Page 36 - November 2020
P. 36

 Salute to
 SERVICE
Follow the Leaders
How military experience puts the leader in Department leadership
   n BY KAREN JENKINS
Working the Humboldt Park Riots in 1977 made the hairs stand up on the back of Carlos Saladino’s neck. He looked around at three other officers who – unbeknownst to him – were also Vietnam veterans. Despite the uneasiness of thou- sands of protestors gathering, he felt a reassuring camarade- rie.
“We were getting bricks thrown at us, but we were fear- less,” Saladino recalled. “We had our helmets on, and we just charged through Humboldt Park. It was the weirdest feeling. Years later, we found out we were all in Vietnam together, but you could tell the courage we all had when we rushed in was from being in Vietnam.”
Courage is only one of the leadership qualities that Chica- go Police Officers who have served in the military bring to the job. Veterans bring a confidence that makes a difference ev- ery day in the most intense responses.
Saladino worked in the 14th District after graduating from the academy in 1975. He realized how much serving in the army from 1967 to 1970 prepared him not only for law en- forcement, but also for professional leadership.
“The military helped you learn how to take orders and give orders,” he added. “And then how to check on the men and women around you – and that’s the key to being a leader.”
The Chicago Police Department is full of military veterans who are the leaders of leadership. They’re individuals who serve their country and their city, and their ability to quickly act and respond stands out on the street.
Matthew Beesley, who has seven years in the 11th District, has served in the Illinois National Guard for 14 years, where he manages teams of soldiers. Between ongoing military trainings and his Department service, he’s become an experi- enced leader and mentor.
“I’m much more level-headed, much more calm and I un- derstand how to deal with stress and stress management,” Beesley affirmed. “Because I’ve been a leader and I’ve been in charge, I’ve helped soldiers that are stressed out. So in the Department, if my peers are stressed out, it helps me under- stand how to be able to talk to them on their scale.”
The leadership skills of veterans who are also Chicago Po- lice Officers are palpable, according to Lodge 7 Recording Secretary Robert Noceda, the chair of the military commit-
tee. He served as an active duty Marine from 2003 to 2007, did two combat tours in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 and served with the Army National Guard from 2007 to 2015. He’s seen how the ones who served are the ones who take initiative in the Department.
“When everybody’s standing around, not knowing what to do, the military veteran is going to take charge,” Noceda re- layed. “The veteran is the one who makes the decisions no matter what, because it’s the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. It’s completely altruistic.”
Critical thinking skills, confidence, efficiency and pragmat- ic decision-making are some of the most important leader- ship skills veterans bring to the Department. Luis Rivera, who has 20 years on the Department, served in the Illinois Nation- al Guard for 21 years, retiring in March 2014. He was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kirkuk, Iraq, in 2007 and 2008.
The maturity he developed during his army service helps him respond professionally as a Chicago Police Officer in the 25th District.
“When you’re in the military, you’re forced to be a leader,” Rivera noted. “You make sure fellow soldiers have the neces- sities. The organizational leadership role has an authoritarian mindset. Something happens, you spring into action. You’re conditioned to a point.”
And Michael Miedona, an Air Force sergeant for 13 years and a Chicago Police Officer for 12 years, said the additional training he receives as a member of the military only bolsters his leadership skills on the Department.
“That additional training and experience just kind of makes you more well-rounded,” he noted. “Things like social intelli- gence, being aware of your own emotions and being aware of the emotions of the other person, leadership definitely puts an emphasis on that – and military was given that training years before the police department was, so it’s just additional perspectives.”
Noceda reasoned how officers who have served lead with- out thinking about it. His military experience taught him to approach each task on the Department effectively and effi- ciently.
“We bring a certain skill set when it comes to leadership,” Noceda confirmed about veterans. “It goes back to knowing our mission, knowing what it takes to accomplish it.”
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