04 September 2005
Louisiana Native General in Charge of New Orleans Relief
"Rajin Cajun" Russel Honoré takes hands-on approach to humanitarian aid
By Michael OToole
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- He looks like a throwback to another era, recreating a scene out of the movie Patton -- a cigar-chewing, three-star general barking out orders as he personally directs a vehicle convoy. Known within the Army as "the Ragin' Cajun," U.S. Army Lieutenant General Russel Honoré was called a "John Wayne dude" who can "get some stuff done," by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
The general is back among his people in a homecoming based on urgency. The Louisiana native is in charge of relief operations for the city and broader region devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (See related article.)
He has been fully hands-on since "he came off the doggone chopper [helicopter], and he started cussing and people started moving," Nagin said in an interview September 1 with a local radio station.
Honoré is the commanding general of the First U.S. Army, one of two continental Armies in the United States. It is a highly specialized team of active Army soldiers, active Guard and Reserve soldiers and Department of the Army civilian employees.
CNN videotaped the general overseeing the deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops from a New Orleans street corner. Watching the video, one can hear the general gruffly ordering his troops to "lower your weapon[s] … this is a humanitarian relief operation."
Honoré is a native of Lakeland, Louisiana. After graduating from Southern University and A&M College in nearby Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1971, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry. He since has served in a number of infantry command positions and at the Pentagon.
The general has experience with synthesizing civilian and military capabilities within the continental United States: just before taking command of the First Army, Honoré commanded the Standing Joint Force Headquarters-Homeland Security, U.S. Northern Command.
MASSIVE RESPONSE EFFORT BY U.S. MILITARY
Honoré is commander of a massive effort to help the devastated region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. On September 3, President Bush ordered the deployment of more than 7,000 additional troops from the 82nd Airborne, from the 1st Cavalry, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. The president also reported the presence of about 21,000 National Guard troops in the affected area. (See related article.)
In addition to the ground forces, five amphibious operation ships -- the USS Bataan, the USS Iwo Jima, the USS Shreveport, the USS Tortuga and the USNS Arctic --are expected to be off the Louisiana coast shortly. Those vessels will be joined by the hospital ship USNS Comfort.
Another ship, the USS Grapple, will help with maritime and underwater survey and salvage operations. The military also has sent eight rescue teams with special flood expertise from California to Louisiana. Much of New Orleans now is underwater, after levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain broke and the waters released flooded more than 80 percent of the city.
The majority of the city's half million residents now have been evacuated. But as Honoré told CNN while he personally supervised a tiny baby’s evacuation to a hospital ship, "We’re going to fix it one at a time, if we have to."
For additional information, see Hurricane Katrina.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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