By There has been a General Honore’ sighting over at the US Army Command and General Staff College:
LTG(R) Russel Honore has had an incredibly successful military career serving in the Army, including commanding a battalion in Operations DESERT SHIELD/STORM, commanding troops all the way from platoon to the First US Army, and most famously for commanding JTF Katrina in 2005. Since retiring in 2008, LTG Honore has worked to create a “culture of preparedness” in America. He has been a senior scientist with The Gallup Organization and a CNN contributor, focusing in both roles on the subject of disaster preparedness, response and recovery. A frequent guest lecturer and presenter to a wide variety of organizations, he is the author of Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters.
LTG(R) Honore addressed the CGSC class 10-01 on a discussion of preparedness, honing in on four areas of preparedness: structural planning requirements or regulations, education, technology and the creation of a National Preparedness Policy. His recommendations are relevant and based not only from his experiences but observations of the New Orleans people’s trials from Hurricane Katrina. He also insisted that Mother Nature will “defeat you,” and that we will need to face things that will defeat us.
His discussion was relevant and entertaining, and I hope that he continues to speak at CGSC events.
–CPT John McGrady, ILE, class 10-01 [CGSC Student Blog]
Some long time ROK Drop readers may remember that General Honore’ long before he received his Hurricane Katrina fame was the 2nd Infantry Division commander in Korea. During his time in 2ID he was very controversial to include being the commander when the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident happened. I don’t think he was the right guy to command a unit in Korea, but I do think there was no one better than him to lead the Hurricane Katrina relief operation though.
1:53 pm on October 27th, 2009 1
I agree with your assessment of the Ragin Cajun…he was NOT a General Gary Luck that’s for sure. I recall his wanting to ’smell BBQ’ coming from all the DFACs in the 2 ID area…what horse squeeze. Narcissist for sure.
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4:16 pm on October 27th, 2009 2
My problem with GEN Honore’ in action was that he yelled at everyone and publicly humiliated them, so in the end no one would speak up. For instance, sitting in a staff meeting and he asks the status of a system. There’s a Major in the front row that knows the status because I just told him. But that Major won’t speak up for fear of getting yelled at, so someone else has to answer the question or it just goes unanswered.
In another incident GEN Honore was on a VTC with DISCOM asking about tank packs. Apparently 2ID blew 4 packs in one weekend. So the DISCOM guy stated basically ‘we looked at historic usage plus upcoming events and balanced that with the budget to have the correct stock on-hand, using 4 packs in one weekend was unexpected’. That seems like a reasonable answer, but the yelling, screaming, and berating from GEN Honore that followed was out of line. Gen H’s quote was “that’s an answer you give Congress. Don’t ever give me that answer again.” Hmmm, wouldn’t some research and readjustment of assumptions have been better than just screaming?
Yelling and screaming has its place for motivation and getting quick action, but the way GEN Honore did it, yelling just hid the truth.
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October 27th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
General Honore didn’t win many friends in 2ID but yelling I can deal with it was the spur of the moment stuff that bothered me. He showed up at my motorpool and chewed my ass to move all my units bradleys to the fence line so he can see his combat power. So instead of my unit keeping to its training schedule we had to spend the day rearranging the motorpool. To top it off the fenceline was a smaller area to park bradleys thus they were parked very close together which was a safety hazard and the soldiers had to walk to the other side of the motorpool to get things out of the connexes, but hey the general could see his combat power.
The things he used to say about Koreans I didn’t much appreciate either.
However, after Katrina that recovery operation needed someone to yell and scream and get people moving which is why I say he was perfect for that job.
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5:44 pm on October 27th, 2009 3
I’m sorry to say but yelling and screaming by General Officers is somewhat common. It seems like LTG Honore was the norm. I do know of General who didn’t yell and screem and seem to be more effective.
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7:48 pm on October 27th, 2009 4
“You sir, are stuck on stupid” his response to a media question during the Katrina recovery. To me, it will always be his defining moment in history.
I often think of that phrase when I am in disagreement with others.
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October 27th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
He used to say that back in his 2ID days as well but it usually included some additional adjectives that can’t be repeated here.
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