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Ray Odierno, the retired Army general who led U.S. troops through the Iraq War and later served as the Army’s chief of staff, has died of cancer at the age of 67. Odierno’s death Friday was announced in a statement by his family, according to The Associated Press. “The general died after a brave battle with cancer; his death was not related to COVID,” the family said. Odierno, a West Point graduate, served in the military for nearly 40 years, a decorated career that included three tours of duty in Iraq. He began the war in command of the 4th...

General Odierno Says ISIS was AvoidableGen. Raymond Odierno said he believes the Islamic State’s creation was avoidable during an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Host Joe Scarborough asked Odierno, who commanded the Multi-National Forces in Iraq for about two years, if ISIS and the current state of Iraq were avoidable when the United States ended formal combat operations there. “Did it ever have to begin? Was ISIS avoidable?” Scarborough asked. “I think it is, and I’m not one for revisionist history,” Odierno said. “Actually, I was, on 1 September 2010, that’s when I gave up command in Iraq and that...

OVERCOMING CYNICISM AND GIVING A FAIR SHOT AT SUCCESS AND FAILURE Since the August 21st graduation of two women from the Army’s Ranger School there has been an out pouring of commentary on the notoriety of the moment. Writing this article through the lens of a graduate of the Ranger Course (Class 10-87), I want to join those who are congratulating Capt. Kristen Griest and 1st Lt. Shaye Haver on their achievements. What is particularly notable, is the lengths the Army and the Airborne Ranger Training Brigade (ARTB) went through to ensure the women were treated fairly and that the...

EXCLUSIVE: The Army’s top officer told Fox News Tuesday it’s “frustrating” to watch the gains he helped achieve in Iraq disintegrate at the hands of the Islamic State, saying in an exit interview that the chaos now unfolding “might have been prevented” had the U.S. stayed more engaged. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, weeks away from retirement after 39 years in uniform, spent more time in Iraq than any other U.S. Army general -- more than four years, the last two as top commander. He is widely viewed as a key architect of the Iraq surge. In an...

The US Army is far more heavily engaged around the world than projected when it began slashing force size several years ago, and its commitments will be hard to maintain in the long run as troop numbers shrink, General Ray Odierno said on Friday. Odierno, the Army chief of staff, said decisions about cutting the size of the force from 570,000 to the current 490,000 were made several years ago when Pentagon planners expected a peaceful Europe, a declining commitment in Afghanistan and no return to Iraq. Instead, he said, the Army is regularly using three brigades in eastern Europe...

<p>WASHINGTON — As Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith fights for his life after being shot at a military support center in Tennessee, his grandmother wonders why troops at recruiting and reserve offices aren't allowed to have guns.</p> <p>It's a question many were asking Friday, a day after the deadly shooting that killed four Marines and injured three others in Chattanooga. Military officials say the Pentagon shouldn't rush to change the ban, which is governed in part by century-old law, because arming troops in those facilities could cause more problems than it might solve.</p>

“My greatest fear,” General Raymond Odierno, the then commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq, told me in early 2010, “is that we stabilize Iraq, then hand it over to the Iranians in our rush to the exit.” General O (as he is known), had recently watched the 2007 movie Charlie Wilson’s War, which recounts how U.S. interest in Afghanistan ceased once the mujahedeen defeated the Soviet Army in 1989 and drove them out. Now, he had a premonition that the same could happen in Iraq. “I’ve invested too much here,” he said, “to simply walk away and let that...

Colorado's National Guard boss, Maj. Gen. H. Michael Edwards, describes the relationship between state Guard leaders and Army brass as broken, saying the two entities are giving each other the silent treatment over budget battles. "The relationship is not good and it is sad," said Edwards, an Air Force officer who reports to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper rather than the Pentagon. Tensions are high over Army proposals to strip the Guard of attack helicopters and shave the Army Guard's ranks by 8,000 troops to save cash. Army leaders were a no-show at a gathering of top National Guard commanders in...

Army chief of staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said Friday that more U.S. ground troops would likely deploy to Iraq to train local forces fighting Islamic militants. "We are going to increase a little bit," he said. "As we do that, I think we have to do an assessment of how well that's going."

