U.S. Army General. A highly decorated US Army officer, he is best remembered as the Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and commanded the coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, from which he received the nickname "Stormin' Norman." Born Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., his father was a 1917 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and a veteran of World War I, and who later became the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, where he worked as a lead investigator on the famous 1922 Hall, Mills Murder & the 1932 Lindbergh baby kidnapping case. As a child, he was Cadet Schwarzkopf at Bordentown Military Institute, Bordentown, NJ while his father was stationed in Iran. In 1952, he was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy and graduated in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science Degree and a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the Infantry. His first assignment was as platoon leader, later executive officer, of E Company, 2nd Airborne Battle Group, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky where he was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant in 1958. In July 1959, he was assigned as a staff officer alternating with duties as a platoon leader, liaison officer, and reconnaissance platoon leader, with the 6th Infantry Division in West Germany and the following year, he became aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Charles Johnson, who commanded the Berlin Brigade in West Berlin, Germany. In July 1961, he was promoted to the rank of captain and reassigned for Advanced Infantry School at Fort Benning for 8 months. The following June, he enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California in a Master of Science in Engineering course studying missile mechanics and graduated in June 1964 with a Master of Science in mechanical and aerospace engineering. He returned to West Point to serve as an instructor in the Department of Mechanics. After his first year, he volunteered for service in South Vietnam to enhance his career with combat experience, which was granted in early 1965 with the stipulation that he return to West Point and teach the remaining two years after his tour. He served as a task force advisor to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Airborne Division and was promoted to the rank of major. From there, he was sent north to Pleiku in the central highlands, in the II Corps Tactical Zone, where he participated in combat action against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. He then returned to the U.S. and finished his teaching assignment at West Point, where he was an associate professor in the Department of Mechanics. Between 1970 and 1983, he and his family lived primarily in Washington, D.C., as he took on a number of different assignments. Promoted to the rank of colonel, he volunteered for an assignment in Alaska, and in late 1974 became deputy commander of the 172nd Infantry Brigade at Fort Richardson, Alaska. In October 1976, he was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington to command the 1st Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division. Upon leaving Fort Lewis, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and became deputy director for plans at the U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, followed by a 2-year tour as assistant division commander of the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Germany. He returned to Washington, D.C. for an assignment as director of personnel management for the Army, subordinate to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, General Maxwell R. Thurman and was promoted to the rank of major general. In June 1983 he became commanding general of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia. In October 1983, he was appointed to the command group for the Invasion of Grenada, as the chief army adviser to the overall operation commander, Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf III. Following the invasion, he returned to the 24th Infantry Division and completed his tour as its commander. In July 1985, he was assigned to Washington, D.C. as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans and the following year he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and was reassigned to Fort Lewis as commander of 1st Corps. In August 1987, he returned to Washington, D.C. as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, where he served as the Army's senior member on the Military Staff Committee at the United Nations Security Council. In November 1988, he was named Commander-in-Chief of US CENTCOM at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. In his capacity as commander, he prepared a detailed wargame exercise plan called Internal Look '90, for the defense of the oil fields of the Persian Gulf against a hypothetical invasion by Iraq, among other plans. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, he began preparations for Operation Desert Shield to defend Saudi Arabia. He established his forward operations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and from August through December 1990 he began planning the logistics involved to support the deployment of U.S. Military forces, along with coordinating the contributions of the different nations who were lending military forces to support the effort. During preparations for the invasion of Kuwait, as the result of his initiatives, the Desert camouflage combat uniform was produced in order to improve comfort for U.S. troops operating in the hot, dry desert conditions. By the middle of January 1991, he commanded an international army of 750,000, including 500,000 U.S. troops as well as 250,000 troops from other nations, as well as thousands of main battle tanks, combat aircraft and six carrier battle groups. The air campaign started against Iraq on January 17, 1991, called Operation Desert Storm, destroying the Iraqi military's communications network and supplies, as well as many tanks and armored vehicles, and its nuclear test reactors. On February 24, 1991, he began the ground campaign, and within 90 hours, his force had destroyed 42 of 50 Iraqi Army divisions at a cost of about 125 killed and 200 wounded among American troops, and about 482 killed, 458 wounded among all of the coalition forces. On March 3, 1991, he arrived in Kuwait City, Kuwait to survey the aftermath of the Iraqi occupation and negotiate a ceasefire with Iraqi military leaders. Following his success in the Gulf War, he retired in August 1991 with 35 years of continuous active service in the U.S. Army. Among his military decorations and awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star (with two oak leaf clusters), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star (with valor device and two oak leaf clusters), the Purple Heart (with one oak leaf cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal (with six oak leaf clusters), the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (with valor device and three oak leaf clusters), the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Army of Occupation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal (with service star), the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal (with four bronze campaign stars), the Southwest Asia Service Medal (with three bronze campaign stars), the Army Service Ribbon, and the Army Overseas Service Ribbon. His other decorations and awards include: the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, the British Knight Commander in the Military Division of Most Honourable Order of the Bath (honorary), the French Legion d'honneur, Order of Grand Officier, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm (with two bronze palms and bronze star), the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal, First Class, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal (with 1960- device), the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait). After his retirement, he moved to Tampa, Florida and became a celebrity, often appearing as a public speaker. In 1992, he published his memoir about his life entitled "It Doesn't Take a Hero." He supported several children's charities and national philanthropic causes, and he was a spokesperson for prostate cancer awareness, recovery of the grizzly bear from endangered species status, served on the Nature Conservancy Board, and briefly served as a military commentator for NBC. He was asked on several occasions to run for U.S. Senate or U.S. President as a member of the Republican Party but showed no interest.