Henry H. Shelton

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General Henry H. Shelton

Henry Hugh Shelton , KBE (born January 2, 1942 in Tarboro , North Carolina ) is an American general and was the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff .

Military career

Training and first uses

Shelton attended North Carolina State University and was a member of the Pershing Rifles , a student organization founded by General John J. Pershing . He graduated with a bachelor's degree in textile processing and joined the US Army through the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) . He also received a Masters in Political Science from Auburn University in 1973 and studied at Air Command and Staff College and National War College .

From November 1963 to April Shelton was a platoon leader in the headquarters company of 1st Battalion , 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Hood , Georgia . He was then transferred to Fort Benning , Georgia, and completed the ranger training there from April to June 1964 . From June 1964 to July 1965 he was at Fort Benning as a platoon leader in the D Company, 1st Battalion, 5th US Cavalry Regiment, the 1st US Cavalry Division and during this time, on September 19, 1964, he was assigned to the Second Lieutenant and promoted to First Lieutenant on January 7, 1965 . From July 1965 to September 1966, Shelton was a member of the US Army Reserve and was not on active duty.

Service in the Vietnam War

A service round in the Vietnam War followed from September 1966 to July 1967 . Shelton served as platoon leader, Detachment B52, 5th Special Forces Group , U.S. Army Special Forces Command . On March 19, 1967, he was promoted to captain and then led Detachment A-104, C Company, 5th Special Forces Group of the US Army Pacific from July to December 1967 .

Back in the United States , he served as Executive Officer of the 11th Battalion, 3rd Training Brigade, US Army Training Center in Fort Jackson , South Carolina , until March 1968 . He then served as the brigade's logistics officer ( S4 ) until December of the same year . From January 1969 to January 1970 he served again in Vietnam , this time in the 173rd US Airborne Brigade , first as an intelligence officer (S2), then as company commander of C Company and then as acting operations officer (S3) of 4th Battalion, 503 US Infantry Regiment, Brigade.

Staff assignments

After these missions abroad, Shelton completed the extended infantry officer course at the US Army Infantry School in Fort Benning from March 1970 to November 1970 and was then employed as an instructor and later operations officer in the school's ranger department until July 1972. He then graduated from Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama from August 1972 to June 1973 and then served in the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii from July 1973 to July 1975 as a personnel officer (S1) and later as an operations officer (S3 ) 2nd Brigade, 25th US Infantry Division . In this position he was promoted to major on February 7, 1974 . He was then transferred to the divisional staff and served there from July 1975 to June 1976, first as head of the personnel department for officers and later as deputy personnel general staff officer (G1). After this staff assignment, he took over a troop command again, this time until June 1977 as Executive Officer of the 1st Battalion, 14th US Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, the division in Hawaii.

Back in the CONUS , Shelton served from June 1977 to April 1979, first as a development officer in the weapons department and later as head of the uses department in the majors division in the personnel directorate of the US Army Military Personnel Center in Alexandria , Virginia . During this time he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on November 6, 1978 .

Then he was transferred to Fort Lewis in the US state of Washington placed and served there from April 1979 to June 1981 as commander of the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, the 9th Infantry Division . He was then transferred to the division headquarters, where he served as assistant chief of staff for operations until June 1982.

From June 1982 to June 1983 Shelton graduated from the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, DC After that he was chairman of a commission of inquiry into reserve matters in the office of the deputy chief of staff of the US Army until October. On October 1, 1983, Shelton was promoted to colonel and took command of the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg , North Carolina by October 1985 . After this command he was transferred to Fort Drum , New York, and served there until July 1987 as Chief of Staff of the 10th US Mountain Division . From July 1987 to June 1988 Shelton served again in Washington, this time as deputy director of operations in the National Military Command Center and from June 1988 to July 1989 responsible for current operations (J3). During this time he was promoted to Brigadier General on August 1, 1988 .

Service in the rank of general

Shelton at a press conference in 1999.
Gene. Shelton with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2001.

From July 1989 to May 1991, Shelton served as the assistant division commander of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell , Kentucky , under the command of Major General J. H. Binford Peay III. He was deployed from August 1990 to March 1991 with the division in Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Storm . From May 1991 to May 1993 Shelton finally took command of the 82nd Airborne Division and was promoted to Major General on October 1, 1991. He was then appointed Lieutenant General on June 7, 1993 and led from then until February 1996 the superior XVIII. U.S. Airborne Corps . In this role, he headed the Joint Task Force Haiti from September to October 1994 , which was used in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti .

On February 29, 1996 Shelton took command of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida and led this until September 25, 1997, where he was appointed general on March 7, 1996.

On October 1, 1997, Shelton was sworn in as the 15th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , making him the first chairman to come from the ranks of the Special Forces and only the second graduate of the Reserve Officers Training Corps in that position (after Colin Powell ) . His term in office fell at a time when the US armed forces were involved in many operations around the world, including B. the Kosovo war . Shelton also coined the term Dover Test . This "test" indicated US public support for a war after seeing the dead US soldiers from conflict arriving at Dover Air Force Base .

During his tenure, Shelton stood up for the interests of the soldiers, their families and veterans. This happened z. B. with the largest pay increase since the 1980s. In 1999 he also initiated the establishment of the US Joint Forces Command , which is responsible for the transformation of the US armed forces and is to lead them into the 21st century.

During the events of September 11th, Shelton was on a plane en route to London , so his deputy, General Richard B. Myers , assumed the post of chairman and succeeded him on October 1, 2001 as 16th chairman.

His awards include a .: the Defense Distinguished Service Medal , with triple oak leaves, the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaves, the Legion of Merit , a kind of medal of merit, the Bronze Star for bravery and the Purple Heart . In 2001 he was knighted by Elizabeth II , making him Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE).

In his autobiography "Without hesitation: the odyssey of an American warrior", Shelton reported in 2010, among other things, that President Bill Clinton misplaced the code card for nuclear operations of the US Army, The Biscuit , for several months in 2000 .

Shelton has been married to Carolyn L. Johnson since 1963. You have three sons.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

Web links

Commons : Henry Shelton  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://lccn.loc.gov/2010037249
  2. ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/WN/president-bill-clinton-lost-nuclear-codes-office-book/story?id=11930878
  3. ↑ Clinton messed up nuclear code ( memento of October 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Shelton, Henry H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shelton, Henry Hugh (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American general
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Tarboro , North Carolina