This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) |
Frederick M. Franks | |
---|---|
Born | West Lawn, Pennsylvania, United States | 1 November 1936
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1959–1994 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | United States Army Training and Doctrine Command VII Corps 1st Armored Division 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment 1st Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War Gulf War |
Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal (3) Silver Star Legion of Merit (2) Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star Medal (2) Purple Heart (2) |
Other work | Board of Directors, Oshkosh Truck Corporation, author, consultant, public speaker |
Frederick Melvin Franks Jr. (born 1 November 1936) is a retired general of the United States Army. He commanded the Gulf War coalition VII Corps in the highly successful "Left Hook" maneuver against fourteen Iraqi divisions, a number of which were Iraqi Republican Guard, defeating or forcing the retreat of each with fewer than 100 American casualties lost to enemy action.
Born in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, Fred Franks graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1959. [1] After attending the Armor Officer Basic Course, Airborne, and Ranger training, he joined the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Germany. This was followed by an assignment as an instructor at West Point in the 1960s.
Following his duty at West Point, Franks rejoined the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, serving with the unit in Vietnam. In a period of intense combat, he received the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device, the Air Medal, and two Purple Hearts. While fighting in Cambodia he was severely wounded, and after a series of unsuccessful surgeries, lost his left leg, which was amputated below the knee. Franks fought to remain in a combat unit, something not normally granted amputees, and was eventually permitted to remain in combat arms.
Through the 1980s Franks served with the Army Staff in the Pentagon, commanded 1st Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss, served in the Office of the Army Chief of Staff, spent a year at the national War College, held several high-level positions in the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, and, finally, commanded the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, assigned to the East German frontier as the V Corps covering force.
Following promotion to brigadier general in 1984, Franks' flag-level assignments included Commanding General, Seventh Army Training Command, Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Command and General Staff College, and Director of Operational Plans and Interoperability (J-7), where he effectively integrated, for the first time, all joint staff operational planning, interoperability and warfighting functions within a single directorate of the Joint Staff, resulting in significant increases in the joint warfighting capabilities of the United States. In 1988, Franks again returned to Germany to command the 1st Armored Division, and a year later he assumed command of VII Corps.
In early November 1990, Franks was ordered to deploy VII Corps to Saudi Arabia to join the international coalition preparing to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait; and on 24 February 1991, the Desert Storm land assault began, with VII Corps making the main attack. VII Corps consisted of 146,000 American and British soldiers in essentially five armored divisions (one was a mechanized infantry division and one was a cavalry division). This consisted of close to 1600 tanks, American and British, and 800 helicopters. Supporting this was its support command and vital logistics support command comprising over 26,000 soldiers and 15 hospitals. In total, VII Corps consumed over two million gallons of fuel a day. In 100 hours of rapid maneuver and combat, VII Corps fought several engagements with Iraqi forces. Under Franks' leadership, VII Corps units gained decisive victories at the Battle of Al Busayyah, the Battle of 73 Easting, the Battle of Norfolk and the Battle of Medina Ridge.
On the second day of the ground war, General Norman Schwarzkopf publicly expressed frustration over what he characterized as VII Corps' slow pace, allowing elements of the Republican Guard to escape destruction by fleeing toward Basra. Franks later gave his reasons for the slow pace to a documentary filmmaker. He said that "I was thinking of forty eight hours ahead. I wanted to be in a posture that when we hit the Republican Guard, that we would hit them with a fist massed from an unexpected direction at full speed, and so what I needed to do was get the corps in a posture that would allow this to happen." He also worried about friendly fire in the fluid opening phase of ground operations. In his memoir, Franks criticized Schwarzkopf as a career infantryman who had little feel for the maneuvering of armored formations and for being a "chateau general" by trying to run the war from a bunker 400 miles to the south in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [2]
Franks is credited in United States Air Force history in bringing modern day ISR capabilities to the fight. After witnessing a demonstration of JSTARS in exercise Deep Strike in Germany, Franks' positive impression led to him raving about the capability to Schwarzkopf. JSTARS proved indispensable in providing the JFACC with real-time intelligence and targeting information on advancing and retreating Iraqi ground forces. [3]
Following the Gulf War, Franks was promoted to full general, and took over the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. He retired in 1994 after almost 35+1⁄2 years of active Army service.
