"We have a Rendezvous with Destiny..." and apparently also a Rendezvous with disappointment. Gen'l Petreaus

Major General (MG) Petreaus in Iraq
as 101st Airborne Division
Commander

     This one's tough.  I have two Bronze Stars.  One from Desert Storm and the other Iraq. When people would come to my office and see my "I love me" wall, I would always point out the one Bronze Star that I thought was the best.  Why?  Because it was signed by MG David Petreaus while he was serving as the Division Commander for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)  (made famous by the Band of Brothers HBO Series) in Fort Campbell and eventually for a year as Commander in Iraq.  I was on the Division Staff.

But first, THE STORY OF THE 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION and Origin of "The Rendezvous with Destiny," motto.

"YOU have a rendezvous with destiny!" with this, Maj. Gen. William C. Lee, the original commander, concluded his activation speech to the 101st Airborne Division. Screaming Eagles have found meaning and expression in these words. They kept that rendezvous with destiny through WWII to present day conflicts around the world.

We had incredible respect - and sometimes a little fear - of General Petreaus.  Physical Training was always a high priority - especially among the Infantry.  Oh, we were used to it for sure, but not by his standards.  Division staff officers had to "earn" the right to run with him in the mornings.  So the Chief of Staff would run the rest of us staff guys and work us out while the General ran with a chosen few who could keep up (not many).  What was his standard?  Minimum 7 minute mile.  Okay, I've done that a few times for a couple of miles...his standard?  10 miles!!!  Yeah, there was no way I was going to beat that time.  But we all kept trying because he was instilling in us all the notion that we can always do better if we'd just push a little harder.  He was that kind of leader.  You wanted to be like him - or at least come close.  A West Point Grad and a PhD from Princeton didn't hurt either.  So our education was also important.  It wasn't his mandate, it was simply the desire he instilled in us to - yes again - do a little better if we'd push a little harder. 

Major Rank - the Oak Leaf

     I would watch him analyze battle plans and Operations Orders for hours.  He did have one quirk I remember; he was obsessed with correct English language use and spelling (as I am).  So while the "Iron Majors," (Division staff members who put together the plans), were staring at PowerPoint slides for 16 hours a day, it all started to blur and the poor guys would spell the word "the" wrong and not catch it.  So some proof readers were assigned.
     When we finally got to Iraq, we were on the Gulf watching ships being unloaded with our supplies and the General saw some Soldiers sitting around so he went over and challenged them to some physical training - a push-up competition.  Needless to say although the Soldiers were young men in their 20s; the General beat them with no problem at all.  No General had ever done that before and they were quite taken aback.  Yet again - do a little better if we'd push a little harder. 

     He was with the Assault Command Post in March 2003 when we experienced that incredibly miserable 4 day sandstorm.  It was like being on MARS.  The sun was red, wind blew constantly, constant dust covering you.  There was so much dust we were cleaning our computer of with paint brushes - not sure who thought to bring paint brushes!  But we needed them.  It rained the 4th day - for 5 minutes - and of course rain in a dust storm means that mud is falling from the sky.  Absolutely miserable.  He could have been at Division Main, but he was up there with the 60 or so of us...sleeping on a cot just like us in tents blowing all over the place, eating only MREs (that's all we had the entire time), and sitting through briefings.  I remember him the day before the sandstorm began. The Commanding General from V Corps came over (General William Wallace).  The two of them were sitting outside on some folding chairs looking at maps.  I immediately thought of the Generals from the American Civil War pouring over maps by campfire.  And with all the technology available to us today, it was still a paper map that was essential to the next battle.

This will be over analyzed by the media and the pundits so I'm not going to belabor this.  But now that alot of the smoke has blown over on this thing, most of us who knew him and of the many 101st guys I've talked to since this came out, it's just too hard to believe.  It wasn't his nature.  It wasn't in "OUR" Nature.  I'm not a political analyst and certainly not the Judge, but as he continues on, those of us who knew him well will pray for him and his Family that they weather this storm.  They will...do a little better if we'd push a little harder.

There's a fantastic article by Rebecca Sinclair, married to Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, who is facing the same type of charges.  She offers some insight on why this type of thing may happen. 

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-the-strains-of-war-lead-to-infidelity/2012/11/15/1d6c020e-2f49-11e2-9f50-0308e1e75445_story.html