Schwarzkopf, H. Norman (1934–)

Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Central Command

Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf concluded a long U.S. Army career as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command during the 1990 to 1991 Persian Gulf War. With the swift allied victory over the armies of the Republic of Iraq in Operation Desert Storm, Schwarzkopf became a celebrity, virtually overnight.

Schwarzkopf was born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1934. His father was a West Point graduate and World War I veteran who returned to active duty in World War II. After the war, young Norman and the rest of the family joined Brigadier General Schwarzkopf in Iran and subsequently followed him to duty stations in Geneva, Berlin, and Rome. Despite developing somewhat of a “continental” self-image during his overseas adolescence, Schwarzkopf was intent on following his father in pursuing a career in the U.S. military.

In 1956, Schwarzkopf graduated from West Point, ranked 42nd out of 485 graduates, and was commissioned a [Page 771]2nd lieutenant of infantry in the U.S. Army. During the early years of his career, his activities included attending numerous military schools, earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Southern California, and serving two tours teaching mechanics at West Point. He also served two tours in Vietnam, the first as an adviser with a Vietnamese airborne division; the second was as a staff officer at U.S. Army Vietnam headquarters, and subsequently commanding a battalion in the Americal Division. He was wounded twice in Vietnam and received numerous decorations for valor.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Schwarzkopf's assignments included attending the Army War College, serving as military assistant to the assistant secretary of the Army for financial management, and commanding at the brigade, division, and corps levels. In 1983, Schwarzkopf commanded Army forces in Operation Urgent Fury, the U.S. invasion of Grenada in which notoriously disjointed American forces overwhelmed the small Grenadan and Cuban forces garrisoning the island.

In November of 1988 Schwarzkopf was promoted to four-star rank and became head of the U.S. Central Command, the unified command focused on the Middle East region. The end of the Iran–Iraq War that year left the region somewhat less chaotic for a short interlude. With Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, however, Schwarzkopf would find himself the center of U.S. and world attention.

During the course of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm (the defensive operations/military buildup in Saudi Arabia, and the offensive to retake Kuwait, respectively), Schwarzkopf was elevated from obscurity to one of the most widely recognized American military officers of the post–World War II era. Along with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell, Schwarzkopf became the public face of the American military amid the media frenzy that developed during the buildup to war in the Persian Gulf.

In 1991, Schwarzkopf was hailed as a brilliant strategist for directing the now-famous “left hook” operational movement that outflanked the Iraqi forces through the open desert. In some later analyses, however, he drew increasing criticism. In particular, retired marine Lt. Gen. Bernard Trainor and New York Times correspondent Michael Gordon argued that Schwarzkopf became fixated on his plans and failed to perceive early-on that the Iraqi forces were much more brittle than had been expected; in consequence, the intended diversionary frontal assault that was supposed to “fix” the Iraqi forces in Kuwait for envelopment by the “left hook” instead sent them into pell-mell flight and allowed them to escape across the Iraqi frontier ahead of the VII Corps knockout punch. This, coupled with Schwarzkopf's acquiescence in General Powell's pressure for a quick end to the war, allowed the bulk of the Iraqi Army to survive the war. This in turn aided Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in suppressing postwar rebellions and reconsolidating his control of Iraq—consequences that tarnished the Desert Storm victory, as Iraq remained a threat to American interests in the region in the years that followed. Despite this, Schwarzkopf's reputation remained largely unsullied by his postwar critics.

...