External videos | |
---|---|
Booknotes interview with Franks and Tom Clancy on Into the Storm, July 13, 1997, C-SPAN |
Franks now serves as chairman of the board of the VII Corps Desert Storm Veterans Association, which assists veterans and next of kin of those who served in VII Corps during Desert Storm. He also collaborated with Tom Clancy on a book, Into the Storm – On the Ground in Iraq . He works with the U. S. Army's Battle Command Training Program for senior tactical commanders and staffs teaching battle command in seminars and simulated war games. He also works as a consultant, speaks publicly on leadership, and teaches senior level battle command at military schools in the United States and United Kingdom. He serves on the Board of Directors of Oshkosh Truck Corporation, the Customer Advisory Board for United Defense Corporation, and the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Military Academy. On 19 March 2011, he received the Guardian of Liberty Award, presented by the West Point Society of Philadelphia at the Union League in Philadelphia.
Franks also received the 2018 Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards given to leaders in disability sector. [4]
The 1st Armored Division, nicknamed "Old Ironsides", is a combined arms division of the United States Army. The division is part of III Armored Corps and operates out of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. It was the first armored division of the United States' Army to see battle in World War II. Since World War II, the division has been involved in the Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Persian Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, and several other operations. The division has also received numerous awards and recognition.
V Corps, formerly known as the Fifth Corps, is a regular corps of the United States Army based at Fort Knox and at Camp Kosciuszko in Poznań, Poland. It was previously active during World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Kosovo War, and the War on Terrorism.
The 1st Infantry Division is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was officially nicknamed "The Big Red One" after its shoulder patch and is also nicknamed "The Fighting First." The division has also received troop monikers of "The Big Dead One" and "The Bloody First" as puns on the respective officially sanctioned nicknames. It is currently based at Fort Riley, Kansas.
The 2nd Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army. The division played important roles during World War II in the invasions of Germany, North Africa, and Sicily and in the liberation of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. During the Cold War, the division was primarily based at Fort Hood, Texas, and had a reinforced brigade forward stationed in Garlstedt, West Germany. After participation in the Persian Gulf War, the division was inactivated in 1995.
The 1st Cavalry Division is a combined arms division and is one of the most decorated combat divisions of the United States Army. It is based at Fort Cavazos, Texas. It was formed in 1921 and served during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, with the Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the Iraq War, in the War in Afghanistan as well as Operation Freedom's Sentinel and Operation Inherent Resolve. As of July 2023, the 1st Cavalry Division is subordinate to III Armored Corps and is commanded by Major General Kevin D. Admiral.
The 3rd Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army. Unofficially nicknamed the "Third Herd", the division was first activated in 1941 and was active in the European Theater of World War II. The division was stationed in West Germany for much of the Cold War and also participated in the Persian Gulf War. On 17 January 1992, still in Germany, the division ceased operations. In October 1992, it was formally inactivated as part of a general drawing down of U.S. military forces at the end of the Cold War.
The VII Army Corps of the United States Army was one of the two principal corps of the United States Army Europe during the Cold War. Activated in 1918 for World War I, it was reactivated for World War II and again during the Cold War. During both World War II and the Cold War it was subordinate to the Seventh Army, or USAREUR and was headquartered at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, West Germany, from 1951 until it was redeployed to the US after significant success in the Gulf War in 1991, then inactivated in 1992.
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was a United States Army general. While serving as the commander of United States Central Command, he led all coalition forces in the Gulf War against Ba'athist Iraq.
