Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Vietnam Vet George Kalergis
105 mm artillery battery in action in Vietnam
Vietnam Vet George Kalergis
Episode 3204 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about speed, accuracy, and the discipline of leadership. The featured story is titled: Best Battalion in the Army, it appeared on the Modern War Institute website. It was submitted by George Kalergis.
In this reflective memoir excerpt, retired U.S. Army officer George Kalergis recounts the defining lessons of his military career, beginning with his unlikely path from drafted enlisted soldier to artillery officer during the Vietnam War. Thrust into combat in 1967 as an aerial forward observer with the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, Kalergis quickly discovered a truth never fully taught in training: in artillery, speed saves lives.
While coordinating fire missions from a helicopter, he noticed wide differences in response times between artillery units. Most took minutes to fire after a request. One unit fired in forty seconds. That moment reshaped his understanding of leadership and performance. There was no secret advantage—only discipline, clarity of expectation, and a relentlessly enforced standard. From then on, Kalergis built his leadership philosophy around measurable excellence: if a standard can be achieved once, it can become the norm.
Later, as a battery commander in Korea and eventually as S-3 under Lieutenant Colonel Dave Meade, he applied combat-proven standards to peacetime training, emphasizing stopwatch-ready speed and accuracy. He found that when soldiers master their core mission, pride spreads across every aspect of a unit’s performance.
The essay closes with hard-earned reflections on attention—what leaders choose to notice or ignore. Institutions decline quietly, he argues, when standards soften and truth becomes inconvenient. Time matters in combat; attention matters in life. Together, they define excellence.
Listen to Episode 3204 and discover more about speed, accuracy, and the discipline of leadership.
