The Days Forward

West Point Class of 1969

Suzanne Rice

250th Birthday of the Army – Long Journey to America

     My connection to our Army started in 1945, two years before I was born in Wels, Austria. My parents had fled from Hungary, their homeland, before the advancing Soviet armies. Their goal was to reach the American army so that when the war ended, they would hopefully be in the US not the Soviet zone of occupation.

     Their journey took them to the picturesque town of Gmunden, Austria which had just been occupied by American soldiers and there they stopped.

     Finding shelter in a dairy barn, they eventually secured better accommodations while my father went to work as a bricklayer in a neighboring town.

     Finally, four years later, they found a distant relative in Cleveland, Ohio who, with the help of Catholic Charities, sponsored their passage to America. I, meanwhile, was born in Austria in February 1947, early enough to make the crossing with them on a Navy transport ship the USS General S.D. Surgis (AP-137) named after a USMA 1846 graduate.

     Forty-seven years later, as the Commander of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, I attended a reunion of the Regiment’s World War II veterans. They brought their albums showing their march through Europe at the head of Patton’s 3rd Army. 

     “Here is where we ended up”, one veteran related, “in a beautiful little town in Austria, named Gmunden” ! 

     It was then I realized that my parents, so many years earlier, had found refuge in a town occupied by the regiment I then commanded.

250th Birthday of the Army – Beyond the Battlefield

   Beyond the Battlefield: How Army Service Strengthens American Society

     When my father, a World War II Army veteran, learned I had decided to attend West Point, his eyes conveyed a deep pride that words alone could never fully express. He instilled in me a strong work ethic and love of country. As a child, when I asked him how I should answer if someone asked if I was Italian, he firmly replied, “You’re an American.” His words captured a powerful truth I came to fully appreciate through my own military service: while the Army’s stated mission is to defend our nation and win wars, its true value extends far beyond the battlefield. It has long served as a source of social mobility, individual growth, loyalty to nation and community, and leadership development—benefits deeply woven into the fabric of American society.

     Soldiers and officers from every corner of the country, representing a patchwork quilt of races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, live and work together toward common missions, learning mutual respect and understanding. I saw the personal growth in my soldiers, peers, and fellow West Pointers attributable to their service experience. The Army equips individuals with a wide range of work and career skills that not only benefit them but also positively impact society. Training and experience in diverse fields brings veterans with specialized skills back into civilian industries, government, and community organizations. The Army’s emphasis on discipline, responsibility, loyalty, and resilience become integral to an individual’s character, affecting how they interact with others and their broader social engagement.

     Many of my West Point classmates have risen to the top of professions and organizations in and out of government. In the Class of 1969 alone, we have generals, medical doctors, lawyers, judges, brilliant engineers, teachers, scientists, CEOs, COOs, an Astronaut, an Ambassador to Germany, and a transcendent college basketball coach. In the Army these men developed and honed skills in problem-solving and critical thinking; leadership and teamwork; discipline and work ethic; adaptability and resilience; selflessness; and civic participation. These skills have significant societal impact, spreading exponentially among colleagues, mentees, students, and others they encounter. The skills and values not only enhance individual career paths but also strengthen the workforce and foster innovation, productivity, and a commitment to the greater good.

Hurrah to the U.S. Army at 250!

Thank you for making our nation safer, stronger, and better.

250th Birthday of the Army – Happy Birthday!

In a previous essay on The Days Forward about what West Point meant to me, I stated that not counting obvious things like the birth of my kids, there were three events in my life that I count as being both profound and life-changing.  I went on to say that in chronological order the first was attending and graduating from West Point.  The second was meeting my wife, Avril, my Firstie Year at West Point, and the third was coming to know Jesus Christ as my Savior.  But there was also a fourth event that was quite significant that preceded everything else in my life; and that was being born an Army brat on December 26, 1946, in a Quonset Hut which was part of the hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia.  So, in some respects, the Army is more a part of who I am than just about anything else in my life.  I was born into the Army, I was schooled by the Army, I met my wife on an Army base, I have 21 years of Army service, and even today the bulk of my retirement is funded by the Army.  For me, almost everything that it means to be an American was first learned in the Army.  I learned respect for the flag every evening at 5:30pm when everything stopped for a couple of minutes while the flag was taken down.  I’m sure I probably learned the Pledge of Allegiance and the Stars Spangled Banner in an Army grade school.  My Cub Scout and Boy Scout and Explorer leaders were all either an Army wife or an enlisted man or NCO or Officer in the Army.  Even my clergy growing up were all Army Chaplains, and almost all my childhood memories of a religious nature happened in a chapel on an Army base somewhere in the world.  My conservative values were certainly forged in the Army.  Before I ever set foot on West Point the Army had already given me a sense of duty, honor and country.  And when I die and the final words at my funeral are said, Taps will be played, a 21-gun salute will be given, the flag that covered my coffin will be presented to a loved one, and a military cemetery will become my final resting place.  What does the Army mean to me?  Everything!  So, of course, I would like to be a part of saying “Happy 250th Birthday” to the United States Army!

