Commander Cody...
A short note of congratulations are in order for my good friend and old army pal Dick Cody. That's General Dick Cody, now wearing four stars and named by SecDef Rumsfeld to be the new Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. For people without a military background that means that Dick is now second in the chain of command of the army. And a note. The "commander" refered to above was never Dick's rank, nor an ego trip of some kind for him. The knickname was given to him by us in reference to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, a band of some repute at the time. But the name has stuck; I understand his troops over the years have called him thus, and Dick himself signs his mail that way.
Dick and I go back to 1972 when he and I were lieutenants together in the 25th Infantry Division. Dick and I ran in the same young officer crowd, both had Corvettes and became quite good friends over the years. The photo above is one I took when Dick and I went fishing in Hawaii about 1973. We caught a 200 lb. marlin that day...that photo lost to posterity. And, of course, I had purchased a bed from Dick in '72 that remained with me until last year as chronicled here
Dick had been in the Transportation Corps. when we were in the 25th Div. while I was in the Infantry. He commanded trucks, I commanded infantrymen. So I was surprised some years later when he phoned me in Dallas saying that he was passing through town ferrying Cobra gunships from point A to point B. Dick had yearned for a little more excitement than trucks had to offer and had become a helicopter pilot. And he became a noted one at that.
During the first Iraqi War, Desert Storm, it was Dick's Apache gunships that fired the first shots of the conflict, slipping in at sand dune top level to take out Iraqi radar sites prior to the unleashing of the air war the next day. Dick later went on to command the 101st Airborne Division and most recently has been Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for operations, the G-3.
It is interesting that in the international aviation hall of fame organization, A Gathering of Eagles, two of the seven modern army aviators enshrined are good friends of mine. Dick Cody and Bruce Crandall.
Also interesting, and noteworthy, is the fact that my only two good friends still on active duty in the army are now both of four star rank. Gen. Tom Hill, commander of SouthCom, and now Dick. I think the only conclusion one might draw is that they both took to heart the leadership example I set for them all those years ago.
A short note of congratulations are in order for my good friend and old army pal Dick Cody. That's General Dick Cody, now wearing four stars and named by SecDef Rumsfeld to be the new Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. For people without a military background that means that Dick is now second in the chain of command of the army. And a note. The "commander" refered to above was never Dick's rank, nor an ego trip of some kind for him. The knickname was given to him by us in reference to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, a band of some repute at the time. But the name has stuck; I understand his troops over the years have called him thus, and Dick himself signs his mail that way.
Dick and I go back to 1972 when he and I were lieutenants together in the 25th Infantry Division. Dick and I ran in the same young officer crowd, both had Corvettes and became quite good friends over the years. The photo above is one I took when Dick and I went fishing in Hawaii about 1973. We caught a 200 lb. marlin that day...that photo lost to posterity. And, of course, I had purchased a bed from Dick in '72 that remained with me until last year as chronicled here
Dick had been in the Transportation Corps. when we were in the 25th Div. while I was in the Infantry. He commanded trucks, I commanded infantrymen. So I was surprised some years later when he phoned me in Dallas saying that he was passing through town ferrying Cobra gunships from point A to point B. Dick had yearned for a little more excitement than trucks had to offer and had become a helicopter pilot. And he became a noted one at that.
During the first Iraqi War, Desert Storm, it was Dick's Apache gunships that fired the first shots of the conflict, slipping in at sand dune top level to take out Iraqi radar sites prior to the unleashing of the air war the next day. Dick later went on to command the 101st Airborne Division and most recently has been Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for operations, the G-3.
It is interesting that in the international aviation hall of fame organization, A Gathering of Eagles, two of the seven modern army aviators enshrined are good friends of mine. Dick Cody and Bruce Crandall.
Also interesting, and noteworthy, is the fact that my only two good friends still on active duty in the army are now both of four star rank. Gen. Tom Hill, commander of SouthCom, and now Dick. I think the only conclusion one might draw is that they both took to heart the leadership example I set for them all those years ago.
