Archives for August 2014

By Suzanne Rice, wife of COL Bill Rice, Chief of Plans and Operations, Third U. S. Army, Ft. McPherson, Georgia

When General Dennis Reimer, USMA Class of 1962, was named Army Chief of Staff in 1995, he called upon a small group of officers from throughout the Army to be a part of his transition team. Bill was sent TDY to the Pentagon to represent Third U.S. Army where he was a Colonel serving as the Chief of Plans for ARCENT, the Army Component of Central Command. Bill’s contribution to the transition team was to help to develop an assessment of the state of the Army and make proposals for the Army of the future.

One of the things that the transition team set into motion was an emphasis on Army Values. These values have been an integral part of the Army since the birth of our nation, but General Reimer’s transition team sought to put them in a way that could be learned and easily understood by all members of the Army. They decided upon the acronym, LDRSHIP, to distill these important values for every soldier. Knowing that soldiers come from many backgrounds and experiences, it was their recommendation to General Reimer that these LDRSHIP values are universal, in every situation, anywhere in the Army and they form the foundation of Army life.

L – Loyalty – Bear true faith and allegiance to the U. S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers.

D – Duty – Fulfill your obligations.

R – Respect – Treat people as they should be treated.

S – Selfless Service – Put the welfare of the Nation, the Army, and subordinates before your own.

H – Honor – Live up to all the Army Values.

I – Integrity – Do what’s right – legally and morally.

P – Personal Courage – Face fear, danger or adversity (physical and moral)

This set of Army values was, then, integrated into basic Army information given to all Plebes at USMA as well as soldiers in basic training and, since 1995, soldiers have been expected to learn and live by these values. Army officers and NCOs continue to be encouraged to develop these values in themselves and in their soldiers. The transition team chose this particular acronym to remind each and every soldier that these Army Values make up the foundation of good leadership (LDRSHIP) for today’s Army.

Cadets and soldiers continue to learn these Army Values today. Bill brought the influences of his West Point years to his work for General Reimer. Bill, and others on the transition team, as well as General Reimer himself, had been living by these values since they learned the Cadet Prayer: “Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean living and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretense ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy.”

By Suzanne Rice, wife of COL Bill Rice

As an Eagle Scout himself, Bill found a good fit for some of his time – bringing his patriotism and leadership skills to Boy Scout Troop 279 in Peachtree City, GA. He was a Troop Committee member, representative on the Flint River Council Eagle Scout Board and conceived and led a Scouting County  Fair each year among other things. The most obvious connection to his USMA and military life was his effort to teach the Scouts how to do flag ceremonies properly. Before each Eagle Scout ceremony (There were many Eagle Scout award earned by this particular troop.), he met with the younger Scouts participating in the flag ceremony and taught them care and respect for our nation’s flag.

One year, the Troop committee decided to accept 30 new Webelos Scouts (into a troop of only 30 other Scouts), Seeing some problems with integrating so many new, young and inexperienced Scouts, Bill offered to create a new program that he called the Tenderfoot Trail. This was to fill half of every weekly meeting when older Scouts would lead and teach the basics of Boy Scouting to small groups of new Scouts. (Double benefit – the older Scouts had to know the material before they could teach it!) During the Tenderfoot Trail that would last 14 weeks, each young Scout learned the Oath, Laws, Motto, knots, safety, first aid, fitness, emergency preparedness, etc. As Bill suspected, the new Scouts (age 10-11 years old) were hard to keep going in the same direction. One boy in particular was very difficult and it soon became clear that an adult had to be by his side no matter what the assignment was for that week. Each week, no one thought this boy would come back to the troop for the next week’s meeting, but, happily, he continued to come and, eventually, mastered all the new Boy Scout skills.

It was only at Bill’s funeral that the depth of his influence on the Scouts became clear. The unruly young Scout had grown and it was he and his mother that suggested to the parish office (This was a surprise to Bill’s family.) that there needed to be a Boy Scout Color Guard to accompany Bill’s casket into the Church. It was that same unruly Scout who was the first to volunteer to participate. They say that there was a great competition among troop members for who would actually get to carry the colors and participate in the ceremony. It was a touching experience to see the older and now no longer unruly Scout leading the Color Guard, bearing the colors of our nation as we entered the Church. It was heartwarming to each of us to see how Bill had influenced these young Scouts and how they wanted to salute his life. Adding to that, the once young, unruly Scout kept coming back to Scout meetings and eventually became an Eagle Scout himself. What a joy for all!