250th Birthday of the Army – Amazing Opportunities

     Considering how the Army influenced my life – what the Army means to me, I thought the best way to do this was to repeat facts from a simple presentation I had given to my granddaughters’ elementary school, which annually recognized veterans of the students’ families near the Veterans Day holiday. I did it for 13 years and received amazing responses from the young students in the classes every single year. I focused on things that the average person wouldn’t be doing, but would be experienced in the Army more or less routinely. I supplemented the activities with video clips to portray the events more realistically.

     Extracts from the presentation are shown here:

  • I spent 25 years in the Army, and enjoyed the support of my family throughout.
  • Some really neat & fun things I got to do in the Army included:
  • Flying in a helicopter at very low altitude (known as Nap of the Earth) Parachuting out of an airplane,
  • Skimming along the water in a zodiac boat,
  • Rappelling down the side of a cliff,
  • Doing the Slide for Life on a zip line
  • Bouncing along different terrain in an armored personnel carrier.

     I also did a bit of traveling throughout our country, in a dozen different states to include California and Virginia and many in between. I also ventured to a few countries overseas to include Iceland, Germany, Turkey and Vietnam.

One of the most important things was my ability to work with so many patriotic and dedicated individuals from all walks of life who wanted to serve their country.

     I’ve done a lot of interesting and fun things and have seen many places in the United States and around the world, which would not have happened if I hadn’t been in the Army. My experiences were amazing and I’ll always have those memories.

Looking back over my life in the Army with my wife of nearly 55 years JoAnne, we experienced many great events that we shared with our children and grandchildren. We also learned the nuances of local cultures in different parts of the country, to include food preferences such as shrimp and grits and baby back ribs.

     I could not have imagined how much my life would change after I graduated, but I loved all of it.

Chapter 2 – Green Zone Developments – 2003

    

The Uprising Begins – Life in the Green Zone was good into the Fall of 2003; we worked hard and played hard. But it was a false sense of security as Sunnis displaced in May from their former military and government livelihoods began to strike back in late summer by bombing the UN mission and Jordanian Embassy and deploying Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) against Coalition military vehicles. 408 American soldiers were killed from June 1 to December 31, 2003, almost 3 times the number during the conflict.

     The Sunni insurgency then struck at the heart of the Green Zone on October 26. Around 6:20 am, a donkey cart carrying a disguised rocket launcher was led down the road across from the Al-Rasheed Hotel that housed CPA staff, stopped, and fired 10 rockets at the building. I was on the 10th floor and had four rockets hit around my window. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz on a visit to CPA was staying on the 12th Floor. His team quickly got him out of there. An Army Lt. Colonel was killed and 15 individuals wounded.

Under Attack – From Tom’s Window

 Green Zone life after that attack changed dramatically. We moved out of the Al-Rasheed into other camps, and night-life became very subdued. Insurgents used IEDs to attack CPA convoys to and from Baghdad Airport, and against Bechtel vehicles travelling to work sites. Suicide bombers attacked Iraqis in line at security checkpoints to enter the Green Zone. Rocket attacks into the Green Zone became more frequent, although mostly ineffective. A colleague came home one day and found a hole in the ceiling and an unexploded rocket embedded in his couch where he usually sat to watch tv. Another evening, lots of gunfire erupted around the Green Zone, and I thought that we were under attack. Found out later that the Iraqi national football team had won an important soccer match, and it had been celebratory gun fire – lots of it!

