Retired US General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78.
An official said Gen. Schwarzkopf died in Tampa, Florida.
A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Gen. Schwarzkopf was known popularly as Stormin’ Norman for his explosive temper.
He lived in retirement in Tampa, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of US Central Command. That is the headquarters responsible for US military and security concerns in nearly 20 countries from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan.
Gen. Schwarzkopf became CINC-Centcom in 1988 and when Saddam invaded Kuwait three years later to punish it for allegedly stealing Iraqi oil reserves, he commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of some 30 countries organised by then-President George H.W. Bush that succeeded in driving the Iraqis out.
“Gen. Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomised the ‘duty, service, country’ creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises,” Bush said in a statement. “More than that, he was a good and decent man – and a dear friend.”
At the peak of his post-war national celebrity, General Schwarzkopf – a self-proclaimed political independent – rejected suggestions that he run for office, and remained far more private than other generals, although he did serve briefly as a military commentator for NBC.
While focused primarily in his later years on charitable enterprises, he campaigned for President Bush in 2000 but was ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and Pentagon predicted.
In early 2003 he told The Washington Post the outcome was unknown: “What is post-war Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That’s a huge question, to my mind. It really should be part of the overall campaign plan,” he said.
Initially Gen. Schwarzkopf had endorsed the invasion, saying he was convinced that former Secretary of State Colin Powell had given the UN powerful evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
After that proved false, he said decisions to go to war should depend on what UN weapons inspectors found.
He seldom spoke up during the conflict, but in late 2004, he sharply criticised then-Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon for mistakes that included inadequate training for army reservists sent to Iraq and for erroneous judgements about Iraq. “In the final analysis I think we are behind schedule. I don’t think we counted on it turning into jihad (holy war),” he said in an NBC interview.
Gen. Schwarzkopf was born on August 24, 1934, in Trenton, New Jersey, where his father, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr, founder and commander of the New Jersey State Police, was then leading the investigation of the Lindbergh kidnap case, which ended with the arrest and 1936 execution of German-born carpenter Richard Hauptmann for stealing and murdering the famed aviator’s infant son.
The elder Mr Schwarzkopf was named Herbert, but when the son was asked what his ‘H’ stood for, he would reply, ‘H’.
Although reputed to be short-tempered with aides and subordinates, he was a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who did not like Stormin’ Norman and preferred to be known as the Bear, a sobriquet given him by troops.
He also was outspoken at times, including when he described General William Westmoreland, the US commander in Vietnam, as “a horse’s ass”.
As a teenager Norman accompanied his father to Iran, where the elder Schwarzkopf trained the country’s national police force and was an adviser to Reza Pahlavi, the young Shah of Iran.
Young Norman studied there and in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, then followed in his father’s footsteps to West Point, graduating in 1956 with an engineering degree.
After stints in the US and abroad, he earned a Master’s degree in engineering at the University of Southern California and later taught missile engineering at West Point.
In 1966 he volunteered for Vietnam and served two tours, first as a US adviser to South Vietnamese paratroops and later as a battalion commander in the US Army’s American Division.
He earned three Silver Stars for valour – including one for saving troops from a minefield – plus a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and three Distinguished Service Medals.
While many career officers left military service embittered by Vietnam, Gen. Schwarzkopf was among those who opted to stay and help rebuild the tattered Army into a potent, modernised all-volunteer force.
After retiring from the army in 1992, Gen. Schwarzkopf wrote a best-selling autobiography, It Doesn’t Take a Hero.
Of his Gulf war role, he said: “I like to say I’m not a hero. I was lucky enough to lead a very successful war.”
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and honoured with decorations from France, Britain, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
Gen. Schwarzkopf was a national spokesman for prostate cancer awareness and for Recovery of the Grizzly Bear, served on the Nature Conservancy board of governors and was active in various charities for chronically ill children.
“I may have made my reputation as a general in the army and I’m very proud of that,” he once said.
“But I’ve always felt that I was more than one-dimensional. I’d like to think I’m a caring human being. ... It’s nice to feel that you have a purpose.”
Gen. Schwarzkopf and his wife, Brenda, had three children.