Charles Henry "Chuck" Swannack Jr. (born March 9, 1949) is a former general officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

who, once retired, called for the resignation of Defense Secretary

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and a ...

.More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation
''New York Times'', April 13, 2006
mirror
/ref> Swannack is a 1971 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. He later earned an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

and became a Registered Professional Engineer in Virginia. As a lieutenant colonel in the late 1980s, Swannack commanded the 2nd battalion (2/9) of the 9th Infantry Regiment garrisoned at

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, m ...

, California. During his command, the unit deployed as part of the 7th Infantry Division (Light) for

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. On February 12, 2004

Fallujah Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important J ...

insurgents attacked a convoy carrying Swannack and General John Abizaid, commander of US forces in the Middle East, firing on the vehicles from nearby rooftops with

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

s, after seemingly infiltrating the Iraqi security forces.Attack on Fallujah police highlights lack of US control in Iraq
/ref> Swannack's last position within the Army was Deputy Commanding General of the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg. Prior to this assignment he served as the commander of the Army's

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from thor ...

. His last rank was

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. On April 13, 2006, and after retirement, Swannack called for the dismissal of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In an interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Swannack said:

We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores, But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq.

CNN reports that Swannack, the second General who served in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

under Rumsfeld told their reporter:

I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him,://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/14/iraq.rumsfeld/ Bush: Rumsfeld 'exactly what is needed': Statement of support follows chorus of criticism from generals], '' CNN'', April 14, 2006 Retired Maj. General: 'We need a new secretary of defense'
'' CNN'', April 14, 2006

After his retirement from active duty, Swannack became the Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Logistics, Inc. In 2014, he became Executive Director of Speedway Children's Charities.

See also