Thank you for your comment. This story is really about Dick Cavazos, but Powell was also a well respected officer. His political career is a different chapter of is story.
Do you know either?
Sorry, but I knew Powell and, despite widely-held impressions, he was NOT a well-respected officer. I met him when he commanded V Corps (for about six months), then when he was Chairman and again when he was Sec State (I was detailed to the White House staff). Some of the officers on his staff were good friends of mine. Powell was widely regarded as a highly-political “ticket puncher” - an officer who stayed in a position - especially command position - only long enough to get credit for it, then moved on to another; i.e., punch the necessary tickets for promotion. When he was SecState, he and Rumsfeld pretty much held themselves above the rest of the cabinet.
I did not/do not know Gen Cavazos, who left command of III Corps at Fort Hood at about the same time I got there, but he did have a superb reputation. I also know LTG Becton and have spoken with him a number of times since his retirement. The one officer “of color” that I knew very well was GEN Daniel “Chappie” James. GEN James was my father’s squadron and wing commander in Florida, then Thailand and they stayed in touch until GEN James’ death shortly after his retirement. To quote my late father, “Chappie was only an average fighter pilot, but one hell of an officer!” GEN (then LtCol) James told me when I was 11, “...I don’t get into a Phantom, I put it on.”