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The most inspiring military leader I ever met was Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Dan McElroy. The man never slept, never ate, and never stopped breathing military. Stories of him filtered through the Military Police Corps: legends of his time as a platoon leader and the military exercises he invented, how he always showed up at the most incredible times of the night to check on you, and how he had an acronym for everything.

I met LTC McElroy as a Second Lieutenant while working in a made up position in a Military Police Brigade Headquarters. I was brand new to the unit, and we were at a military exercise in Wiesbaden preparing for war. Since I obviously knew nothing about the Army, they put me on night shift where I could do the least amount of harm. I spent most nights desperately trying to stay awake, mastering the art of drinking coffee, and trying to understand what exactly happened at a brigade at war.

It was about midnight one evening in the middle of the exercise when I walked into a side compartment of the vast Taj Mahal that comprised the brigade tent and ran into a wiry Major who seemed to be doing ten things at once. He noticed my rank, dropped what he was doing, and proceeded to train me on the "MCOO." All you need to know about the MCOO is that being trained on it involved a dry eraser board, several acronyms, a confused Lieutenant, and a hyperactive briefer. Luckily I was saved by the brigade commander who announced in no uncertain terms that even the immortal Major McElroy needed sleep and forced him out of the tent.

I saw no more of the immortal Major McElroy until I was a Captain serving in a battalion preparing for deployment to Iraq. Our current battalion commander was on his way out after a successful command, and we heard that LTC McElroy was taking over. Our battalion soon discovered that LTC McElroy more than lived up to his legend: he exceeded it!

LTC McElroy took his position of battalion commander seriously, and lead from the front in all situations. He went on patrols at all hours of the night, traveling over the majority of Iraq. He built personal relationships with the surrounding unit commanders, instituted "standards and disciplines," and empowered his subordinates to succeed at every task. We wondered if he ever slept.

We soon learned the story of the monkey in the tree, the trash collector, and the importance of walking the dog. LTC McElroy had a story for any situation, and his focus was always on accomplishing the mission taking care of soldiers. His example inspired all of us on his staff and in his subordinate commands to work harder than we ever knew we could.

I believe every one of the thousand plus soldiers and marines under his command during our deployment to Iraq returned home a better person because of serving under LTC McElroy. He was hands down the most inspirational military leader I have ever served with.

Learn more about this author, C. M. Erickson.
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