Posts tagged Army Maj
Retired Generals to Obama: No War of Choice With Iran
Mar 5th
There is a broad consensus that a military strike is both unnecessary and dangerous
by John Glaser, March 05, 2012
Several former high-level military and intelligence officials took out a full page ad in Monday’s Washington Post urging President Obama to resist pressure to attack Iran nuclear program.
The letter retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert G. Gard Jr., retired Marine Gen. Joseph Hoar, retired Army Brig. Gen. John H. Johns, retired Army Maj. Gen. Rudolph Ostovich III, former deputy director of National Intelligence for analysis Thomas Fingar, former CIA national intelligence officer Paul Pillar, and retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson.
The page is headlined “Mr. President: Say No to a War of Choice with Iran,” and is sponsored by the National Iranian American Council, a non-partisan, non-profit organization headquartered in Washington. The letter states that “not every challenge has a military solution” and “unless we or an ally is attacked, war should be the option of last resort.
The ad also features quotations by current and former senior military and intelligence officials explaining why attacking Iran is the wrong move. Those include Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Anthony Zinni, and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen.
The ad is an indication of the widespread belief within the military and intelligence community that a war with Iran is both unnecessary and extremely dangerous. President Obama has faced pressure from hawks in Congress, from Israel, and from domestic lobbies bent on U.S. intervention. He has resisted this pressure, at least for now, but his stated policy is still one of preventive war with Iran, something many saw as an extreme justification for international aggression when it was stated as policy in the George W. Bush administration.
Although the Obama administration has decidedly held off on a military strike for now, they are still heaping harsh economic warfare against Iran for a nuclear weapons program that the U.S. military and intelligence community agrees does not exist.
Boulder war Hero New CU Army ROTC Commander Served three tours in Iraq
Sep 8th
War hereo to lead CU ROTC
In 2003, shortly after arriving in Iraq, an anti-tank mine blew off Army Maj. David Rozelle’s right foot and part of his leg below the knee. Today, after three combat tours in Iraq — two of which came after his injury — Rozelle is the new commanding officer of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Army ROTC program.
“I couldn’t imagine doing anything else right now,” Rozelle said. “I love training soldiers and being with soldiers, especially these young leaders here at CU who are going to be great officers.”
Rozelle’s introduction to the Army began as an ROTC cadet at Davidson College in North Carolina, where he graduated in 1995. After his commissioning, Rozelle served in a number of armor and cavalry assignments before 2001 when he received his orders to report to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs for his first day of duty with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
“9/11 is a special day for me, it’s the day I reported for duty at Fort Carson,” Rozelle said. “A decade later, I’ve gone to war, had my leg blown off, recovered, went back to war a second and third time, and now have come to the University of Colorado to lead and train some of the best officers in the Army. The last 10 years have been a heck of a ride.”
Rozelle started at CU-Boulder in May of this year.
After his 2003 injury, Rozelle was determined not to let the wound define him, and instead vowed to return to service in Iraq. Once his wound healed, he dove into rehabilitation and was fitted with an artificial foot and leg that he wears today. Not only can he walk and run but he also returned to his favorite sport, skiing, just months after his injury. He also returned to Iraq for two additional tours.
“I didn’t let that landmine injury define me, I made it so my recovery from the landmine injury and my return to war was what defined me,” he said.
When it comes to his injury, Rozelle said not only are his students interested, but they’re infatuated with it.
“One of the things I learned eight years ago when I went back to my unit and served again in Iraq was that without meaning to, I was inspiring everybody around me,” he said. “When the cadets are out running and they see me running with them, it’s definitely clear that I’m not going to let them lag behind. It is a motivation for the kids.
“At the same time, it’s also a reminder of the reality of war. I can tell them stories of war because I’ve been there. I’m the old salty pirate back from the sea, missing a leg, so they pay attention.”
Not only did 9/11 and the wars that followed change the way we fight wars, it also changed the way the Army thinks and the way it trains, according to Rozelle.
“Before 9/11 officers in training went into the Army with basic core skills and then the Army provided the on-the-job training,” he said. “After 9/11, your on-the-job training is in Iraq or Afghanistan, so we have to compress a lot more training here in the ROTC phase. The reality is we need leaders now, there’s no time to make them after they graduate.”
One area Rozelle hammers home with his students is the need to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills — skills they will use every day as an officer.
“I also require my soldiers to journal, because they have to be able to accurately record activities in the field, things they saw that were good or bad, so they can remember them and learn from them,” he said.
Rozelle wrote about his experiences in a 2005 book titled “Back in Action: An American Soldier’s Story of Courage, Faith and Fortitude.”
Rozelle will be recognized as a veteran of the Iraq War during the CU vs. Cal-Berkeley football game on Saturday, Sept. 10.
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