Posted on 09/04/2005 1:13:53 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
The man in charge of coordinating the military’s hurricane response is a Louisiana native with previous experience in flood disasters who already has received high marks from one state official for his efforts.
Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, the man in charge of U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force Katrina, is a former 2nd Infantry Division commander.
Honoré, from Lakeland, La., led 2nd ID in South Korea from October 2000 until July 2002.
During that time he dealt with monsoon-season flooding on many Area I installations and oversaw flood prevention measures put in place following a disastrous 1998 flood that caused more than $150 million in damage to Area I bases.
Honoré is a man who announces his presence with authority.
In an interview with local WWL radio, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin was expressing dismay at the lack of federal help for his city, but said of Honoré:
“I give the president some credit on this, he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is Gen. Honoré, and he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussin’ and people started movin’!
“And he’s getting some stuff done,” Nagin said. “They ought to give that guy — if they don’t want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done.”
Honoré was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry in 1971. He also has served as commander, 4th Battalion, 16th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Germany.
I saw the clip. My recollection of it was the troops already had their weapons pointed down (which is how you are supposed to point them). He was yelling at some SWAT-Rambos to take their damn fingers off the triggers, and point the weapons down. I thought it entirely proper
Agreed - my opinion doesn't matter a whit. Neither does yours.
If credentials teach you to send soldiers into a known sniper zone with slung rifles, then credentials are the enemy.
Says you. I'll trust the man on the scene to make those decisions over armchair generals, thanks very much.
This is America, remember? Generals take their orders from civilians. I'm a Stanford educated small business owner and that means I could probably do that job better than a civil servant for life. Got that?
I would've expected someone at Stanford to teach you that most decisions are best made at the local level, by those with the most information at hand. Guess you missed that day of class, eh?
Unsubstantiated assertion.
If there was a reason to sling weapons, it should have gone through the chain of command, without making his troops look like idiots in front of the press.
First, no one looked like an idiot. That's your interpretation - I saw the same clip and didn't think anything of it.
Second, now you're arguing for more bureaucracy in the process? For that matter, how do you know the message wasn't previously communicated and disregarded by these troops?
I'll say it again: you don't have the required information to second guess Honore's actions at this time. You're making yourself look like a whining complainer by continuing down this road.
Speak for yourself.
Americans speak when something doesn't look right.
True enough. Too bad much of that speech is not based on anything other than their own deluded thinking.
Unless the Rambo gets startled while his finger is on the trigger and his gun goes off while pointed in her direction.
I'm not complaining about the presence of armed LEOs, I'm complaining about LEOs who seem to have had inadequate training in safe gun handling, which is what I think ticked off the general
On the video, I didn't see him make troops "sling" weapons. I saw him getting people to point weapons down.
There is a reason for this. The reason is so that if a gun goes off unintentionally, the bullet goes into the ground instead of into the guy next to you. If the gun is pointed up, the bullet may not hit the guy next to you, but it might hit somebody's kid on the second floor of the house you're standing next to (they were in an urban area).
This is the reason why troops are supposed to point their guns DOWN. On Iraq footage, you see troops on patrol, they are pointing their guns down except when actually firing at an enemy
In the clip I saw, he was clearly yelling "sling 'em."
"What battles has he won? What faith does he profess? Tell me about this man who tells our volunteer soldiers to sling their weapons in the middle of a sniper zone.
He commanded 2nd ID in Korea which is a hardcore unit. Other posts have commented on serving as junior officers under Gen Honore' and they are gungho about him.
The MSM is all over the Bush Admin for everything under the sun on this disaster. Gen. Honore' is being smart to set an example.
Meanwhile you and your one handed computing need to lighten up.
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476447/posts
Other post regarding Lt General Honore'
PING!!!!
"He's a coward."
Still think he is a coward?
Yahoo news claims that Lt Gen Honore is from the Air Force. Never knew that the first Army was commanded by a AF General.
Anyone who takes the name of the Lord God almighty in vain, routinely, is more than just a coward. He's a godless fool.
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