Command Sgt. Maj. John J. Leonard Receives Big “M” Award
AWARD
Bangor Daily News
Lauren Smith
Boston University Washington News Service
12/5/2006
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 —The list of Command Sgt. Maj. John J. Leonard’s decorations and awards reads like a run-on sentence, scrolling 13 lines on a piece of paper and totaling 33 distinctions in all.
He added another to the list on Saturday at Bolling Air Force Base, where he was awarded the 2006 Big “M” Award by the Maine State Society.
“He characterizes the spirit of Maine people who work behind the scenes that are not public officials,” said Lewis Pearson of the Maine State Society. “That was a reason for choosing someone like him.”
Leonard, 59, originally of Southwest Harbor, now lives at Ft. Myer next to Arlington National Cemetery . He was the first senior enlisted advisor assigned to the Office of the Chief, National Guard Bureau, which is the highest-ranking, non-commissioned officer for both the Army and Air National Guard. In this job he has been responsible for advising on the affairs of some 457,000 soldiers and airmen of the Army and Air National Guard.
He served as a Marine in Vietnam, was Command Sergeant of the Maine Army National Guard during the first Gulf War, was deployed to Desert Storm, and has traveled two times to Iraq and Afghanistan.
“One of the reasons he was selected by the senior officers is because of his ability to relate to and communicate with enlisted personnel worldwide and all those in the Army National Guard unit,” Pearson said.
In the early 1960s the Maine State Society, a Washington organization for persons from Maine, established the Big “M” Award to recognize Maine people for outstanding contributions and service to Maine and its citizens and to the state’s continuing role in national affairs; or for attaining the highest level of achievement in the recipient’s profession; or for exemplifying the finest attributes of a concerned citizen involved in state or national affairs, projects or programs.
You only have to meet one of those requirements, said Pearson, but Leonard, who retired at the end of the summer, has accomplished each one.
Carl Bouchard, president of the Maine State Society presented the award to Leonard at a dinner attended by 75 of Leonard’s colleagues and other Maine State Society members, many of who grew up with him along the coast of Maine.
“When you look at the list of names, I’m probably the only one who has never been a congressman,” Leonard said of the award recipients who include Maine’s Gov. John Baldacci and Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins.
Career-wise, Leonard said he was most proud of being fortunate enough to hold a position that actually makes a difference in soldiers’ lives. Working with members of Congress he was able to make more than 100 changes for the Guard and Reserves in the past five years—more than there has ever been made in history, he said. They ranged from how mail is delivered to protections for the families at home to ensuring they receive sufficient health coverage after they return from the war.
“In working hard, he was always very cognizant of what the little guy needed,” said Leonard’s daughter, Lynn Tinkham, of Orrington. “He would be most proud of having the opportunity to have the position to help the lower-ranking soldiers. That has always been one of his missions.”
But strip away the uniform, awards and distinctions, and what is left is a devoted husband and family man, a Red Sox fan and a proud Mainer.
“I am most proud of my family,” said Leonard, who has two daughters, each with children of their own. “And I’ve always been proud to be from Maine.”
Leonard plans to help lay wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday as part of the annual tribute to fallen servicemen and women.
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