H. R. McMaster

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Col. Herbert Raymond McMaster (better known as H.R. McMaster) is best known for commanding Eagle Troop of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (as then-Capt. McMaster) at the Battle of 73 Easting in Operation Desert Storm. During the battle, Eagle Troop overran and destroyed Iraqi Republican Guard units which significantly outnumbered it, in conjunction with other 2nd ACR units. Eagle Troop suffered no casualties in the attack, and McMaster was awarded the Silver Star for his leadership in that battle. A popular account of this battle was written up in the Tom Clancy 1994 non-fiction book Armored Cav, and technical and professional accounts in various professional journals and histories.

McMaster holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His doctoral thesis on the mistakes of the Vietnam War is detailed in the book Dereliction of Duty.[1] It alleges that U.S. military leaders of that era did not fulfill their constitutional duty to adequately challenge Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and President Lyndon Johnson's deeply flawed military strategy. The book was widely read in Pentagon circles, and was reportedly influential for a number of generals who later criticized Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush Administration's conduct of the Iraq War.[2]

[edit] Military Career

Colonel McMaster graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in 1980, where he served as a Company Commander, with the rank of Cadet Captain.

McMaster graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984. His first assignment after commissioning was to the Second Armored Division at Fort Hood, where he served in a variety of platoon- and company-level leadership assignments. In 1989, McMaster was assigned to the 2nd ACR in Nuremberg, Germany, where he served until 1992, including the deployment to Operation Desert Storm.

McMaster served as a military history professor at West Point from 1994-1996, teaching, among other things, the battles in which he actually fought.

From 1999 to 2002, McMaster commanded 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment. He then took a series of staff positions at U.S. Central Command, including planning and operations roles in Iraq.

In his next job, LTC, and later COL, McMaster worked on the staff of U.S. Central Command. More specifically, he worked for the then Deputy Commander, LTG John Abizaid as his Executive Officer. As LTG Abizaid made his fourth star and became Central Command's head, McMaster gained his current rank and served as GEN Abizaid's Director, Commander's Advisory Group (CAG). In other words, Colonel McMaster served as the head of USCENTCOM's brain trust. He excelled in this job, transforming the command's CAG into a world-class brain trust. After McMaster's depature from the Headquarters, he retained GEN Abizaid's total trust and open-door access, meeting with the CENTCOM head more than a dozen times in the resulting four years.

In 2004, he was assigned to command the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. Shortly after Col. McMaster took command, the Regiment deployed for its second tour in Iraq in early 2005. In May 2005, the 3d ACR was assigned the mission of securing the Iraqi city of Tal Afar. The culmination of that mission came in September 2005, when the 3d ACR conducted Operation Restoring Rights to defeat the insurgent strongholds in Tal Afar. The success of this operation has been touted by President George W. Bush, and was the subject of an article in the April 10, 2006 issue of The New Yorker.

The PBS show Frontline broadcast a documentary in Feburary 2006 that featured interviews with Col. McMaster during which he described his personal experiences in Tal Afar, Iraq.

According to a 29 June 2006 article in the Colorado Springs Gazette, Col. McMaster handed over the reins of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment on that day, and headed for the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, England, to devise "better tactics to battle terrorism."

The International Institute for Strategic Studies lists McMaster as a Senior Research Associate with a start date of September 2006. His main responsibilities: "Conduct research to identify opportunities for improved multi-national cooperation and political-military integration in the areas of counterinsurgency, counter-terrorism, and state building."

A 12 October 2006 article in the L.A. Times and a 20 November 2006 article in the Washington Post referred to Col. McMaster as a strategist tasked with reviewing "options" in Iraq. Presumbly this refers to long term strategic decision making.

On 13 October 2006, a CNN article covering the statements of the British Army Commander, General Richard Dannatt, referred to Col. McMaster for his work on the book Dereliction of Duty.[3] and that he has returned from duty in Iraq and is being debriefed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to a 28 February 2007 article in The Guardian, Col. McMaster is part of "elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus" on counterinsurgency operations in Iraq.[4]

[edit] References

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