I've studied 20th century military history for over 30 years, plus I spent most of my adult life in uniform. Over those years, I saw little in the way of leadership especially in the Air Force. I'd look around me and see too many managers in the military and damned few leaders. Fact is, in 12 years in the Air Force, I only worked for one officer that I considered a leader. The rest were managers. The difference is fundamental - you manage things, you lead people.

Perhaps I was spoiled by my experiences. My view of leadership was shaped by my experience in the Army before switching to the Air Force. It became crystal clear one day what a leader was. I was 19 and getting ready to make my 8th parachute jump. I'd had an "incident" where things went very wrong on my previous jump and was very nervous almost to the point of quitting. As we approached the drop zone, my battalion CO was at the head of the stick. The jumpmaster practically had to restrain him to keep him from jumping early. That man was old enough to be my father. In that moment, I knew I was going to jump regardless of how nervous I was. I was more afraid of disappointing him than I was of getting hurt or killed. The essence of leadership is getting people to do more than they think possible.

In studying military history, I'd often read the accounts of outstanding WWII leaders like General Kenney of the 5th Air Force and wonder if men like him were still in uniform.

General Kenney spent the war in the Pacific Theater of Operations, a theater that always took a back seat to the ETO. As a result, he had to rely more on leadership and innovation than on an endless supply line of men and material. Kenney knew how to recognize and reward ability, like his going along with a retired Navy pilot known as Pappy Gunn. Gunn's family had been captured when the Japanese overran the Philippines, so he had a one-man vendetta to end the war. He was the one that first hung 12 0.50 caliber machine guns in the nose of a B-25. When that wasn't enough, he figured out how to mount a 75 mm cannon in the plane. He could sometimes sink a Japanese freighter or destroyer with a single shot from that cannon. One of the things that so impressed me about Kenney was his ability to listen to men with crazy ideas. After the war, Kenney wrote Gunn's biography, the only time a commanding general has done that for a subordinate.

I can't help but wonder if we have such men in uniform today. In the unconventional war against terrorism, we're going to need innovation to overcome the challenges. The Army always seem to have more innovative men in it than the Air Force and Special Forces troops are among the best at it. Like Gunny Highway kept saying in "Heartbreak Ridge", you have to adapt, overcome, and persevere if you want to win and stay alive. That means playing the hand you're dealt and making do with what's at hand. We're damned sure going to need leaders, too. Green Berets are unmanageable, they have to be led.