The Battle of 73 Easting was fought on 26 February 1991, during the Gulf War, between Coalition armored forces and Iraqi armored forces. It was named for a UTM north–south coordinate line that was used as a phase line by Coalition forces to measure their progress through the desert. The battle was later described by Lt. John Mecca, a participant, as "the last great tank battle of the 20th century." This battle took place several hours after another, smaller, tank battle at Al Busayyah.
Brigadier General Michael A. Ryan was a General Officer in the United States Army.
The Battle of Wadi al-Batin, also known as the Battle of Ruqi Pocket, took place before the beginning of the Desert Storm operations on 16 February 1991. This is not to be confused with the "Battle of Wadi al-Batin" which was fought later in the four-day ground war between elements of the 1st Cavalry Division and the Iraqi Republican Guard.
General Donn Albert Starry was a United States Army four-star general who served as commanding general of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command from 1977 to 1981, and as commander in chief of United States Readiness Command from 1981 to 1983.
The 7th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. In its 200-year history it has participated in 12 wars, been awarded 78 campaign streamers, and 14 unit decorations. The regiment has served in more campaigns than any other infantry unit in the United States Army.
Robert William Cone was a United States Army four-star general who last served as the commanding general of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). He assumed command of TRADOC on April 29, 2011. He previously served as the commander of Fort Hood and III Corps on September 22, 2009, with which he deployed to Iraq in February 2010, and served as the Deputy Commanding General for Operations, United States Forces – Iraq, until February 2011. Prior to that, he served as the Special Assistant to the Commanding General of TRADOC. He retired in 2014.
The history of the United States Army began in 1775, as part of the United States Armed Forces. The Army's main responsibility has been in fighting land battles and military occupation. The Corps of Engineers also has a major role in controlling rivers inside the United States. The Continental Army was founded in response to a need for professional soldiers in the American Revolutionary War to fight the invading British Army. Until the 1940s, the Army was relatively small in peacetime. In 1947, the Air Force became completely independent of the Army Air Forces. The Army was under the control of the War Department until 1947, and since then the Defense Department. The U.S. Army fought the Indian Wars of the 1790s, the War of 1812 (1812–15), Mexican–American War (1846-1848), American Civil War (1861–65), American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War (1898), World War I (1917–18), World War II (1941–45), Korean War (1950–53) and Vietnam War (1965–71). Following the Cold War's end in 1991, Army has focused primarily on Western Asia, and also took part in the 1991 Gulf War and war in Iraq, and the war in Afghanistan.
Lieutenant General Sean Barry MacFarland is a retired three-star general who served in the United States Army.
Paul Edward Funk II is a retired four-star general in the United States Army who last served as the commanding officer of the Army Training and Doctrine Command. He previously served as the 60th Commanding General of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, and as the Commanding General, Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. Funk was born at Fort Hood, Texas, graduated from Fort Knox High School, and was commissioned an Armor Officer through ROTC upon graduation from Montana State University in 1984. His first assignments saw him serve in a variety of Armor and Cavalry roles to include Tank Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, Squadron Commander of 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment and Brigade Commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division located at Fort Hood.
Thomas S. James Jr. is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who last served as the 39th Commanding General of the First United States Army headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. He held his latest position from October 29, 2018, to July 8, 2021, after having previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea.
Major General Albert Cowper Smith was an officer in the United States Army. He is most noted for his service as Commanding General of the 14th Armored Division during the later part of World War II. Smith and his division liberated Prisoner-of-war camps, Oflag XIII-B and Stalag VII-A in April 1945.
John Buchanan Richardson IV is a United States Army major general who was selected in July 2023 for assignment as commanding officer of First United States Army. He served as commander of 1st Cavalry Division from July 2021 to July 2023.the Deputy Commanding General of the III Corps from September 2, 2020, to July 2021. Before that, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Training of the United States Army Forces Command. Richardson is a 1991 graduate of the United States Military Academy.