(The "H" stood for Herbert, a name Schwarzkopf senior hated so much he only gave his son the initial.) [125], Schwarzkopf died at age 78 on December 27, 2012, of complications following a bout of pneumonia. The parents of one soldier blamed him for the death of their son, a claim that Schwarzkopf strongly denied and termed an accident of war. Over the next several weeks, Schwarzkopf spoke frequently with both reporters and troops under his command, conducting many high-profile press conferences and updates to the situation in Saudi Arabia. Let’s start with General Norman Schwarzkopf. [76] At the time of this appointment, CENTCOM had overall responsibility for U.S. military operations in 19 countries, and had 200,000 service members on call should a crisis arise. [108] Bush then gave Hussein an ultimatum to withdraw from Kuwait by 12:00 on February 23 or Schwarzkopf's ground forces would attack. Billy the Kid was a late 19th-century thief and gunfighter. [145] Schwarzkopf's strategy was to control the message being sent and so he ordered media on the battlefield to be escorted at all times. "[126] In a statement, President Barack Obama said "From his decorated service in Vietnam to the historic liberation of Kuwait and his leadership of United States Central Command, General Schwarzkopf stood tall for the country and Army he loved. Norman Schwarzkopf Dead Born: 8/22/1934 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA Died: 12/27/2012 Age: 78 Cause of death: pneumonia Full name: Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. Nicknamed "Stormin' Norman" because of his hot temper, Schwarzkopf was known for wearing desert camouflage and for his straight talk during the Persian Gulf War. "[138] The later accomplishments of General Tommy Franks during Operation Enduring Freedom were compared favorably with those of Schwartzkopf. Former president George H.W. He became an instant national celebrity and the source of great curiosity by the general public. IN 1991 THE FACE OF U.S. MILITARY POWER WAS GENERAL NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF. Subsequent operations gave more authority to joint commanders in operations and doctrine and emphasized joint warfare doctrine over service-centered doctrine. [109], Schwarzkopf began his ground campaign in earnest at 04:00 on February 24, with the Saudi-led Arab forces attacking into Kuwait City, while two US Marine Corps divisions struck at the oil fields, and the VII Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps on the left flank struck quickly to cut off the Iraqi forces from the west, which would later be known as his "Left Hook" strategy. When weapons of mass destruction were not located in the country after the invasion, he changed his stance. Cheney doubted Schwarzkopf's ability to lead the Gulf War, and so Powell dealt with Schwarzkopf instead. Schwarzkopf was born Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. on August 22, 1934, in Trenton, New Jersey, to Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. and Ruth Alice (née Bowman). [55], Disgruntled by the treatment of Vietnam veterans in the United States after the war, Schwarzkopf considered leaving the military but ultimately decided to stay in the hope of fixing some of the problems encountered by the military during the war. At the time of the change, the "H." in Schwarzkopf's did not stand for anything. Peter W. Chiarelli 12. "[141] In his memoirs, Schwarzkopf responded to these kinds of criticisms by saying his mandate had only been to liberate and safeguard Kuwait and that an invasion of Iraq would have been highly controversial, particularly among Middle Eastern military allies. [14][15] His continuous absence made home life difficult, particularly for his wife. WASHINGTON (AP) — Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn't care much for his popular "Stormin' Norman" nickname. If you recall, his nickname during this time was Stormin’ Norman. After diplomatic relations broke down, he planned and led Operation Desert Storm, an extended air campaign followed by a highly successful 100-hour ground offensive, which defeated the Iraqi Army and liberated Kuwait in early 1991. If that happens, it's inevitably going to be nuclear weapons and the whole thing. Early Origins of the Schwarzkopf family His connection with the Persian Gulf region began at an early age. His plan for direct and overwhelming force was initially criticized in Washington as uncreative. General Norman Schwarzkopf (born 1934) earned the moniker Stormin' Norman during the Persian Gulf War, when he became famous for planning a strategic … While much will be written in coming days of his many accomplishments, his most lasting and important legacies are the tremendous soldiers he trained and led. [125] He supported several children's charities and national philanthropic causes, and he was a spokesperson for prostate cancer awareness, recovery of the grizzly bear from endangered species status, and served on the Nature Conservancy board of governors. [131] His leadership style was sometimes criticized by subordinates who felt it reduced their ability to solve problems creatively. Gen. Schwarzkopf's been tagged with several nicknames over the years, including "Schwarzie," a nickname his father also carried through West Point, "Black Smoke 6," "Colonel Nazi," and the more familiar "Stormin' Norman" and "Bear." Schwarzkopf then attended the Valley Forge Military Academy. H. Norman Schwarzkopf KCB (/ˈʃwɔrtskɒf/; 22 August 1934 – 27 December 2012), also known as Norman Schwarzkopf, was a United States Army general. He and his troops managed to drive out Saddam Hussein's forces in only six weeks. [24] He eventually graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. Norman Schwarzkopf in 1991. Resistance was lighter than Schwarzkopf expected, and Iraqi troops surrendered in large numbers. Ricks said that Schwarzkopf was overly cautious in the execution of his plans because of his fear of repeating mistakes in Vietnam, which meant his troops failed to destroy the Iraqi Republican Guard. [44], After ten months of combat duty, Schwarzkopf was pulled from the front by MACV and reassigned as senior staff adviser for civil affairs to the ARVN Airborne Division. It's terrifying. Schwarzkopf expected the war to last several weeks and had anticipated chemical weapon attacks by the Iraqi forces, which did not occur. Norman Schwarzkopf, Self: The American President. Limited in scope. [11][13] He spent his childhood attached to his father, who subsequently became the narrator for the Gang Busters radio program. John R. Allen, USMC 3. He assumed command of CENTCOM, with his headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and was promoted to general. Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (/ˈʃwɔːrtskɒf/; August 22, 1934 – December 27, 2012) was a United States Army general. During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, he lured victims into his elaborate 'Murder Castle.'. By November 8, Bush agreed to commit 400,000 US troops to Saudi Arabia at Schwarzkopf's insistence. So I think all wars of the future are going to be—and again, God forbid, I hope we don't have any. In retirement, Schwarzkopf served as a military analyst for NBC. He initially endorsed an invasion after Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations on February 6, 2003. He oversaw the strikes from his war room in Riyadh, emerged from his command center late in the day on January 18 to speak to the press, and said the air war had gone "just about exactly as we had intended it to go." Commanded the U.S. and allied forces in the Persian Gulf War (1991). That force too came into heavy contact. Schwarzkopf also gained a great respect for certain military leaders at West Point, notably Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman and Creighton Abrams, believing them excellent commanders who nonetheless did not glorify war. Schwarzkopf was born Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. on August 22, 1934, in Trenton, New Jersey, to Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Sr.[2][3] and Ruth Alice (née Bowman). [44] The couple would later have three children: Cynthia, born in 1970; Jessica, born in 1972; and Christian, born in 1977. He was quick to award praise and medals to the troops, part of what he saw as restoring pride in the US armed forces after the Vietnam War. He became a general in the late 1970s and served as the deputy commander of the U.S. forces during the 1983 invasion of Grenada. [121], Following his retirement, Schwarzkopf attained a status as celebrity, and was highly praised in the news media. [19] The family moved to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1947, following a new military assignment for Herbert Schwarzkopf. Plagued by a cracked vertebra, he underwent back surgery at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 1971. [71], He flew into St. George's on the second day of the operation. eneral Norman Schwarzkopf who commanded allied forces in the … Nicknamed “Stormin’ Norman,” Schwarzkopf was known for being a hard, strategic commander with a temper, but earned much respect by handling the press and diplomats with poise. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Schwarzkopf planned counters both for Iraq's large armored forces, air forces, and elite Republican Guard forces. [10], He attended the Community High School in Tehran, later the International School of Geneva,[23] and briefly Frankfurt American High School, in Frankfurt, Germany (1948–49), and Heidelberg American High School, in Heidelberg, Germany (1949–50). [148], Schwarzkopf was awarded the following military decorations:[149], This article is about the Gulf War general. Norman Schwarzkopf was born on August 22, 1934 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA as Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. By August 5, Bush opted for an aggressive response to the invasion. [40] He got his first combat experience on August 3, when he was the senior adviser to a force of 1,000 South Vietnamese paratroopers sent to relieve a beleaguered South Vietnamese Army force at Đức Cơ Camp. William Seward was a New York governor and U.S. senator before serving as secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Schwarzkopf was survived by his wife Brenda and their three children. [75] In a second role, Schwarzkopf served as the Army's senior member on the Military Staff Committee at the United Nations Security Council, where he began to build diplomatic skills in dealings with representatives from other countries. Fearing that he would set off another landmine, Schwarzkopf pinned the soldier to the ground while another soldier put a splint on the wounded man's leg. From West Point, the younger Norman Schwarzkopf served his country in Europe and all over the United States. When he took command during the Gulf War, he sought an entirely different strategy, which was ultimately successful by favoring greater media coverage but subject to strict controls on the battlefield. Schwarzkopf was highly decorated in Vietnam and was awarded three Silver Stars, two Purple Hearts, and the Legion of Merit. Ann E. Dunwoody 21. "[126] In a letter, Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff General Raymond T. Odierno wrote in a joint statement, "Our nation owes a great debt of gratitude to General Schwarzkopf and our Soldiers will hold a special place in their hearts for this great leader. H.H. [70] Schwarzkopf helped lead the initial landing operations while he was aboard USS Guam. Schwarzkopf supported a number of charities, including children's organizations. [107] By January 20 he announced Iraq's nuclear test reactors had been destroyed, and by January 27 he announced that the coalition had total air superiority in Iraq. [134][135], The quick and decisive results of the Gulf War were attributed to Schwarzkopf's leadership. That's a very dangerous place for the nation to be when your own army is going to stop and question. He would usually not attack media coverage, even if negative, unless he felt it was blatantly incorrect. [85] Schwarzkopf, in particular, was very adamant to avoid repeating many of the policies governing military operations in Vietnam, especially the slow escalation of air power and troop force. [110][111], Within 90 hours, his force had destroyed 42 of 50 Iraqi Army divisions at a cost of about 125 killed and 200 wounded among American troops,[112] and about 482 killed, 458 wounded among all of the coalition. He declined to measure the success of