Hamilton Hawkins Howze (21 December 1908 – 8 December 1998) was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He was a developer and advocate of helicopter-borne

air mobility Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy l ...

warfare.

Early life

Howze was born on 21 December 1908, in

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

, while his father, Major General

Robert Lee Howze Robert Lee Howze (August 22, 1864 – September 19, 1926) was a United States Army major general who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Indian Wars. Howze graduated from the United States Military Academy ...

, an 1888 West Point graduate, was serving as Commandant of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

Early career

Howze attended West Point, graduating in the Class of 1930. He was commissioned into the 6th Cavalry. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Howze served as Operations Officer of the 1st Armored Division,Atkinson, Rick, ''An Army At Dawn'', Macmillan Press (2003), , , p. then as the commander of: 2nd Battalion, 13th Armor Regiment (1943); 13th Armor Regiment (1943–44); 1st Armored Division, Italy (1944–45). Three years later he attended the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

, which was followed by an assignment in the office of the G-2 from 1949 to 1952. After promotion to brigadier general in 1952 he became Assistant Commanding General, 2nd Armored Division,

European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territori ...

, until 1954.

Air Mobile

Howze is recognized as the intellectual force behind the concept of air-mobility and current United States Army Aviation doctrine. While serving as the first Director of Army Aviation, Department of the Army, from 1955 to 1958, he developed new tactical principles for the employment of Army Aviation, and was instrumental in helping the Aviation Center and School become fully established in its new home at

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was formerly named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously nam ...

, Alabama. He then became Commanding General of the

82d Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. In 1961, as Chairman of the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board, Howze led the development in airmobile theory and doctrine. The army's adoption of the recommendations in the

Howze Board The Howze Board was the informal name given to the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board created at the direct request of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to review and test new concepts integrating helicopters as close air support into the Uni ...

changed US mobile warfare. Its revolutionary concepts – based on the use of aviation – changed American military attitudes in a similar manner to the way the tank affected ideas on mobility 50 years earlier. Two years later the

11th Air Assault Division The 11th Airborne Division ("Arctic Angels") is a United States Army multirole infantry division made up of specialized light infantry and airborne infantry based in Alaska. Currently, this unit specializes in arctic warfare, airborne operat ...

was formed to test and validate these concepts. As a result of Howze's leadership, foresight and perception, two airmobile divisions, the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), were eventually established. These divisions, which adhered to the fundamentals of Howze's airmobility doctrine, went on to provide mobile and combined arms capabilities that are required in today's ground combat conditions. Howze is credited with starting the convention of naming United States Army helicopter types after Native American tribes, because he found the names suggested by the manufacturers too insipid. The

Bell H-13 The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine light helicopter built and produced by Bell Helicopter for the military and licence-produced by Westland Aircraft for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. It was the first helicopter ...

, which had already been in service for some years, was renamed "

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

" at his suggestion and the tradition continues to the present day.

Final commands

Howze served as the commander of the

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is r ...

from 1961 to 1962, and briefly acting Commanding General,

Third United States Army Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

from 1962 to 1963. In October 1962, he assumed command of the armed forces deployed to support the enrolment of

James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated Univers ...

at the segregated

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. Howze's last assignment was as Commanding General,

Eighth United States Army The Eighth Army is a U.S. field army which commands all United States Army forces in South Korea. It is headquartered at the Camp Humphreys in the Anjeong-ri of Pyeongtaek, Pyeongtaek, South Korea.four-star

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first attempt at collective security by the U ...

position involving United States and

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the largest of the military branches of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces with 365,0 ...

troops, from 1963 to 1965. General Howze retired from active duty in 1965 to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Retirement and legacy

Howze remained active after leaving the army and became an executive and consultant for

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, United States as well as commercial heli ...

in Fort Worth. As a 1957 Charter Member of the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA), he served for four years as the organization's Senior Vice President and President. He was also a member of the Army Aviation Hall of Fame and was the Chairman of the AAAA's board of trustees. Howze died on 8 December 1998, at age 89. He was buried next to his father at the

United States Military Academy Post Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Continental Army soldiers during the American Revolutionar ...

. The Howze Gunnery Award is presented by the AAAA and is sponsored by

Rockwell International Corporation Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...

(in the memory of General Hamilton H. Howze), and is presented annually to the top AH-1 &

AH-64 The Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AH-64 Apache ( ) is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. Nose-mounted sensors help acquire targets and provide night vis ...

crew in the annual GEN Hamilton H. Howze Gunnery Competition.

Awards and decorations

Army Aviator Badge : US Army Airborne basic parachutist badge

Airborne badge Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

with

Valor Device Valor, valour, or valorous may mean: * Courage, a similar meaning * Virtue ethics, roughly "courage in defense of a noble cause" Entertainment * Valor Kand, a member of the band Christian Death * ''Valor'' (TV series), an American drama series ...

Italian Military Valor Cross : Tong-il Security Medal Ribbon

South Korean Tong-il Medal (1st Class) :1962 AHS International Vertical Flight Society "Honorary Fellow" :1974 Army Aviation Association of America Hall of Fame inductee

Popular culture

General Howze was represented in a fictional account of W. E. B. Griffin's "Brotherhood of War" series of books as General "Triple H" Howard.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howze, Hamilton Military personnel from New York (state) National War College alumni United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the War Cross for Military Valor Order of National Security Merit members United States Army personnel of World War II 1908 births 1998 deaths United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel People from West Point, New York Burials at West Point Cemetery Commanders, United States Forces Korea United States Army aviators