The man is down on one knee next to a girl who proudly holds a medal stamped with a red one-star flag. Retired Brig. Gen. Roy Webb, former Iowa Army National Guard deputy commanding general, sent me the photo of himself and the girl right after he’d awarded her a challenge coin in recognition of her excellence as a second grader, her courage, and her loyalty to her father who is battling serious cancer. I was honored with the chance to talk to Webb as he nears retirement after 33 years in education, the last seven of those as superintendent of Quincy Public Schools in western Illinois.
During his 36 years in the military as an enlisted combat engineer and then as an officer, Webb has commanded awesome power in weapons and explosives and in thousands of soldiers. He deployed for operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom. He’s proud of his service. There was a kind of reverence in his voice for his soldiers who worked filling and placing sandbags all day on flood duty or for the brave Afghans with whom he worked.
But a combat soldier and general as a school district superintendent? How does that work? “Leadership training and opportunities in the military have set me up for success in anything I do, but especially in the education world,” said Webb.
Webb’s leadership experience was an asset navigating his district’s response to COVID. “When the pandemic hit in March 2020, I sat my team down right away. Military intuition told me this was not going to be over quickly. This would be a long operation. We needed to be careful about how to plan and how to execute the plan.”
In summer 2020, after a few months of closed-school, online-only learning, Webb made an important decision. “I had single parents calling me every day, worried about babysitting, about providing for their kids.” Online-only was no longer an option. He notified his district leadership. “We’re going to offer both online and in-person education options.” It was an enormous challenge, but Quincy was the only district in its conference that kept all schools open in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years. The community appreciated that.
How did the community react to Webb’s approach? “People disagree with me all the time, but they wouldn’t say I’m indecisive.” Nevertheless, Webb hasn’t run his district like a totalitarian Army drill sergeant. “A lot of people think the military is top-down, but it’s very team-oriented. As a superintendent, I put out guidance to principals and their teams.” In the military, each subordinate level receives the larger mission and executes its smaller part in it. So, all of Webb’s schools embrace their part of the overall goal.
Showing appreciation for others is important to Webb. “The military does a good job of recognizing achievement through promotions and medals,” he explained. “But an outstanding teacher can go 35 years and never receive a promotion or recognition.”
In the military, officers or senior enlisted may offer challenge coins, or informal medals, to outstanding soldiers. These coins are custom-made at the officer’s expense. Soldiers strive for coins from the highest-ranking people. Webb’s brigadier general coins are a special prize. He’s seen overworked teachers and lonely, hardworking students nearly in tears upon being awarded that symbol of appreciation. And, as when awarding a coin to that brave second grade girl, the old general sometimes struggles to maintain his own composure.
Webb’s Quincy Blue Devil challenge coins feature the Army values, one of which is “Selfless Service”: putting others before oneself. In caring for the soldiers he commanded, in keeping his school district open in tough times, in personally recognizing and encouraging his staff and students, Roy Webb exemplifies the finest tradition of the American citizen soldier. He is two sides of the same gold coin.
*Some names and call signs in this story may have been changed due to operational security or privacy concerns. Trent Reedy served as a combat engineer in the Iowa National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
