The 59 Legionnaires tasked with continuing leadership and organizational education beyond the program.
Fifty-nine Legionnaires earned their American Legion College diplomas Friday morning in the National Executive Committee (NEC) Room at National Headquarters in Indianapolis. In his congratulatory remarks, Past National Commander and Legion College Chancellor Dave Rehbein reminded the class of 2016 about the generation of Legionnaires who have stood before them in the NEC Room and recited the Preamble to The American Legion Constitution.
“They talk in the U.S. military academy about the long gray line; I think there is an equally long, equally distinguished blue line that this room has. You are now part of that line,” Rehbein said.
Despite his passion for the Legion, student Leo Gruba from the Department of Washington realized that he has “much farther to go” in the organization after finding his mentor's name in his department’s desk drawer located in the NEC Room.
“The one and only thing that I want to be now, besides a Legionnaire and a comrade, is a name in that drawer that somebody that I mentored comes and finds,” Gruba said. “I got to learn from some of the best and brightest Legionnaires this week, and I got to learn from a bunch of comrades who are just as passionate about The American Legion as I am.”
The Legion College students spent nearly a week gaining institutional knowledge, developing leadership qualities, and understanding how to apply the PEOPLE (professionalism, empathy, optimism, partnership, loyalty, empowerment) principle as leaders within the Legion.
“Your (Legion) education is not over; it’s only beginning,” Rehbein said. “(Legion College) was the directed part of your education. For the rest of your American Legion career, your education will be self-directed. So I hope I see every one of you back in (the NEC Room) one day as a department commander, department adjutant, wearing a red cap… a productive, active, involved member of The American Legion. You have that potential.”
Legion College Dean and Internal Affairs Division Deputy Director David Elmore added that if there is one thing to take away from the program, it’s that “leadership is not about you; it’s about others,” he said. “And it’s about the movement, and The American Legion’s movement is being in communities for our veterans and their families.”
Attending Legion College for Chad Woodburn was an extra step in following the Legion path of his late father, Terry, who was a longtime Department of Illinois adjutant and Legion Rider. “Growing up in the Legion I knew bits and pieces, but (Legion College) helped bring a lot of it together,” said Woodburn, a member of Illinois State Police Post 1922. “This is definitely going to help me throughout my career in the Legion. And for my dad… to follow in his footsteps is pretty neat.
“It was a special week; it really was.”
- College