Abstract:
The Army Aviation Hall of Fame states that "No individual has had a greater impact on the Army and the Aviation Branch" than General Richard Cody. After receiving his commission in 1972 at West Point, Cody served with distinction for 36 years until retiring as the Army's 31st Vice Chief of Staff in 2008. While still a Lieutenant Colonel, in 1991 he led his Apache battalion into Iraq to fire the first shots of Operation DESERT STORM, eliminating critical enemy radar sites before the air war campaign even began. In the years following September 11, 2001, as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (G-3/5/7) and then as Vice Chief of Staff, his efforts led to the most sweeping transformation the Army and the Aviation Branch had ever seen. An ace special operations pilot and brilliant military mastermind, General Cody may best be remembered, however, as the well-loved "Soldiers' General."