Wine Country Marines

For the past four years, with the loving help and support of his wife Kathy, Bob Leonard has served as the Chairman of the Planning Committee for the Wine Country Marine Corps Birthday Ball. He is also the Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors for our 501 C (3) non-profit corporation. As a gift to the Wine Country Marines, he created and paid for the launch of this Web site and he serves as it's on-going Web Master. Under his leadership, the Wine Country Marine Corps Birthday Ball achieved a higher level of style and sophistication featuring distinguished Guests of Honor as key note speakers. Also, under his watch, the Birthday Ball evolved to become a major local fund raiser event in which more than $25,000 has been collected (so far) to support the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

Bob is the proud son of a WWII Battle of Guadalcanal combat veteran who greatly influenced his decision to become a Marine. His family also has a very long tradition of military service dating back to the American Revolution in which one of his ancestors commanded the American forces in the Battle of Kings Mountain. His great grandfather and namesake served as an infantry officer in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Bob was one of a few members of his College Fraternity (Lambda Chi Alpha) at Morehead State University to become a commissioned officer in the Marine Corps during the anti-war years on college campuses immediately following the Viet Nam War. One of his fraternity brothers (Major Tom Hayhurst) is proudly serving as a member of our 501 C (3) Board of Directors and is one of our Birthday Ball Masters of Ceremonies. Another fraternity brother was killed in an aviation training accident while flying a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter in Japan. His name was First Lieutenant Don Minto, USMC. Everything Bob does and continues to do for the Wine Country Marines is dedicated to the loving memory of his father Edmund B. Leonard and his fallen brother Lieutenant Don Minto.

A former Captain of Marines, Bob was commissioned via the Platoon Leader Class (PLC) program at Quantico. His Officer Basic School Class (Alpha Company, 1-76) was made up of mostly graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy - therefore, his peer group of Second Lieutenants were among the very best. After graduating from The Basic School, he received orders to the Hawaiian Islands were he participated in our country's forwardly deployed military presence during the "Cold War" era. Unlike his father, he did not see combat. However, the highlight of his military service was the opportunity to serve as a Rifle Platoon Commander with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Brigade (Hawaii), Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. While serving with the 1st Marine Brigade, he completed an overseas deployment with the fleet to the Western Pacific where he participated in "Operation Kangaroo II" in Queensland, Australia during the fall of 1976. At the time, this was the largest peacetime amphibious military training exercise in the South Pacific since the end of World War II. While stationed in Hawaii, Bob also served as the Captain of his Battalion's Rifle and Pistol Team and participated in the Pacific Division Matches. Following this experience, he was given the opportunity go to Sniper School. Before leaving active duty, he also completed a Master of Arts Degree at Pepperdine University and earned a Black Belt in Japanese Karate.

After his transition into the business world, Bob became a Vice President with the J. Walter Thompson Company (the same advertising agency that creates all of the recruiting ads for the Marine Corps). He also spent more than 25 years working as a marketing executive for several other top Madison Avenue advertising agencies during which he managed many major brands including Ford, Burger King, Mercedes-Benz and Gulfstream luxury business jets. While working on the Boeing advertising account in Seattle for Foote, Cone & Belding, he managed the marketing communications campaign for the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter/attack jet. His target audience was the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pentagon.

On his 50th birthday, he left the corporate "rat race" to apply what he learned to his own business. Today, Bob works with his wife Kathy in residential real estate at Alain Pinel Real Estate within the Sonoma Valley. They specialize in helping clients buy and sell exceptional properties in the California Wine Country where we live, work and play with their Australian Shepherd dog Clio. He is also a Group Chairman for Vistage International. Formerly known as TEC - The Executive Committee, Vistage is the world's leading Chief Executive Membership Organization.

Bob's other non-profit activities includes: the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller and the Sonoma Valley Rotary Club. He is also a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Freemason and has been the Chairman of the Annual Sonoma Valley Joint Memorial Day Observance for the past four years.