Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Lead From the Front: Col Alian Returns to the Fight

A soldier in any army would do well to emulate the attitude and personality of Colonel Ghassan Alian, the commander of the Israeli Golani Brigade, one of the more kick-ass units of the Israeli Army.


Alian, of the Arabic-speaking Druze community in northern Israel, must exercise the art of leadership in an increasingly artful way, not only to confront and destroy the fanatic enemies of Israel but to maintain a high sense of fighting morale in a brigade known for its 'Dirty Dozen' history.

This, for example, is a window on what such a leader looks like:

"We killed many terrorists, and that is what needs to be done."

Wounded by shrapnel while leading his troops in the fighting in Gaza, he was medevacked to Be'er Sheva but insisted on returning to his troops still engaged with the enemy.  Doctors were concerned about a wound to his eye but finally ruled that his eyesight was "not permanently damaged".  He left the hospital and returned to the front.
And the injured that I visited in the hospital, may they recover soon.  They are lions.
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