 After completing his training he was sent to join Col. Wingate's Gideon Force in Ethiopia, where he commanded a mixed group of Ethiopian and Eritrean irregulars (nicknamed "McLean's Foot") against the occupying Italian army.For his efforts he was awarded the Distinguished Military Medal of Haile Selassie I in 1941.1942 saw McLean shifted to a staff job with the Special Operations Executive (SOE); first in Cairo, Egypt then in Syria and back in Palestine.