     “We got him!” – On December 13th CPA summoned all staff to a large auditorium for a major announcement. With great anticipation, we watched as Amb. Bremer and CJTF-7 Commander LTG Ricardo Sanchez came onto the stage. Bremer only said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we got him”, and we all knew who the ‘him’ was, the Ace of Spades in the military’s card deck of High-Value Targets. The place went wild; Iraqi staff and media were screaming and crying tears of joy.

Based on intelligence and painstaking analysis of the Sunni tribal networks near Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, a Special Forces task force and units of the 4th Infantry Division found him hiding in a spider hole. Saddam’s sons – Uday and Qusay – had been killed in a firefight with the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul in July. Other High-Value Targets like Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz (died in prison 2010) and Chemical Ali (executed 2010) – the general who used chemical weapons to kill at least 5,000 Kurds – had either surrendered, been killed, or were captured. Saddam was executed by hanging for his crimes on December 30, 2006.

     Violence escalates – Starting in the fall of 2003,there was a dramatic increase in attacks against the Coalition, and then the Sunni insurgency pivoted in March 2004 to attack Kurds and Shi’as. Al-Zarqawi led one of the most lethal Sunni insurgent groups. 200 Shi’a were killed by car bombs in early March. April became a turning point in the sectarian conflict when well-organized Shi’a militias, including the Mahdi Army led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, entered the conflict against Coalition forces as well as Sunni terrorists. The intense First Battle of Fallujah pitted Coalition forces against Sunni insurgents in April. The fighting against Coalition forces would continue until late August 2004.

     Reconstruction work, especially in Baghdad, slowed. But Bechtel’s local Iraqi staff of 300 engineers were able to continue supervision and quality control despite the violence. Rocket attacks on the Green Zone were daily occurrences. USAID made contingency plans to evacuate most expat staff to Jordan and operate from there but never had to implement an evacuation.

Bechtel Corporation Camp in Uday Hussein’s Palace in Baghdad’s Green Zone  (courtesy of TW)

     In May, I decided that after a year in Baghdad, it was time to go home. I remember flying out to Amman and upon arrival felt a great weight being lifted off my shoulders – the stress of being in Iraq. I was so tired and drained. A few weeks later, our classmate Rick Whitaker took my place in Baghdad. CPA transferred full sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government on June 28, 2004. CPA was no more.

     What do I think about OIF? – First of all, Saddam was pure evil, and I supported the OIF objective of overthrowing his regime. The trick was how to assist Iraq to become a democratic regime, when the conflicts and sectarian differences among Sunnis, Shi’as, and Kurds were so strong, and not have this new regime be co-opted by Iran, its powerful Shi’a neighbor to the east. 20 years later, my judgment is that the transition to democracy – while bumpy – has largely succeeded. Iraq has a working democracy despite the internal sectarian and religious divisions.

     Iraq certainly has assisted Iran diplomatically and militarily, for instance by allowing transit of supplies from Tehran across Iraq to Syria. Iran trains and backs Shi’a militias. Baghdad balances this by allowing bases for US forces, mainly to train Iraqi forces and fight ISIS. Iran has significant influence in Baghdad, but I don’t see Iraq as its lackey.

     However, USG’s stated justifications for removing Saddam — Iraq was developing WMD and had links to al Qaeda — while sincere were not anywhere close to reality. These were based on faulty analysis at the CIA and elsewhere. Remember CIA Director Tenant’s comment to President Bush about the case for WMD, “It’s a slam dunk.” I asked a top UN weapons inspector before the invasion what he thought about Iraq’s WMD. He replied that he believed that Saddam got rid of them in late 1990s after his son-in-law, an Iraqi General, defected to Jordan and revealed what he knew. That appears to be what happened. Little evidence of WMD was ever discovered after the occupation, and there never was a connection proven between Saddam and al Qaeda.

     US planning for OIF was highly successful on the military strategic and tactical side but woefully inadequate on the Phase IV side, how to stabilize and rebuild the country. The White House would not or could not bring together DoD and civilian departments to form a plan.

    Finally, the irony is that US set out to disrupt what was thought to be state support for terrorism where, in fact, there was none; and then CPA’s decisions to disband the Iraqi Army and fire Ba’athist party members helped create one of the most vicious terrorist groups ever — ISIS with which we are still fighting.