Drew Bly

Since his youth in Puerto Rico, Chris Deleon was told about the origins of his name.
“You’re a Deleon, which means you come from a lion,&#8221; he remembers his father telling him when he was 7. &#8220;Whenever you’re in a hard moment, dig down and remind yourself that you’re a Deleon.”
Chris was offered an ROTC scholarship to Eastern Kentucky University, only to have it withdrawn right before he started college. He was unsure of what the future held. He joined the Army National Guard and after basic training in 2010, joined ROTC without any promise of a future commission.
But Chris became more engaged in his social life than academics. By October 2012, his grades had suffered, he fell behind and was asked to leave the ROTC program.
“This was my wake-up call,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I felt I let my family down. I had never been kicked out of an organization before.”
But through the Kentucky National Guard, Chris was nominated to represent his unit in the soldier-of-the-year competition. He was tasked with memorizing everything in the 241-page &#8220;Army Study Guide&#8221; as well as keeping up with current events. He won Kentucky Soldier of the Year and was runner-up in the Southeast region.
Now a graduate student, he is not only back in ROTC but has the school program&#8217;s highest leadership position: battalion commander.
“His ability to change the situation is the best example of any cadet I have seen,” says Master Sergeant Thomas Dougherty, the senior instructor in Eastern&#8217;s ROTC program and a 24-year Army veteran.
Chris leads from the front by being an honest, approachable person, his fellow cadets say.
&#8220;He is a concise, very supportive, all-around nice person,&#8221; says freshman cadet Katherine McManus. &#8220;It&#8217;s easier to listen to a guy you can relate to and talk with.&#8221;
Chris thinks it is important to share his failures with the battalion so others can learn from his experience.
“I’ve failed multiple times in ROTC and in life, but I never quit,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Everyone fails in life. It’s what you do with your failure. I choose to motivate other people.”

A wake-up call to leadership