General Ricardo Sanchez, USA (Ret): Wiser In Battle; A Soldier’s Story

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, USA, (Ret.), who led all coalition ground forces in Iraq, addressed over 200 Latino leaders on September 22nd, 2010 in Washington, DC for the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series. He spoke of inspiration and challenges; of reaching the “heights of glory and depths of despair” in his tenure with the U.S. Army. From overseeing the capture of Saddam Hussein to the scandal of Abu Ghraib, General Sanchez will be remembered as a soldier with not just physical courage, but moral courage as well – the moral courage that gave him the will to stand up and speak out about the military’s behavior, even while commanders were telling him “he was too honest for his own good.”
    He recalled the challenges of his youth and the strength it gave him when he was most tested: “I grew up in one of the poorest counties in Texas where we learned to appreciate the simplest things in life: success, happiness, friendship. The only economic opportunities open to me were to become a custodian or gardener so I persevered in school and at the age of fifteen, when the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps came to my high school, I immediately signed up. I loved the military from the very beginning. And by the time I was a junior in high school, I knew it would be my vehicle out of poverty.”
    Sanchez went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin on an ROTC scholarship, eventually transferring to Texas A&M University in Kingsville, Texas, where he graduated in 1973 with a double major in math and history. Sanchez was named a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG), graduating in the top 10% of all ROTC cadets in the nation. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army.
    He became a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and later throughout posts in the United States, Korea, Panama and Germany. In 1991, then Lieutenant Colonel Sanchez served as a battalion commander during Operation Desert Storm, successfully leading his unit of the 197th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) to Basra without suffering any casualties. Shortly after the Gulf War, Sanchez was promoted to Colonel and given command of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. Afterwards, he served on the staff of U.S. Southern Command, first as deputy chief of staff then as director of operations.
    On July 10, 2001, after promotion to general, Sanchez became commander of V Corps’ 1st Armored Division. He held that position for nearly two years before assuming command of the entire corps on June 14, 2003. On this date he also became commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7, the coalition ground forces in the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.
    In his book, “A Soldier’s Story: Wiser in Battle,” Sanchez writes: “From June 14, 2003, to July 1, 2004, the period immediately following major combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I was the commander of coalition forces, responsible for military activity in the Iraq theater of war. I was there when Saddam Hussein was captured. I was there when the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib occurred. And I was there when low-level enemy resistance expanded into a massive insurgency that eventually led to full-scale civil war. Today, after thirty-three years in the U.S. Army, I can look back with pride on a period of active duty that spanned from the Vietnam era to ground combat in Desert Storm, Kosovo and Iraq. But my military career ended at a place called Abu Ghraib. In 2006, I was forced to retire by civilian leaders in the executive branch of the U.S. government. I was not ready to leave the soldiers I loved. The Army was my life.”
    Since he retired as the highest ranking Hispanic in the U.S. military, he has spoken out about the opportunities the military offers for Latino youth – an environment that has been at the forefront of integrating minorities. He noted at the luncheon: “My country gave me great opportunities. No other segment of society has embraced the concept of equal opportunities as the military has. In my thirty-three years as a warrior, I learned not only how to be wiser in battle, but how to be wiser in life. From my parents, I learned values that lasted a lifetime, including hard work, keeping my word, and always telling the truth. And when I joined the U.S. Army, my personal values were reinforced and sustained by the Army’s values.”
    At the end of his remarks, Latino Leaders Network founder Mickey Ibarra presented General Sanchez with the Nambe Eagle Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to the Latino community and our country, noting: “As America’s top military leader in Iraq during what was one of the most critical periods of the war-the year after the fall of the Hussein regime – Lt. Gen. Sanchez played a central role in a historic period. We honor him for his leadership and his service in defense of our nation.”
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Author

Jennifer Devlin