Leader of Army Special Operations retires after 38 years of service

Spc. Tony Hawkins
07 November, 2008 08:33:00

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – The head of Army Special Operations Forces retired here today after more than 38 years of service, spanning from Vietnam to the current War on Terror.

Lt. Gen. Robert W. Wagner, outgoing commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and the senior-most three star general in the U.S. Army, retired in a ceremony inside Kennedy Hall this afternoon. He has been in command of the nearly 20,000 Soldiers under USASOC since December 2005.

“Someone asked me the question, ‘What accomplishment am I most proud of?’” Wagner said. “I can’t really think of anything other than having the chance to serve on good teams with good people.”

It is those people, their friends, who Wagner said he and his wife P.J. are most grateful for.

“The most important things in life you can’t buy,” Wagner said. “They are things given to you. We have memories of our friends and all the things we’ve done. There’s nothing else I could say to repay you for that. There’s no way we can thank you enough for the friendship we’ve shared with you.”

Although Wagner has only spent the last three years of his 38-year service as the commanding general of USAOC, he said it was a sad thing to leave so many skilled Soldiers and Civilians.

“I think the thing that motivates people the best is being around people who can do things better than you,” he said. “That’s why this command functions the way it does and why the Army as a whole does, there’s tremendous talent.”

A large part of his successful leadership of Army Special Operations is due to those who served under his command, he said.

“What we do is not a job,” he said. “None of us here have a job. It’s who you are and what you believe in. You serve with people who believe in and care about what they’re doing, and they do it because it’s right and they care about one another. It’s about our values, those things we’re willing to fight for and are important to us. That’s what makes up our nation, what it was founded on, and it’s one of the most important things we share.”

Wagner was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised in Independence, Ohio. In 1970, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. After attending Infantry Officer’s Basic Course, Airborne School and Ranger School, he was assigned as a mechanized infantry platoon leader and executive officer with 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in Fort Riley, Kan.

It was during his six months there that he met his future wife, Pamela Jayne Van Scoy, who was a junior high math teacher in Iowa. Shortly after meeting in 1971, Wagner was reassigned to the 101st Airborne Division and deployed to Vietnam.

During his deployment, Wagner served in both the 501st and 506th Infantry Regiments, as well as with MAC-V Team 33 as an advisor to the 23rd ARVN Division.

After returning from Vietnam in July 1972, Wagner was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, first as a mortar platoon leader, then as company executive and later as the battalion air operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.

Although they had only seen each other seven or eight times, Wagner and P.J. had been corresponding by letter for 18 months. In November 1972, the two were married in P.J.’s hometown of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

In 1974, Wagner was reassigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to serve as the aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Jack Cushman, the installation commanding general. It was during their assignment there that their daughter, Annie, was born. Shortly afterward, Wagner attended the 10-month U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare Course at Quantico, Va.

Their next assignment was a three-year tour with 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Fort Lewis, Wash. From 1976-1979, he served in various positions, including the intelligence and assistance operations officers, and commander of Charlie Company. Fifteen of the company and field-grade officers Wagner served with went on to become general officers. Also, during their time here, their son Van was born.

In 1980, Wagner graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., after which he moved on to Purdue University, earning a master’s in Industrial Relations in 1981. His next assignment brought him back to the USMA at West Point, N.Y., from 1981-1984, where he served as the tactical officer for Company F-1 and later as the executive officer for the 1st Regiment. Several of Wagner’s F-1 cadets are currently colonels, with a few recently becoming general officers.

In 1984, Wagner joined the newly formed headquarters of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Ga., where he served as the regimental operations officer for then-Col. Wayne Downing. A year later, he became the battalion commander for 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in Panama, where he served until 1987.

Later that year, Wagner attended the National War College at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. After graduating in 1988, he began an assignment at the Pentagon as a special technical operations officer in the J3 Directorate of the Joint Staff. Wagner was released from this tour early after five months in order to take command of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Ga.

Wagner commanded the battalion until 1991, and during his time there he led his Rangers in the airborne seizures of Torrijos and Tocumen Airports during Operation Just Cause in Panama. From 1991-1993, he commanded the 193rd Infantry Brigade in Panama.

In July 1993, Wagner headed to MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., to again work for now-Gen. Downing at the U.S. Special Operations Command. He served as the chief of current operations, and subsequently as the executive officer for Downing. In January 1996, