Ricardo Sanchez

Ricardo S. Sanchez (1953-) is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army, whose last assignment was the "dual hat" command of V Corps and what, at the time, was the senior headquarters of U.S. forces in Iraq. Originally, that headquarters was Combined Joint Task Force 7, built from the assets of V Corps, but was converted to Multi-National Corps-Iraq. While he had been under active consideration for promotion to full general to head United States Southern Command, the nomination was not made due to his association with the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, which became public under his command. He now works with a consultancy, Pan American Solutions.

Iraq command

He took command of V Corps on 14 June 2003, and left on 6 September 2006. At the time of his appointment, he was the junior lieutenant general in the U.S. Army. While he certainly had had counterinsurgency experience, he was going into the arguably most sensitive three-star job in the Army. Many of his colleagues praised his abilities, but some felt he was in a job beyond his abilities, possibly micromanaging.

He was under considerable pressure to produce actionable intelligence, but did not receive an intelligence brigade until July. No interrogation policy for conventional forces was established until September 2003. That September 2003 policy was also influenced by techniques authorized for use at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

General officer assignments

On 10 July 2001, he took command of V Corps' 1st Armored Division (U.S.), then in Germany.

Midcareer

He took command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (U.S.) in 1994. In 1995, the unit went through the National Training Center, where MG Randy House, his division commander, advised him in command. Toward the end of his tour, McCaffery, now a general heading United States Southern Command, sent Sanchez a letter asking him to join his staff. House told him "you never say no to a four-star", and welcomed him to senior leadership.

In 1993, while attending the U.S. Army War College, he was selected for early promotion to colonel and brigade command, to take effect in 1994. After graduation, he was sent to an assignment in the Army Inspector General office.

He commanded 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor, in the Gulf War, which attacked into Iraq on 24 February 1991. His brigade was part of the 24th Infantry Division (mechanized), commanded by MG Barry McCaffery, who became one of his mentors.

Sanchez took command of the battalion after serving in a variety of field staff jobs in the 3rd Armored Division in Germany. After receiving his master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Armor Center, where he worked in planning what would become Future Combat Systems.

Early career

His first assignment, in 1973, was in 4th Battalion (Light Airborne), 68th Armor, 82nd Airborne Division. His assignments included platoon leader, company executive officer, and assistant logistics officer and operations officer.

He later served as Aide-De-Camp to the Assistant Division Commander (Support), 82nd Airborne Division.

By 1977, he was transferred to Armor.

Early life and education

Born in poverty Rio Grande City, Texas, he joined the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in high school, seeing the military as a step upwards. Spanish was his first language. A guidance counselor discouraged him from applying to the United States Military Academy.

While he was an alternate to both West Point and Annapolis, he did recive four-year ROTC scholarships from both the Army and Air Force. Still in high school, he visited the University of Texas at Austin campus, he had thought of becoming an Air Force pilot, but found himself ignored by the Air Force faculty yet warmly greeted by the Army.

After talking with a friend in the smaller ROTC program at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville), he transferred there, graduating in 1973 with a double major in math and history.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, Naval Postgraduate School (operations research and systems engineering), Command and General Staff College, and Armor Officers course.