‘One John Wayne dude’ tackles relief efforts - Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré (mayor Nagin term for him)

Stars and Stripes ^ | September 4, 2005 | Stars and Stripes

[Former Military Chick]

The man in charge of coordinating the military’s hurricane response is a Louisiana native with previous experience in flood disasters who already has received high marks from one state official for his efforts.

Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré, the man in charge of U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force Katrina, is a former 2nd Infantry Division commander.

Honoré, from Lakeland, La., led 2nd ID in South Korea from October 2000 until July 2002.

During that time he dealt with monsoon-season flooding on many Area I installations and oversaw flood prevention measures put in place following a disastrous 1998 flood that caused more than $150 million in damage to Area I bases.

Honoré is a man who announces his presence with authority.

In an interview with local WWL radio, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin was expressing dismay at the lack of federal help for his city, but said of Honoré:

“I give the president some credit on this, he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is Gen. Honoré, and he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussin’ and people started movin’!

“And he’s getting some stuff done,” Nagin said. “They ought to give that guy — if they don’t want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done.”

Honoré was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry in 1971. He also has served as commander, 4th Battalion, 16th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Germany.

[NittanyLion]

Did you see the CNN clip of him running around, yelling "weapons down" to his troops? It had the look of someone who was purposely trying to humiliate his own troops in front of a populace that seems to need a barrel pointed to the head.

I'm not sure I agree with your assertion that the populace needs a barrel pointed at its head. Certainly there are portions of the populace that do, but it looked to me as though those troops were within a secured area of New Orleans.

It may very well have been that he's drawing a distinction between needless intimidation of cooperative citizens and legitimate actions against lawbreakers. If that's the case, I have no problem with his actions.

[farmer18th]

It may very well have been that he's drawing a distinction between needless intimidation of cooperative citizens and legitimate actions against lawbreakers. If that's the case, I have no problem with his actions.

I'm not quite sure I buy it though. In the first place, why is the acting commander running around in front of a CNN camera crew giving the order himself to troops on the ground? If that's his commnand structure, restoring order is going to be long in coming. In the second place, if the mayor of New Orleans likes the guy, there's something a bit fishy in that. In the third place, why the gratuitous swearing? If the acting commander uses the name of God, I prefer he be on his knees.

This guy looks like a full fledged political quack.

[dynoman]

What I meant was, after the collapse of local authority, was any successor ever appointed to the head of N.O. EMS or whoever the "designated" incident command was.

That's an interesting question. Normally, when disaster management works like it should, disaster management/incident command is transparent. "The public" wouldn't even notice the disaster mangement/incident command in place, all they would see is that the disaster is being managed. On 9/11 I didn't see or read anything about the disaster management/incident command structure in use there - it was working and working well. It's when there is a management/command breakdown or maybe no management/plan in place "the public" notices. I can hardly believe the mayor's comments "if" "they" give authority to "me". I don't know what he is thinking; The authority, by default, already belongs to him and whatever disaster management team he has in place.

Oh well it's is just another symptom of a society that expects to be spoon fed everything.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

JOHN WAYNE 'DUDE'

Lieutenant General Russel L. Honore, Commanding General, First United States Army, Fort Gillem, Georgia

General Honore is a native of Lakeland, Louisiana. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Vocational Agriculture upon graduation from Southern University and A&M College in 1971. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resources from Troy State University as well as an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration from Southern University and A&M College.

General Honore has served in a variety of command and staff positions. His overseas assignments include tours in Korea and Germany. He served as Commanding General, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Vice Director for Operations, J-3, The Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.; Deputy Commanding General and Assistant Commandant, United States Army Infantry Center and School, Fort Benning, Georgia; and Assistant Division Commander, Maneuver/Support, 1st Calvary Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Most recently, General Honore served as Commander, Standing Joint Force Headquarters – Homeland Security, U.S. Northern Command.

General Honore’s awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.

***********************************************************

Honore has some impressive credentials, and I think everyone should cut him some slack. At least he was out on the streets getting his hands dirty and working directly with citizens rather than being holed up in command tent surrounded by MPs somewhere. Here's some more stories about his prior Army activities:

http://ww2.pstripes.osd.mil/01/jul01/ed070601c.html

http://www.army.mil/professionalwriting/volumes/volume3/april_2005/4_05_2.html

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/0805/28natieds.html

http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/comments/c183.htm

http://www.leavenworth.army.mil/milrev/English/SepOct02/honore.htm

http://www.first.army.mil/pao/2005_Articles/1A_Host_Local_Officials.htm

http://www.tradoc.army.mil/pao/TNSarchives/February05/021405.htm

http://www.pittsburghlive.com:8000/x/leadertimes/s_129750.html

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

I agree with your assessment of what happened. It looked to me like those soldiers and cops were pointing their rifles at groups of innocent citizens rather than any looting savages, hence the citizens' applause when Honore ordered them to sling the weapons.

[farmer18th]

Honore has some impressive credentials, and I think everyone should cut him some slack.

