra Squadron assigned to support the ground unit uh again a squadron that has a reputation as being a failing Squadron
Uh the morale was as you can well imagine in the dumps as a result of losing their commanding officer getting a brand new guy they weren’t expecting here uh and scheduled to go out on a very a live fire combined arm exercise uh tough situation uh that I knew the
Squadron was not ready to handle so I made the decision uh going to my group Commander Squadron group Commander the next level to approach the wing Commander the two star general and tell him I can’t take that Squadron out there it’s a uh it’s a we will it’s a setup for failure
And someone’s going to get hurt there was there were just too many things against us at the time no Marine no military individual wants to admit a weakness especially a commanding officer who just took over a squadron but I told my group Commander I said I got to go to
The the CG the Commanding General and say we are not in a position to support the Marines out there in this training exercise and it’s not in the Marine corps’s best interest the squadron’s best interest or anyone’s my point there is uh there are times in your careers
Will you have when you will have to accept and understand you’re just not ready to do something uh so don’t think that you’re a failure or the organization you’re you’re U uh part of is a failure but if if you’re not prepared to do the job you owe it to
Whoever you’re working for whatever the organization is and your leading to admit to everyone that it’s not in their best interest to do that so my point in answering that question is when you have to admit your limitations and don’t be afraid to go tell the boss and although
I thought that would end my career quite honestly uh fortunately it didn’t and in fact later on uh after I was made commander of an Air Group the Commanding General had been promoted and uh he had told me he remembered that incident in uh uh gave me kudos for Having the
Courage to if you will to admit that uh we were the Squadron was not ready to go perform in that so don’t be afraid to admit your limitations if necessary thank you General agular brother Mike and what I would what I would really emphasize there as I listen
To uh uh to to that uh really insightful story is that in the military and in many of the professions in which our brothers find themselves or will find themselves in the future they are uh they’re pressure cookers they are they are very uh high performance focused uh professions and
High performing organizations and and and often times uh we’ll be faced with one of those situations just as you described where the individual may not be ready the unit may not be ready the organization may not be ready and what you described and I think a wonderful
Takeaway Point uh for our brothers is right here in our core values and and listed first among the core values of Sigma Kai is courage being willing to stand up for what you believe in and accepting the consequences of those difficult choices and decisions and your your your uh uh anecdote really uh
Really highlights that uh uh that value so thank you uh and I believe uh Commander Lon brother swed uh your your thoughts on the question so um listening to everybody else the uh the first thing that started through my mind was a Litany of things that situations that I
Had been in over the years and everything and I won’t U I won’t fall into storytelling mode here because we could easily spend all evening uh doing that uh I had over 30 different primary roles in my enlisted in commission careers um uh so I was I was faced with
A lot of challenges um one of the things that I would say kind of along the lines of uh brother Mike’s uh comments uh in addition to being able to stand up or being willing to stand up admit when you’re unable to do something you also
Have to be able to uh assess and accept risk to yourself um by taking a right action um a couple of times I can Dangerously close to a court Marshal by not ignoring established processes but because of wartime excy or Mission necessity uh not paying strict attention to following processes due to time
Limitations uh ultimately um they all worked out well people received the support that they needed I accepted that personal risk uh and I was U exonerated if you will in the in the aftermath of the event uh with res with regards to resolving those kinds of challenges and everything else I guess
The things that I would I would just add were that I didn’t assume that I had all the answers I relied on the experience the expertise in the team if somebody was better than me or had more experience in a particular area than me then they became the authority and I
Tapped that on behalf of the team uh the the true value of diversity of thought if you will diversity of perspective um I exercise active listening all the time rather than coming in swinging uh you know hammering out orders on the way things were going to be and everything else I usually
Started by asking questions of the people that were already there um or people who were in the middle of the uh of the issue um you have to accept the bad you have to accept the stress you have to accept the risk um certainly all of our core values and everything are
