Owe Back, Pay Forward

We all owe back, so pay forward. After the Reagan White House, active duty, founding a company to support law enforcement and the military, my phone rang. The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, then Secretary of State, offered me a pay cut, sleep cut, and a chance to run global operations in Counter-Narcotics (CN), Counter-Terrorism (CT), law enforcement, and aviation. Yes or no?

You might think the answer would be an easy yes, and in my heart it was, but every decision we make affects others and has an impact on the future. Each comes with unknowns. As the Chairman said, “Every decision you make in life – every single one – is made with incomplete information… You still have to make the decision, because a non-decision is a decision.”

My heart said yes, my mind said, “Slow this down, think it over, consult those central to your life, be sure this is right for you, for them at this time, do not jump into this; instead, pause, pray, and think.”

My family, who had lived with the risks of reserve and active duty, starting a business, watching our nation go to war, including on our own soil, were on board. My reserve unit was on board. I would need to leave the company. The National Guard, for whom we worked on a strategy, was on board.

I recall talking with the family priest who, in his earlier life, was in the 101^st Airborne in WWII. He said bluntly, if compassionately, there was no choice. When asked to step up, we must. He had.

Then came understanding the job. Did this fit my core values, education, civilian and military experience, and capabilities? Was it the right fit? My values were rural, faith, family, freedom, risks for high purposes, love of country – but not jumping into things without forethought.

My education and experience had international elements, but this was a different mission. Like jumping from the ten-meter board blindfolded, it would take trust. My past included training in business, military, government, law, and economics, all relevant, but this mission was big.

The job entailed regaining control over a multibillion-dollar gaggle of wayward government programs, many lacking financial controls. It included training the police in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo from scratch, integrating intelligence, operations, and international players in 50 countries.

Needed – no mystery – were the clear outcomes. Congress and the President demanded we train 35,000 police for Iraq and Afghanistan in one year, take down drug cartels, retool the State’s airwing, and solve these big financial management problems.

When big choices show up, from parenting to professional ones, we have to fortify ourselves. Virtually all opportunities to improve – our world and ourselves – take work, require risk. Often, remembering those who came before us puts us in the position to make these choices. 

Many in my life had stepped up – managed uncertainty, kept moving, confident in the power of doing the right thing to carry the day. Raised by a mother who never doubted she could, and WWII vets, I leaned to “yes.” But confidence turns on resolve, which turns on reasoned decision-making.

Ronald Reagan was for me a living, breathing, real influence. Just before that time, the Chairman was Reagan’s National Security Advisor. I had walked those halls. Reagan’s words still ring true.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” What does that really mean? It means teaching responsibility, and the defense of freedom is on us. To look the other way is to fail.

So, thinking back on that time, we all did what we needed to. We corralled those unaccountable programs, downsized many, made operations efficient, imposed financial controls on government, along with robust performance measures, assuring outcomes were achieved and programs cut.

We set up, from nothing, the police training operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, produced 35,000 for each nation, made America’s largest civilian Air Force more efficient by 40 percent, got contractors to write $100,000 checks back to the taxpayer, imposed $20,000-per-day-penalties for late deliveries, removed deadwood, took down drug traffickers, and retooled financial management.

By the time we were done, a lot had changed. We stabilized important parts of the world and made billions of taxpayer dollars accountable. Churchill said, “Victory is not fatal, defeat is not final. It’s all about courage.”  No one does anything alone; we were a team. But we owe back, so pay forward.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!