Posted on 03/28/2016 7:13:59 AM PDT by centurion316
As one version of the story goes, a crippling performance evaluation was pushing then-Brig. Gen. Colin L. Powell’s military career toward a dead end when two higher-ranking commanders learned of it.
The two generals were horrified to hear Powell tell them over dinner in 1982 that he planned to leave the Army. One of them was a legendary Texas war hero, Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, who decided to intervene.
It came as no surprise to those who knew Cavazos that he went out of his way to keep Powell in the Army. The first and only Hispanic four-star general, he is now 85, living his last days, his once-encyclopedic mind ravaged by dementia.
It’s painful for those he led and mentored. Some weep when talking of it.
In recent interviews, they described Cavazos as loyal and fearless, a master tactician, an innovator, a charismatic soldier’s soldier. He served as a role model for every Hispanic general who came up through the ranks, retired Army Maj. Gen. Alfredo Valenzuela said.
In Powell’s autobiography, the man who became the first African-American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and, later, U.S. secretary of state, called Cavazos an Army legend who saved his career.
The other commander at the dinner table that night, now-retired Lt. Gen. Julius Becton Jr., recalled that Powell had a personality conflict with his supervisor and had suffered for it.
(Excerpt) Read more at expressnews.com ...
I wonder that whom among the current crop of general officers aspire to his goal of moral ascendancy with both superiors and subordinates. I'm sure that there must be someone out there, but we don't hear about them and I don't think that they rise to the top in the current climate. As the article points out, he learned early in life that to understand combat and what leaders must ask of their soldiers, you must first experience it yourself. He did that in spades, but many of today's senior leadership have not in spite of 15 years of war.
If you find some, don't name them.
obama finds such behavior an anathema, and will eliminate them.
Met the General in the late 70’s. Thirty seconds exposure on my part. Left with the deep feeling he was a force of nature.
His troops would of followed him into hell with a squirt gun and full can of gas.
Colin Powell - A vastly over rated Affirmative Action appointee and Obama supporter.
Yes, I am sure General Cavazos is as described, a great hero. But we could have done with C. Powell reaching the top.
Thank you for your comment. This story is really about Dick Cavazos, but Powell was also a well respected officer. His political career is a different chapter of is story.
Do you know either?
And major disappointment as a Republican!
LTG Julius W Becton, 7th Corps Commander in Germany in the late 70s. Very promising until he told pregnant female soldiers to have an abortion or get out. Colin Powell, Brigade Commander in the 101st, never commanded a Division, given a quick three star command to punch his ticket and promoted to 4 stars after being the Army Aide to Sec of Defense Cap Weinberger. That’s how he became the favorite black general of the Republican establishment in DC.
Sorry, but I knew Powell and, despite widely-held impressions, he was NOT a well-respected officer. I met him when he commanded V Corps (for about six months), then when he was Chairman and again when he was Sec State (I was detailed to the White House staff). Some of the officers on his staff were good friends of mine. Powell was widely regarded as a highly-political “ticket puncher” - an officer who stayed in a position - especially command position - only long enough to get credit for it, then moved on to another; i.e., punch the necessary tickets for promotion. When he was SecState, he and Rumsfeld pretty much held themselves above the rest of the cabinet.
I did not/do not know Gen Cavazos, who left command of III Corps at Fort Hood at about the same time I got there, but he did have a superb reputation. I also know LTG Becton and have spoken with him a number of times since his retirement. The one officer “of color” that I knew very well was GEN Daniel “Chappie” James. GEN James was my father’s squadron and wing commander in Florida, then Thailand and they stayed in touch until GEN James’ death shortly after his retirement. To quote my late father, “Chappie was only an average fighter pilot, but one hell of an officer!” GEN (then LtCol) James told me when I was 11, “...I don’t get into a Phantom, I put it on.”
I know something about this. Powell, who was working for Weinberger, was named to be the CG of the 8th Infantry Division and I was working on his transition at the 8th ID end of things. At the very last minute, Weinberger told him that he needed to stay in Washington for one more year and that he promised to get him back on track later. One year later, they sent him straight to V Corps and he therefore skipped Division command.
I liked both Powell and Cavazos, but Cavazos was the better soldier, for sure.
You don't get this for no reason. How many good officers careers were hampered by Affirmative Action like this?
Certainly Cavazos was the better soldier, but I did have good experiences supporting Powell as a junior Field Grade Officer. I will agree that those who were perceived to getting in his way did not fare well and the beltway is where he won his spurs.
Vastly is right. Powell should have been kicked out of the Army for his complicity in the initial cover-up of the My Lai massacre during Vietnam.
It turns out that he wasn't a republican after all.
Just another Black Opportunist.
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