Directly at play in all of those kinds of situations and it’s just another example of where our fraternity values and uh the things that were required of us in our military roles meet the jxap POS if you will very good thank thank you brother Sweden as I as I listened to several of
Your uh responses the uh one word just popped into my mind and that is as we think about leadership and facing challenges is and developing leader uh competencies the word humility not just the word but the uh uh the presence of of humility I think is absolutely critical in high reliability operations
Or hro which are applicable in aviation nuclear engineering healthc care one of the uh one of the themes there is humble inquiry and and brother s i I think you really focused on that as well uh understanding that we don’t have all of the answers and and having the humility
To ask questions and ask so in a way that increases our our learning uh as as an individual and as an organization so so thank you all and brothers what I would what I would ask is we kind of turn in final here we have about by my
Time hack about 10 minutes left and we still have a little bit of ground that we want to cover I’m not seeing any questions in the chat box so we’ll just keep uh pressing ahead uh I would just like to ask uh really quickly have you enced counted any of our fellow Sigma
Kai Brothers through your military service and I’ll I’ll begin I’ll I’ll begin with this one and uh and note that back in uh 1991 uh when I was going through the application process to the uh Air Force officer assession board one of the requirements back then was to have a
Kernel interview a colel within my career field a medical Service Corp and uh I had had a very positive experience with the staff sergeant recruiter in fact he and my wife I found him uh a couple of decades later and if You’ see a picture of my promotional one star
You’ll see a picture of my wife on one side and my recruiter mat Sergeant required retired Derek mcgallen on the other because Sergeant mcgallen really fought for me through the process and I found him all those years later and he was uh kind enough to come to uh to our
Promotion ceremony uh the above him was a captain I had a very not positive experience with and we won’t go into into that that’s better reserve for a for a beer sometime the captain didn’t want to send me on to the final interview because he didn’t think I had
Quote what it took to uh to be in the air force uh but he finally sent me on to the to the 06 interview uh and said well you know the captain said I don’t have a lot of faith and confidence in you uh but I’m going to let you go to
The interview anyway and uh but you’re probably you’re probably not uh going to get a favorable recommendation and your package isn’t going to do well at the selection board so I walk in into this interview at Shaw Air Force Base with with Colonel Bill Sanders and uh as I
Walk in I’m trembling thinking that Colonel Sanders will probably look at me in about 60 seconds throw me out and say you’re not what we want in the Air Force as I walk in uh Colonel Sanders extends to me a warm Sigma Kai fraternal grip and said Brother Jay it’s very nice to
Meet you uh I uh I was reading a resume and by that point my resume was about a half page long it said I’ve been a student all my life uh and he said I read your resume I saw that you were a sigma Kai I was a sigma Kai and uh and
We proceeded to begin the discussion around around values and uh and it was a it was a wonderful ice breaker uh I I saw the colonel a few years later uh at a conference uh he he remembered me I thanked him for uh for what he had done
And he said you know I uh I I knew when you walked in the room and even before you walked in the room just because you were a sigma Kai I knew what your what your values were and I wanted to make sure I emphasized that in my recommendation to the uh officer
Selection board uh and so uh I I don’t think I was uh given a a strong recommendation because I was a sigma Kai but it certainly was a wonderful Icebreaker uh meeting a brother clearly you know a colonel and a and a wanabe myself uh but he he already knew where
My values were as as a person and as a a potential leader and so that’s my that’s my sigmak Kai U War story from uh from my time in in the Air Force or right before my time in the Air Force why don’t we just go around and uh J ly
Brother George any experiences with Sigma Kai Brothers in in your service well I remember when I first met then General Tony mCP who was Chief of Staff of the Air Force I had just found out that he was a sigma Kai from San Diego State and uh uh I I just it overwhelmed
Me I I thought guys here the my chief of staff of the Air Force is a sigma Kai and had a nice chat with him and then got to sit next to him uh back in 2005 in Cincinnati at the 150th anniversary celebration sat with him at the lunch in
There the induction lunch in the Hall of Fame and uh what an experience that was and then another guy that I cross paths with in the air force uh is now a member of the San Antonio alumni chapter along with me and with swed uh retired Major