In a city where police and soldiers are being shot at by what can only be called primitives, it doesn't take any courage to tell troops to put down their weapons and humiliate them on national television. That is the action of a PR General playing to the cameras.

What's more, his profanity reveals his lack of character, especially on display like that for public consumption.

Generals shouldn't be on the front line, by the way. They should be planning, using their minds. This guy doesn't have one.

[farmer18th]

A soldier who has his rifle up, ready to fire, shouldn't be a threat to a citizen who isn't shooting at him. No?

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

In the third place, why the gratuitous swearing?

Have you ever been around military men in the midst of operations? They can cuss a real blue-streak when thoroughly torqued off! Honore is just par for the course, and I don't think he was grandstanding for the cameras. Looked to me like he was completely ignoring them and going about his business...hence the unrestrained swearing.

[NittanyLion]

In a city where police and soldiers are being shot at by what can only be called primitives, it doesn't take any courage to tell troops to put down their weapons and humiliate them on national television. That is the action of a PR General playing to the cameras.

There may be distinctions that one can draw when on the ground, that we can't sitting in front of our PCs. Honore has a good record, and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until the facts warrant otherwise.

What's more, his profanity reveals his lack of character, especially on display like that for public consumption.

Yeah, I have to admit that profanity in the armed forces is a new one on me. < /sarcasm >

[farmer18th]

Yeah, I have to admit that profanity in the armed forces is a new one on me.

Patton, and Washington for that matter, didn't use that kind of language for rolling cameras or inked quills. After witnessing an act of God on this scale, it's a little disheartening to have such a godless, political showman in charge of the troops. We should have found a better leader.

[NittanyLion]

Patton, and Washington for that matter, didn't use that kind of language for rolling cameras or inked quills.

Or, perhaps it just wasn't reported.

After witnessing an act of God on this scale, it's a little disheartening to have such a godless, political showman in charge of the troops. We should have found a better leader.

Personally, I'm much more concerned about his ability to effectively lead than the words he uses to get the job done. But that's just me.

[photodawg]

Obviously Ray Nagin doesn't want to be the person in charge of this. I'm actually feeling a bit sorry for him; he doesn't sound like a bad guy but it is clear that he is in way over his head.
_____________________________________________________

Please read the posts, threads, blogs (malkin, belmont club, captains quarters), about Nagin's role in the destruction of his own city and then his role in attempting to cover up his culpability by blaming the federal gov't response, before you feel sorry for this guy. He is a cunning politician and deserves no pity. His lack of proper action as defined by the New Orleans disaster response plan, is responsible for much of this national disgrace we have witnessed this past week. The same goes of Gov. Blanco

[farmer18th]

Looked to me like he was completely ignoring them and going about his business...hence the unrestrained swearing.

Now, if you believe he didn't know he was going to be on camera, I have a few municipal water pumps to sell you.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Perception is everything, and he was right to order the troops and cops to stand down. Not everyone in New Orelans is behaving like the animals that were terrorizing the Superdome and the convention center, and those women and kids standing around on the street did not deserve to have those weapons aimed at them in a threatening manner, as if they were on the streets of Baghdad. As for humiliation, there was none, since what Honore gave those soldiers was nothing compared to what a Patton would have given them. Let's get real here. This is the U.S. Army, and officers and NCOs talk to their troops like that all the time. Its nothing new...

[hummingbird]

Patton, and Washington for that matter, didn't use that kind of language for rolling cameras or inked quills

Don't know about Washington, but I gar-run-tee General Patton was not restrained in his language and would not give a "you know what" who heard him. (Blush!)

[farmer18th]

Personally, I'm much more concerned about his ability to effectively lead than the words he uses to get the job done. But that's just me.

He sure got them there quickly, didn't he? I repeat it, if Nagin likes this guy, there is something wrong with him.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

My, we truly are the cynic aren't we...

[NittanyLion]

I repeat it, if Nagin likes this guy, there is something wrong with him.

Nagin's an idiot. He isn't smart enough to know a good leader one way or the other. A roll of the dice is more likely to give us an accurate appraisal than Nagin.

[farmer18th]

Perception is everything

Agreed on that, but what is the perception? He did this for CNN cameras. Did you see the litany of it, the sheer repetition of him barking off his Budweiser mouth at volunteer soldiers pulled from their home to protect these animals? It was the CROWD, I remind you, who keep police from protecting those convention center women in the first place. There is an established pattern in this city of relief workers being shot at. It wasn't the time for the "kinder, gentler" thing.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Patton, and Washington for that matter...

Patton's use of "colorful" language has been well-documented, and because of reporting standards during WWII, none of it ever made it into the papers or on Movietone news. As for Washington, he too routinely used blue wordage to "motivate" his men and officiers, for example at the Battle of Manhattan in 1776. Again, it never made it into the "Pennsyvania Gazette" or the "Virginia Gazette" because of the social proprieties of the time. And don't get me started on the numerous Civil War generals who could cuss the paint off a wall. And anyway, Honore wasn't giving a prepared speech...he was out on the street doing his job and being seen as an authority figure bringing order to a lawless city. Someone had to do it since the mayor and the governor sure as heck wasn't...