Fort Leonard Wood leaders and future leaders attend leadership development sessions

Fort Leonard Wood leaders and future leaders were given the opportunity to hear from and pose questions to retired Sergeant Major Dennis Wolfe Monday during two leader professional development sessions in Lincoln Hall Auditorium — one in the morning for permanent party, and one in the afternoon for students. Sergeant Major Wolfe joined the Army in 1962 and was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal technician before joining a U.S. Army Special Operations unit that had him involved in missions such as they attempt to free American hostages in Iran in 1980 — now known as Operation Eagle Claw — and the rescue of Brigadier General James Dozier in Italy in 1981. He was a team leader during the invasion of Granada in 1983 — called Operation Urgent Fury — and helped develop a plan to transfer service members from the Sinai Desert after 248 101st Airborne Division Soldiers were killed in a plane crash in 1985. In 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Sergent Wolfe was able to help pioneer a much-needed major addition to the special operations responsibilities. After sharing a little of his story, Wolfe addressed questions from the attendees, many of whom simply wanted to know how he accomplished what he did in his career. He said he never gave leadership or the ability to motivate others much thought in terms of a process. “To me, you say, ‘What is leadership?’ It’s problem-solving,” he said. “It’s getting things done, and there are many ways to do that,” Wolfe said seeking to put the right talent in the right position is key.