WHEELING — American Legion Post 1 Commander John Powell — retired from the U.S. Navy — has held many leadership and supervisory positions, and he believes “leadership is a privilege.”

Powell said the part of the job he enjoyed the most in the military was helping people, and many of those he assisted were soldiers under his charge.

“I was able to do so through the skills I learned from my former superiors,” he explained. “A good leader will train a good leader, and that leader will carry it on and make good people.”

Powell specialized in law enforcement and recruiting narcotics officers and others for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). He added that often in the Navy, when a soldier would lose their law enforcement clearance, they would be sent to him for mentoring. He would talk to them and show caring.

“There’s probably a half-dozen people because I was there and interacted with them who went on to lead successful military careers,” he continued. “I took care of my people. That’s what you have to do.

“Leadership is a privilege. If you are chosen to lead, that is a privilege and you have to accept that privilege. It’s a privilege to lead, so to engage that privilege you have to engage your troops and listen to them. Just by sitting down and talking to them or enjoying a break with them, they will learn to respect you and follow you.”

Powell spent 20 years in the Navy before retiring in 1998 with the rank of chief petty officer. His focus was law enforcement, criminal investigation and anti-terrorism programs.

He signed up for the Navy in February 1978 before graduating from Wheeling Park HIgh School.

“There was nothing here. The job prospects were very few and far between,” Powell explained. “The steel mills weren’t looking good. The coal mines weren’t looking good.

“Being young, there were some of us who just answered the call to serve. I just chose to serve in the military. It’s just something I always wanted to do.”

Powell had intended to serve just one four-year term, but was talked into reenlisting. He was an aircraft firefighter at the time, and he was encouraged to seek an assignment at a base where he could focus on being a first responder.

His first assignment after reenlisting was at Naval Air Station Whiting Field and Saufley Field, both outside of Pensacola, Florida.

“It turned out to be the best duty station any young sailor could have,” Powell explained. “You work three days one week, two days the next week and had weekends and holidays off. That allowed me to join a volunteer fire department and become very active as a volunteer.”

After eight years in the Navy, Powell was assigned to The Nassau, a helicopter-carrying ship where he started his law enforcement career.

By 1988, Powell’s duties had taken on anti-terrorism concerns. He noted the terrorists of that time were far different from those of the current era in that their focus was obtaining money.

Today’s terrorists instead are driven by ideology, according to Powell.

American forces were keeping eyes on Carlos the Jackal in Europe, the Irish Republican Army in British-controlled areas, and even Greenpeace in Germany, he continued.

“We were on an amphibious assault ship, and their (Greenpeace’s) propaganda had us having nuclear warheads on board,” Powell said. “They would spread those lies and rumors. That is the propaganda they would spread. They were trying to get us out of port. That is what they wanted to do.

“Those are things we guarded against then. In today’s world, anti-terrorism has a new meaning.”

He would go on to spend a year on the USS Preble destroyer for a year, take a spot on the commissioning crew for the USS George Washington aircraft carrier for six months before being promoted and joining the crew of the USS South Carolina.

Later, it was off to a colder climate in Winter Harbor, Maine. His office was in the middle of Acadia National Park there.

It was after this assignment Powell retired from the Navy and would put to use what skills he acquired in the public sector.

Powell took a job with the Isle of Wight County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office as a deputy, and his duties include an undercover position under the Virginia State Police Drug Task Force.

In the spring of 2001, he accepted a position at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was third in command of the police department and supervised training and special operations.

In 2005, Powell was asked to join the White House Cabinet Members Protection detail. As a special agent/special deputy U.S. Marshal, he was assigned to protect the secretary of Veterans Affairs. He returned to Wheeling in 2007, and has continued to do work for the U.S. government on a contract basis.

Powell also transferred his American Legion membership to Post 1, and has held the offices of president of the home corporation, 1st vice commander, director of the Legion riders and commander.