General Mike wrick who had your job Jay several years before you and uh I I I I just place so much value on having this double connection with an Air Force guy and a sigma Kai at the same time uh those are uh another retired fourstar
Gene renuart in the Air Force retired as chief of H northcom and uh NORAD uh Sigma Kai and so it’s amazing what you find out sometime and I wish that we knew more about it before we find out by accident sometimes well very good well thank you
And please extend to General wck my my very best we have a a very positive relationship going back to when he was Colonel wck and I was Lieutenant Burks and we found out that we were uh that we were Sigma Kai and uh I chose to tell
The other story but I have some general Wyrick Sigma Kai stories as well but we’ll we’ll preserve those for another time uh thanks brother George uh brother Dave yeah I’ll be very short uh I I ran into several but sometimes you didn’t even know it uh at the time uh but but I
Like I like what you said Jay because I used to tell the pledges and the brothers for 16 years that Sigma Kai is going to offer you networking that you never knew you had it was a big sale when we talked to prospective Brothers about the the the largess of Sigma Kai
And to this day I still have brothers contacting me saying you know Dave when I went in for an interview my boss gave me the grip and it just goes back to what you said uh the net working that Sigma Kai has offered our brothers is
Extensive and uh I didn’t enjoy a lot of that in the military because maybe I just didn’t explore it very good thank you brother Dave and uh General agore brother Mike no I’ll I’ll Echo Dave’s uh thoughts there there there are quite a few Sigma Kai that you may not even know
Our Sigma Kai uh but the networking once you identify someone is just tremendous and you immediately establish a common bond between you uh that goes so far uh it just breaks the ice immediately you have a a common sense of who each other who the other person is so it goes a
Long way and I did have the opportunity to meet several Sigma Kai during my uh military career and I will tell you there was at least one time that uh this Colonel saved the uh overenthusiastic young Lieutenant’s ass so it does pay [Laughter] off yes sir we we we we’ve all we’ve all
Had those folks to save us to baill us out uh Commander lson brother swed um so I did meet a few Sigma during the course of my active duty um career although I wasn’t actively looking for them I I tried to stay plugged into my pledge and chapter Brothers uh back at
Iowa State just to share what I was experiencing you know around the world uh the one the time that sticks the most in my mind however is shortly after I retired I was um I was moving into a civilian position uh in support of the predecessor command to what is now us
Cyber command and we were in a large uh organizational briefing one day and I had been wearing my pen on the lapel of my suit at the time uh and this Army Lieutenant Colonel came rushing across the room when we were done and everything ran up to me and said are you
A sigma Kay I can see the pin and I said I am and we shook hands and he grabbed me and pulled me and ran me back across the room to the other side and introduced me to a whole bunch of other Army sigs some of whom I knew I just
Didn’t know that they were they were Sigma kis at the time so it is um it’s a fantastic fraternity we are in all of the corners of the world in the military service and in our civilian capacity and everything and you never know when you
Are going to run into one or see a sticker on a car or have somebody you know just recognize you or whatever it’s it’s a fantastic Brotherhood all of you are absolutely spot on there and uh doesn’t matter where you run into them once uh once uh you identify one another
We identify one another uh there’s that uh there’s that collegial fraternal bond that uh that is automatic uh so thank you all for sharing those uh uh those Reflections so we’re going to turn final here and we’re going to go Rapid Fire for the final question uh 30 to 45
Seconds uh and the question is how do you think the leadership skills gained through Sigma Kai have influenced your personal and professional life rapid fire and we’ll start with Lieutenant Colonel Klein uh good and I’ll make it short first of all Sigma Kai was a building block not a sole source but a
Building block for my education towards the leadership and I’m gonna I’m gonna say something here real quick that you’re all familiar with and that we need to stress more with the undergraduates it’s something called the Jordan standard it starts with a man of good character student AFF Fair ability
With ambitious purposes a congenial disposition possessed of good morals a high sense of Honor having a high sense of of Honor a deep sense of personal responsibility and I added one of my own a willingness to accept responsibility and Leadership positions if you don’t accept the position of leadership you’ll
Never take that risk you’ll never learn and you’ll never uh progress through the leadership chain and that’s my excellent thank you brother brother Dave uh Commander Lon brother Steve um Sigma Kai set me on a road um I did not have uh leadership roles in the chapter or prior to joining the chapter
