Dempsey Praises Scowcroft at National War College Event

By Amaani Lyle

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

FORT LESLEY J. MCNAIR, Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2015 – Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praised the career of retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft during a dedication ceremony in honor of Scowcroft’s achievements held at the National War College here yesterday.

Scowcroft, 89, a War College graduate who retired from the Air Force in December 1975 after nearly 30 years of military service, helped to shape the nation’s strategic thinking, Dempsey said at the ceremony.

The War College, a school with the National Defense University, hosted the event to officially dedicate a Roosevelt Hall room to Scowcroft, a former national security advisor.

Distinguished Military, Civilian Career

During his military and civilian career, Scowcroft served as military assistant to President Richard Nixon and as deputy assistant to the president for National Security Affairs in the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Scowcroft served as Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, and assisted President Barack Obama in choosing his national security team.

What binds Roosevelt Hall namesake President Theodore Roosevelt and Scowcroft is that they both are “incredibly principled men,” Dempsey said during his remarks at the ceremony.

“It’s been his heart and soul, it’s been his worth and his actions, that have in fact placed him in rare standing over six decades of service in a quiet, measured, wise way,” Dempsey said of Scowcroft. “He has helped guide the nation through various challenges … whether from direct conflict to a Cold War and back into the very complex security environment in which we find ourselves today.”

Scowcroft’s career in the Air Force after graduating in 1947 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, culminated as lieutenant general and Deputy National Security Advisor, including Professor of Russian History at West Point. He also served as Assistant Air Attaché in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Office of the Secretary of Defense International Security Assistance; Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Military Assistant to President Nixon.

Provided Strategic Advice, Assistance

The plaque honoring Scowcroft, mounted in the War College’s Roosevelt conference room, in part, reads:

“As a 1968 graduate of the National War College, Lt. Gen. Scowcroft has become one of the nation’s leading experts on international policy providing the nation with unparalleled strategic advice and assistance in dealing in the international arena.”

In his remarks during the ceremony, Scowcroft noted that Theodore Roosevelt was among the presidents that were observed to be “very much in sync with the country” and “exuberant.”