Chris Marshall (US President)
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| Image |  |
| Current Title | President Chris W. Marshall |
| Current Position: | President of the United States of America |
| Previous Positions: | Chief of Staff, US Army (1999-2002) Commander, TRADOC (1997-1999) Combatant Commander US European Command (1995-1997) Commander, XVIII Airborne Corps (1993-1995) Commanding Officer, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assualt) (1992-1993) Commanding Officer, 82nd Airborne Division (1989-1991) |
| Term of Office: | 21st January 2005 to present |
| Predecessor: | George W. Bush |
| Successor: | Incumbent |
| Birthdate: | 29th September, 1945 |
| Place of Birth: | Dallas, Texas |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Profession | Politician, Army Officer |
| Political party | New Republican Party |
| Languages spoken | English Spanish Vietnamese German Korean (partial) |
| Degrees | Bachelor of Science (USMA, 1967) U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Graduate Course (1981) Master of Public Administration (1985) |
| Honours | Silver Star Bronze Star with V device Purple Heart Defense Distinguished Service Medal Commendation Medal Legion of Merit Army Distinguished Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal Army Service Ribbon Army Overseas Service Ribbon National Defense Service Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Vietnam Service Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal United Nations Medal Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) Inter-American Defense Board Medal |
Chris W. Marshall is the forty-fourth President of the United States of America. He is a retired US Army Gofficer, who rose to the rank of General, and the post of Chief of Staff of the US Army.
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Early Life
Chris Marshall was born in Dallas, Texas the son of a school teacher, and a fireman. He had a military interest from an early age, but during his childhood was regarded as a tear-away. He fought often, and was in constant trouble with his teachers, though he achieved well in school.
His parents eventually tired of his antics, and as his father frequently threatened, he was sent to Military school. At the age of fourteen in 1959, Chris Marshall was enrolled in the New Mexico Military Institute. The New Mexico Military Institute seemed to provide the envrionment Marshall needed to flourish. He became an ambitious cadet officer, and was on a fast track to West Point. He graduated a Cadet Captain.
Military Service
Marshall did well at West Point, and graduated a Bachelor of Science in 1967. Being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, he went straight to Vietnam. He served three tours in Vietnam (1967-68, 1970-71, 1971-72), and distinguished himself, earning a Silver Star and Purple heart during the Tet offensive. Between tours in Vietnam, Marshall served in Germany, where he met the lady he would marry, Klara Gruenewald. Marshall in the Army seemed to have kept his "outsider" image from his schooling. It was exceptionally rare for a US Army officer deployed overseas to marry a local woman.
Marshall transferred over to the Rangers in 1969 in time to return to Vietnam in 1970. Details of his service in Vietnam are sketchy. They form the only part of Marshall's military service which are not at all a part of the publically released records. There are rumours that Marshall became a part of SOG, perhaps even the Phoenix program.
After leaving Vietnam for the last time, Marshall moved steadily up the ranks, switching from Special Forces to Armour in 1977, in 1980 he went back to Airborne. He commanded the 82nd Airborne Division's Light Armoured Battalion operating M551 Sheridans. He became an Infantry Officer once again to achieve promotion to Colonel, and command of a Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division. He led his Regiment into Grenada in 1983. He moved back to Armour in Germany in 1986, but returned to the 82nd Airborne in 1989, in time to lead it into Panama.
He remained with it until after Desert Storm. He then went to the 101st Airborne, and then the XVIIIth Airborne Corps.
General Marshall
In 1995, Marshall received his fourth-star, and a return to Germany to command all US forces in Europe, and by extension, NATO's military forces as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Marshall, unlike many Generals saw the implications that computers, and networking could have for the Army, and while in Europe, developed an idea for the transformation of the US Army. Marshall had developed a good relationship with Secretary of Defense Cohen, and was allowed to press his plans. Cohen advised President Clinton to appoint Marshall to lead the US Army's Training and Doctine Command, or TRADOC.
Transformation of the US Army
Marshall's idea was to reorganise and partially reequip the Army. The Army would be organised around fully integrated Brigade groups, with combat brigades and special theatre support brigades. The divisional headquarters would disappear from the US Army, with commands flowing from the President, to the Secretary of Defense, to the Combatant Commander, to the Joint Theatre Commander to the Brigade.
There would be several types of Brigade, the heavy Armoured Cavalry would be used for intense warfighting roles, the medium Infantry Brigade for less intense warfighting roles, and the Light Infantry Brigade for peacekeeping and counter-insurgency. Airborne and Airmobile brigades would retain their traditional roles.
He also pushed for some new equipment, networking and communications equipment was top priority. New vehicles including a medium tank variant of the Bradley, a new version of the M113 based on the AIFV concept, the M8 Armoured Gun System, the M1A2 SEP, M2A3/M3A3 Bradley, HIMARS, and South African-designed Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles for light infantry.
Marshall put his program in action as head of TRADOC, and Chief of Staff of the US Army.
Departure from the Army
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Marshall advocated war with Afghanistan, but said it should be a primarily ground war with Airborne troops and light armour taking the front role, with very little aerial action. He was overruled by the Rumsfeld Defense Department which favoured a bomb-and-occupt strategy with heli-borne light infantry and special forces as the only US ground troops. He was overheard referring to Bush and Rumsfeld as "damned jet jockeys".
Marshall also made a more controversial recommendation, he recommended that the CIA's programme of covert paramilitary action be permanently abandoned. This placed him at odds with the Administration, which favoured covert action. Reminding the CIA of blowback from Iran and Afghanistan, which Marshall believed to be at the root of the problem did not sit well with Bush or Rumsfeld.
During 2002 he publically stated that CIA covert action was simply not productive, and had never been. He pointed out that the CIA's covert actions had not benefitted the national security of the United States at all, and said that all activities beyond intelligence gathering should be under full military control.
This was too much for Rumsfeld, and General Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was called in, and ordered to curb his tongue.
He told Secretary Rumsfeld that "my differences with the Administration make it impossible to continue my duty as Chief of Staff of the United States Army."
Rumsfeld said "You've done a great job, a truely incredible job. Please don't tell me you are quitting."
Marshall replied "Mr. Secretary, as much as I hate the idea, I feel I have to. I do not believe that the Administration's conduct of the War on Terror, or the Cold War is good for the national security of the United States. I have tried to advise the Administration to a course that I believe is more appropriate, but my advice has not been heeded. I am not merely a soldier who follows orders, My main roles are to lead those under me, and advise those above me. I can do one, but the past few months has made me see that I cannot do the other."
"General, I do value your advice, all of us in the Administration do." Myers added that the rest of the Joint Chiefs did as well.
Marshall knew he never truely fitted into Washington D.C. His wife hated Georgetown (she actually told him that the Army house in South Korea in which they had once lived was better, though she could not speak a word of Korean she was better able to communicte with them than with the 'Pentagon crowd')
Marshall said "Mr. Secretary, I wish to resign my post as Chief of Staff of the United States Army."
Rumsfeld, in a strangely generous mood said "You can take retirement from active duty if you like. It means full pension, and you keep your stars as a retired regular."
Marshall accepted Rumsfeld's offer, and a Reserve Commission to Colonel, and became a private citizen. Ironically, Marshall's ideas on fighting in Afghanistan were eventually accepted, and are now in practice in Afghanistan.
He became a nationally syndicted commentator on radio, television, and the internet. He occasionally spoke on the War on Terror, but often spoke on the economy, the role of government, the Communists, and the broader threat. He also turned to writing his memoirs, and accepted a position as a Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, and looked forward to a quiet life.
