Charlie Mike by Joe Klein

Author:Joe Klein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Eric was named Grand Marshall of the St. Louis Veterans Day parade in 2008. He decided to use the occasion to celebrate the first anniversary of The Mission Continues, and he invited his core group of friends and fellows to come to St. Louis and celebrate.

The wisdom of moving to St. Louis was obvious by now. He never would have been the Grand Marshall of the Veterans Day parade if he’d stayed in Washington. The Mission Continues was receiving a steady stream of local press coverage. The St. Louis business community was pitching in with donations. A World War II veteran named Jack Taylor who had started Enterprise Rent-A-Car—named after the USS Enterprise, on which he’d served—gave Eric a $50,000 donation. With real money coming in, Eric decided to hire a young social worker named Paul Eisenstein to run the business side of the operation. Greitens continued to work as a volunteer.

On Eisenstein’s first day in May 2008, Eric handed him a very military and rather official Commander’s Intent memo that began with a mission statement, followed by fifteen goals. Most were very specific, including:

“Raise $500,000.”

“Create 15 successful Mission Continues fellowships.”

“Involve over 100 wounded and disabled veterans in service [projects].”

“Produce over 5,000 hours of volunteer service.”

“Ensure that we meet the highest standards of nonprofit governance. (Be on track to achieve the equivalent of a Gold Star or Five Star rating from at least two, hopefully three, charity review boards.)”

Eisenstein had never been exposed to the military before. He had been an AmeriCorps volunteer, which had impressed Eric: “You served your country.” He found the unblinking specificity of the Commander’s Intent document bracing. This wasn’t going to be some sloppy do-gooder deal. Would he be able to accomplish all those goals in seven months? Probably not, but he liked being pushed. (And in fact, he aced fourteen of the fifteen.)

Eric seemed a big SEAL in a small city, Eisenstein thought. He watched as Eric recruited local businesses and political royalty like the Danforth family, owners of Ralston Purina, to the cause. Eric also convinced Southwest Airlines to provide round-trip tickets for The Mission Continues friends and fellows who came to the Veterans Day celebration. He seemed to go into every meeting with the absolute expectation of success, and he handled crises with Obi-Wan calm. This, too, was something Paul had never seen in the not-for-profit world.

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