the campaign by counting suspected Iraqi casualties, believing that would undermine his credibility. [97], By then, Schwarzkopf commanded an international army of 750,000,[59] comprising 500,000 US troops and 250,000 troops from other nations, as well as thousands of main battle tanks, combat aircraft and six carrier battle groups. [62], In July 1978, Schwarzkopf became deputy director of plans at the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. He was later questioned about running for political office, but, considering himself an independent, expressed little interest in doing so. Schwarzkopf was presented with military honors. Ricks further criticized Schwarzkopf for failing to relieve General Frederick M. Franks Jr. as well as other subordinates who Schwarzkopf said, in his memoirs, were ineffective. [98] He planned a strategic bombing campaign to precede an offensive into Kuwait,[99] simultaneously striking the forward Iraqi forces and their supply lines. Some speculated that the popular general might make a bid for public office, but he chose to focus on other interests instead. He went to school there and later in Geneva, Switzerland. Schwarzkopf graduated from West Point and … [2][54] Still, his experiences in Vietnam embittered him to foreign policy. In some press conferences, he showed and explained advanced war-fighting technology that the U.S. possessed to impress the public. https://www.biography.com/military-figure/norman-schwarzkopf. For his father, the major general and lead investigator in the. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Schwarzkopf grew up in the United States and later in Iran. These also had the side effect of distracting the public from focusing on U.S. casualty counts or the destruction wrought in the war. Most of the US and allied forces, however, were not combat veterans, and Schwarzkopf and the other allied commanders wanted to fight cautiously to minimize casualties. While he initially did not think the US should have been involved in the conflict, he later said he considered the mission a success because it reasserted the dominance of the US military after the Vietnam War. He was assigned as executive officer to the chief of staff at MACV headquarters, based at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. On February 17, 1970, two men in C Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry were killed by friendly fire from an American artillery shell that had been ordered by Schwarzkopf but had struck a tree near their position on its way to a target. In 1946, when he was 12, he and the rest of his family moved to Iran to join their father, who was stationed in Tehran. Peter de la Billière, commander of the British contingent, and Michel Roquejeoffre, commander of the French contingent, also co-operated well with Schwarzkopf. [96], Schwarzkopf devised an operational plan, dubbed "Operation Desert Storm," to be based on overwhelming force and strong infantry attacks supported by artillery and armor. In January 1952, Schwarzkopf's birth certificate was amended to make his name "H. Norman Schwarzkopf." [126], Schwarzkopf endorsed George W. Bush in the 2000 U.S. presidential election and the 2004 U.S. presidential election. [31][32] He graduated 43rd of 480 in the class of 1956 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. Assuming command of United States Central Command in 1988, Schwarzkopf was called on to respond to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by the forces of Ba'athist Iraq under Saddam Hussein. His father was also called General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. [126] In 2004, he was critical of Donald Rumsfeld and his handling of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ralph E. Eberhar… [79] In early 1990, he drafted a war plan, Operations Plan 1002-90, titled "Defense of the Arabian Peninsula," which envisioned an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia through Kuwait. 1. [26] His large frame, 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) in height and weighing 240 pounds (110 kg), was advantageous in athletics. George W. Casey, Jr. 11. Nickname: Stormin' Norman Noted For: U.S. Army general. [102], Schwarzkopf also had an agreeable relationship with his deputy commander, Lieutenant General Calvin Waller, who handled much of the administrative burden. James T. Conway 15. [Note 2] He was also a member of Mensa. He led one of the shortest and most decisive military victories in US History. [87] Schwarzkopf planned supply lines for the 50,000 troops initially sent to Saudi Arabia, tapping Major General William G. Pagonis as director of the logistical operations, with US Air Force cargo aircraft landing supplies at Dhahran and US Navy ships offloading troops and supplies at Dammam. [28][29] Schwarzkopf then attended the United States Military Academy, where he played football, wrestled, sang and conducted the West Point Chapel choir. Schwarzkopf remained at his command in Riyadh until December and made frequent frontline visits to the troops. [124] Schwarzkopf sold the rights to his memoirs to Bantam Books for $5,000,000. [89] On December 29, 1990, he received a warning order from The Pentagon to be ready to attack into Iraq and Kuwait by January 17. After a number of initial training programs, Schwarzkopf interrupted a stint as an academy teacher and served in the Vietnam War, first as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Army and then as a battalion commander. [93], Initially, Operation Desert Shield involved a sea interdiction campaign that saw international warships detaining and inspecting tankers from Iraq. [22] From a young age, Norman wanted to be a military officer, following his father's example. "[137] Atkinson further contended that in his leadership during the Gulf War, Schwarzkopf conducted one of the greatest military campaigns of all time, providing the United States with its "first battlefield hero in decades. He was involved in an incident where the colonel commanding the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit initially refused to fly Army troops in Marine helicopters. In August 1991, moving to Tampa, Florida, USA while serving as the commander of the military had... 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