But I had older brothers who did not Sher their responsibility and whom I deeply respected and I watched them um what I learned in sigai was that uh it’s all about something bigger than me um the values led me to that the Jordan standard led me to that the our our
Guiding principles led me to that and I carried that into my military career uh I didn’t ask for assignments or orders or uh special opportunities or anything like that every time I was in a position I asked what the Navy needed uh and what happened uh whether it was divine
Blessings or not was that I was frequently in the right place at the right time with the right attitude and it all ended up in what was by any measure um a an exceptionally successful enlisted career and a very successful uh commissioned career so it all started out with Sigma Kai and the
Willingness to learn from my brothers uh to try to live up to the Jordan standard I haven’t done it perfectly but I’m still working on it you know and that’s to me that’s the that’s the core of it all excellent thank you brother swed General lore brother Mike yeah I’m going
To Echo brother Dave’s uh comment there that uh it’s a building block you don’t realize at least I didn’t realize uh as I was being introduced and these values that and we find in the that captured so well in the Jordan standards uh as you move through your milit military career
Or your personal life or your transition for those of us that served in the military you can go back to your success stories and draw a line directly to any one of those values that Dave articulated so well uh and recognize that I learned those or at least they
Were emphasized because they may have been brought to you by your parents but they were emphasized in sigmai and you saw our other brothers exhibit various levels of those so I think it’s important to realize the significance of what you learned in sigmak Kai maybe not upon graduation day uh but throughout
Your life and your career you can draw a line directly back to one of those values and say that’s what helped me be successful absolutely thank you brother Mike and general ly brother George as I look back on the 59 years that I’ve been a sigma Kai uh I realized
That I had no idea back in 1964 is a charter member of Z Chapter that How firm and how extensive and how Everlasting the bonds of Brotherhood would become and so to this day I look back and I’m still in touch with Brothers we had 60 charter members 38
Are still alive 22 have passed on to the chapter Eternal but those bonds will never be broken and I if I just can’t believe that I didn’t realize that earlier in my life but it has been an unrepeatable experience and one that that I could never never never never uh
Fail to thank the Lord for thank you brother George those are all wonderful Reflections and I I think the the perfect ending uh to tonight’s panel so thank you all for your uh for your sentiments your Reflections uh and for your uh for your service uh to our
Fraternity for certain uh and absolutely to our nation uh Brothers it was it was uh my highest honor participating uh in tonight’s webinar with each of you and and you’re all very much an inspiration uh and continue to be an inspiration uh for others uh whether within our fraternity within your respective
Communities uh wherever you go those uh those those values uh that um as as general agilar said you may have learned at home uh at an early age but they were certainly HED and refined through our Brotherhood and sigai and then subsequently in our military service uh
Those values clearly reflect today uh in this evening and I believe that that will be a blessing to all of those Brothers uh who uh uh who who view this uh this presentation and this does bring us to the end of the sigma Kai military Brotherhood hosted by the sigmak kai
Fraternities alumni learning Consortium we hope that all of those listening this evening and those who subsequently view this series have been as inspired as I am by the incredible stories and the insights that have been shared by our military sigmak Kai Brothers before we go we would like to
Express our gratitude to these extraordinary individuals for their dedication to both the fraternity and their military service as well as the brother all the brothers that we’ve had the honor of interviewing over the course of this past month if you’ve enjoyed this event please click the share button to share the signature
Speaker series event with your friends and fellow sigai brothers as well as anyone who values stories of leadership sacrifice and the enduring power of Brotherhood remember as we’ve heard this evening the bonds form through Sigma Kay are not just for four years but they are for a lifetime and they continue to
Shape the lives of Brothers in remarkable ways throughout the courses of each of our respective lives our Signature Series will be taking a break from live of events for the month of December but we encourage you to visit the sigma Kai learning Consortium at any time to watch all of
Our previously recorded content we look forward to seeing all of you when we pick back up in January of 2024 thank you again for joining us this evening have a wonderful evening take care and hope
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