Profile of Norman Schwarzkopf on Famous Like Me

This article is about the Gulf War General. For his father, who investigated the Lindbergh kidnapping, see Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (born August 22, 1934), United States Army general who, while he served as Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Central Command, was commander of the Coalition Forces in the Gulf War of 1991.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey to Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, then the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, he attended the International School of Geneva, attended and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy.

Formal Education

Gen. Schwarzkopf attended the United States Military Academy, where he graduated 42nd in his class in 1956 with a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering. While at West Point, he played on the football team, wrestled, sang and conducted the chapel choir. He also attended the University of Southern California, where he earned a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1964. His special field of study was guided missile engineering, a program that USC developed with the Army, which incorporated equally both Aeronautical & Mechanical Engineering.

Military Career

After graduating from West Point and receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the infantry, his first assignment was as a platoon leader and executive officer 2nd Airborne Battle Group at Fort Benning Georgia. Here he received advanced infantry and airborne training. Next came stints with the 101st Airborne Division in Kentucky and the 6th Infantry Division in West Germany. He was aide-de-camp to the Berlin Command in 1960 and 1961, a crucial time in the history of that divided city.

By 1965 he was back at West Point, teaching engineering. More and more of his former classmates were heading to Vietnam as advisors to the South Vietnamese army and, in 1965, following Schwarzkopf's first year as a member of the faculty at West Point, Norman Schwarzkopf applied to join them. Schwarzkopf served as a task force advisor to a South Vietnamese Airborne Division, Schwarzkopf was promoted from Captain to Major. When his tour of duty in Vietnam was over, he returned to serve out the remaining two years of his obligated teaching service at West Point.

In 1968, Major Schwarzkopf became a Lieutenant Colonel. In this same year, he married Brenda Holsinger and attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As U.S. casualties in Vietnam mounted, Gen. Schwarzkopf became convinced it was his duty to apply his training and experience there, where they might save the most lives. In 1969, Colonel Schwarzkopf returned to Vietnam, first on the staff of Major General Mabry (awarded the Medal of Honor in WWII), and then as a battalion commander (1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade) in the Americal Division under Col. Joseph Clemons (his brigade commander, who was the hero of Pork Chop Hill, immortalized in the book by that name written by Brig. Gen. S.L.A. 'Slam' Marshall).

One of the most remarkable incidents in a very distinguished career happened on this tour. When Schwarzkopf received word that men under his command had encountered a minefield, he rushed to the scene in his helicopter, as was his custom while a battalion commander (to make available his helicopter). He found several soldiers still trapped in the minefield. Schwarzkopf urged them to retrace their steps slowly. Still, one man tripped a mine and was severely injured but remained conscious. As the wounded man flailed in agony, the soldiers around him feared that he would set off another mine. Schwarzkopf, also injured by the explosion, crawled across the minefield to the wounded man and held him down so another could splint his shattered leg. One soldier stepped away to break a branch from a nearby tree to make the splint. In doing so, he too hit a mine, killing himself and the two men closest to him, and blowing the leg off of Schwarzkopf's artillery liaison officer. Eventually, Gen. Schwarzkopf led his surviving men to safety, by ordering the locations of mines marked with shaving cream. He was awarded his third Silver Star for his bravery but, more importantly to Norman Schwarzkopf, he firmly cemented his reputation as an officer who would risk his life for the soldiers under his command. Schwarzkopf was always known as a tough but caring officer. He told his men that they might not like some of his strict rules, but it was for their own good. He told them "When you get on that plane to go home, if the last thing you think about me is 'I hate that son of a bitch', then that is fine because you're going home alive."

During the 70's, Schwarzkopf's star continued to rise. He attended the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, served on the Army General Staff at The Pentagon, was deputy commander of U.S. Forces Alaska under Willard Latham, and served as a brigade commander at Fort Lewis, Washington.

After promotion to Brigadier General, he was assigned as Plans & Policy Officer (Assistant J3) at U.S. Pacific Command for two years. He then served as Assistant Division Commander (Support) of the 8th Mechanized Division and as Mainz Community Commander.

He was promoted to Major General, and given command of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Georgia. A year into this assignment, a coup had taken place on the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada. With Cuban assistance, the Grenadian revolutionaries were building an airfield which U.S. intelligence suspected would be used to supply insurgents in Central America. It was also feared that Americans studying on the island might be taken hostage. Since an amphibious landing was called for, the entire operation was placed under the command of an admiral, but Gen. Schwarzkopf was placed in command of U.S. ground forces. He quickly won the confidence of his superior and was named Deputy Commander of the Joint Task Force. While the Grenada operation proved more difficult then its planners had anticipated, the coup was quickly thwarted. Order was restored, elections were scheduled, and the American students returned home unharmed.

In 1984, Gen. Schwarzkopf was promoted to Lieutenant General, served as assistant to Gen. Carl Vuono (who was Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations) for two years and was appointed Commanding General, I Corps, at Ft. Lewis, Washington, in 1986. He left one year after his appointment as the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations at the Pentagon, to replace Gen. Vuono, who himself was appointed to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army.

In 1988, he was promoted to General and was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Central Command. U.S. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base, near Tampa, Florida, is responsible for operations in the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In his capacity as commander, Schwarzkopf prepared a detailed plan for the defense of the oil fields of the Persian Gulf against a hypothetical invasion by Iraq, among other plans. The Iraq plan served as the basis of the USCENTCOM wargame of 1990. Within months, Iraq invaded Kuwait, and Schwarzkopf's plan had an immediate practical application, which was as the basis for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. His operational plan was the "left hook" strategy that went into Iraq behind the Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait, and widely credited with bringing the ground war to a close in just four days. He was personally very visible in the conduct of the war, giving frequent press conferences, and was dubbed "Stormin' Norman."

Schwarzkopf retired from active service in August 1991, and shortly thereafter wrote an autobiography, It Doesn't Take a Hero, published in 1992. There was some speculation in the aftermath of the Gulf War that he might run for political office, but he did not do so. In retirement, Schwarzkopf has served as a military analyst, most recently for Operation Iraqi Freedom, along with promoting prostate cancer awareness, a disease in which he was diagnosed in 1993, and successfully treated. He currently lives in Florida.

Medals, Decorations, & Awards

His awards include:

U.S. Military Awards

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal
• Distinguished Service Medal (Army) with one oak leaf cluster
• Navy Distinguished Service Medal
• Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
• Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal
• Silver Star with two oak leaf clusters
• Defense Superior Service Medal
• Legion of Merit
• Distinguished Flying Cross
• Bronze Star with Combat 'V' and two oak leaf clusters
• Purple Heart with one oak leaf cluster
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Air Medal
• Army Commendation Medal with Combat 'V' and oak leaf clusters
• Army of Occupation Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
• Vietnam Service Medal
• Southwest Asia Service Medal
• Army Service Ribbon
• Overseas Service Ribbon
• Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
• Vietnam Campaign Medal
• Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
• Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
• Combat Infantryman's Badge
• Master Parachutist Badge

Other Awards

• Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Knight Commander in the Military Division of Most Honourable Order of the Bath (honorary).
• The United States Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom
• Congressional Gold Medal
• Legion of Honor (France)

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