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proposes that the U.S. Army be used to plan, command, and carry out (with the help of civilian law enforcement) domestic police missions. So says a story appearing in the May/June issue of the influential organization’s official journal, Foreign Affairs. The article lacks a single reference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits such actions. In an article penned by Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Raymond T. Odierno, the CFR would see the Army used to address “challenges in the United States itself” in order to keep the homeland safe from

The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has surpassed the number in Iraq for the first time since 2003. As of Monday, there were 94,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and 92,000 in Iraq, according to the Defense Department. The move occurred slightly ahead of schedule; it had been expected to take place in June. U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan is expected to reach 98,000 by August, up from about 30,000 when President Barack Obama took office. Once all the troops are in place, NATO and Afghan security forces are expected to concentrate on 121 key districts in Afghanistan, according to...

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2010 – As the troop drawdown continues in Iraq, the top U.S. commander there said he’s convinced the Iraqi security forces are ready to take over more responsibility, and that the sacrifices the United States has made to get to this point will prove worthwhile.Video “I think we have an opportunity in Iraq we might never get again,” Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of U.S. Forces Iraq, said during an interview with Soldiers Radio and Television’s Gail McCabe.As Iraq builds on the security, economic and diplomatic progress made to date, Odierno said, it stands to enhance...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2010 – Iraq presents a solid opportunity to help in stabilizing the Middle East, the commander of forces in that country said here today. “We have an opportunity that we might never have again,” Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said during a Pentagon news conference. “We have the opportunity – potentially – to have a moderate democratic government in the Middle East.” The general said he’s worried that once U.S. servicemembers leave Iraq at the end of 2011, Americans will forget about Iraq. The United States must remain engaged with the Iraqi government as an equal, the...

As national elections in Iraq loom on the horizon, Iran continues to subvert its western neihbor’s security and political infrastructure, top American military officials said. Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the top American commander in Iraq, said Iran aims to foment violence in Iraq and to play diplomatic and other nonmilitary roles that call into question Iran’s respect for Iraqi sovereignty. “Iran clearly has a strategy that goes across lethal aims, diplomatic aims and then soft-power aims -- i.e., influencing people through investment in the economy -- and into some other practices inside of Iraq,” the general said yesterday at...

BAGHDAD — Iraq “is not going to be pushed around” by Iran, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, said here yesterday. Hill and Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, spoke to reporters traveling with Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Iranians moved onto a disputed oil well in southern Iraq and placed an Iranian flag on the facility. They have since left the facility, which is clearly in Iraqi territory. “It’s like a game of capture the flag,” said an American spokesman in southern Iraq Friday. “It has been...

In this file photo, Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq, hands a challenge coin to Crestview, Fla., native, Pfc. William Robson, an artilleryman assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, during Odierno's visit to Joint Security Station Sheik Amir, Nov. 26. Photo by Pfc. Adam Halleck, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. WASHINGTON — On the eve of holding parliamentary elections early next year, Iraq continues to make steady progress as a sovereign country that is a valued U.S. ally in the Middle East, the commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq said in Killeen,...

Gen. Odierno on what's being done for U.S. troops celebrating Thanksgiving in Iraq.

Okay, here we go. Can the Phillies repeat? Now that she is no longer the junior senator, do the Yankees break "The Hillary Curse"? YOUTUBE SING-ALONG --- THE HILLARY CURSE

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, July 28, 2009 – The commander of Multinational Forces Iraq said today he’s extremely pleased with the way Iraqi security forces have stepped to the plate following the June 30 withdrawal of American forces from the cities and towns of the country. Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said he is on track to fulfill the mission he and his command of 130,000 Americans in the country have received. “I’ve been given very clear guidance: one is that we will have a change of mission on Aug. 31, 2010, and we will no longer have a combat mission,”...

Multi-National Force-Iraq commander, Gen. Ray Odierno, is briefed by 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) commanding general, Brig. Gen. Michael J. Lally, during his visit the 3rd ESC headquarters at Joint Base Balad, July 21. Photo by Spc. Michael Behlin, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary). JOINT BASE BALAD — Gen. Ray Odierno, Mult-National Force – Iraq commanding general, visited the 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) here, July 21. Escorted by Brig. Gen. Michael J. Lally, 3rd ESC commanding general, Odierno received a tour of the 3rd ESC headquarters, where he recognized several Soldiers in the process.During the visit, Odierno was briefed on operations run...