Ricardo S. Sánchez

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LTG Ricardo Sanchez

Ricardo S. Sánchez (* 1953 in Rio Grande City , Texas ) is a former Lieutenant General in the US Army . From July 2003 he was Commander in Chief of the US-led Multi-National Force Iraq for one year .

Military career

In 1973 he graduated from Texas A&M University-Kingsville with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and history . During his studies he received a ROTC scholarship and was therefore drafted into the US Army after graduation and trained as a second lieutenant with the armored forces. His first use was as a platoon commander in the 4th Battalion , 68th US armored regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg (North Carolina) . This was followed by assignments as first officer of a company , as assistant logistics officer and operations officer ( S3 ) in the same division.

Sánchez later became the orderly officer of the assistant division commander. In June 1977 he took command of the C Company of the 4th Battalion, 68th US Armored Regiment. He was then used as a control officer in the office of the Secretary of the Joint Staff of US Forces Korea , the 8th US Army . Sánchez graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey , California with a master's degree in operations research and systems analysis engineering and was then assigned to the US Army Armor Center in Fort Knox , Kentucky . He served there as the head of the Department of Future Armored Defense Systems, the Special Studies Group, and the Armored Investment and Strategy Group. He was also used as a project officer in the directorate of the combat development center.

After that, a foreign use in closed Gelnhausen , Germany, where he as operations officer (S3) and First Officer (XO) of the 3rd Battalion, 8th US Cavalry Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division served and then as deputy operations officer (G3) of the Division in Frankfurt am Main . In June 1990 he took command of the 2nd Battalion, 69th US Armored Regiment of the 197th US Infantry Brigade in Fort Benning , Georgia and led it in combat during Operations Desert Shield / Storm in Kuwait and Iraq . After the war, his brigade was transferred to the 3rd Brigade of the 24th US Infantry Division . After this troop command, he worked as an investigator for the office of the Inspector General of the US Army in Washington, DC . In July 1994 he took command of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st US Infantry Division (the later 3rd Brigade of the 1st US Armored Division ) in Fort Riley , Kansas . He was then transferred to the headquarters of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Quarry Heights , Panama , where he served as the deputy chief of staff.

After promotion to Brigadier General , Sánchez became Director of Operations and later Director of Strategic Planning (J-3 / J-5) of SOUTHCOM. After this assignment he became assistant division commander of the 1st US Infantry Division in Germany. During this time he was also the commander of the Multinational East Brigade of KFOR in Kosovo . He then took over the post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Operations Headquarters of the 7th US Army / US Army Europe in Heidelberg .

LTG Ricardo Sanchez at a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq

On July 10, 2001, Sánchez became Commanding General of the US 1st Armored Division in Wiesbaden , Germany, for two years . During this time he led the division in Operation Iraqi Freedom I in April 2003. On June 14, 2003 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and took over command of the United States Corps and Combined Joint Task Force 7 in Iraq. After the chain of command was restructured, he was Commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq from May 15, 2004 to July 4, 2004 . During his tenure, the coalition forces managed to arrest the former dictator Saddam Hussein .

After the Abu Ghuraib torture scandal , he was removed from his post and replaced by General George W. Casey Jr. in July 2004 . Originally intended for promotion to general in order to possibly take over command of the US Southern Command , this project was abandoned because the Armed Services Committee of the US Senate would not have confirmed this because of the scandal. The post went to General Bantz J. Craddock . Sánchez's role as indirectly responsible for the Abu Ghuraib scandal led to his transfer to the US Corps and denied promotion to general. After handing over command, he commanded the 5th US Corps in Germany. However, when the corps made preparations in November 2005 to take command as headquarters ( Multi-National Corps Iraq ; MNC-I) in Baghdad , Lieutenant General Peter W. Chiarelli was installed as forward commander. However, Sánchez and with him the corps' troop flag remained unusually in Germany. On September 6, 2006, Sánchez did not hand over command in the Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg, as usual, to his successor, Major General Fred D. Robinson , who at that time had not yet been determined as his successor, but to his superior David D. McKiernan . Sánchez finally retired on November 1, 2006.

His training as a tank officer includes the Command and General Staff College and the US Army War College . He is married and has two daughters and two sons.

Awards

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

literature

References

References

  1. ↑ Article by MSNBC (English)
  2. ↑ Stripes.com (English)

Web links

Commons : Ricardo Sanchez  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Sánchez, Ricardo S.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American military, Lieutenant General in the US Army
DATE OF BIRTH 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Rio Grande City , Texas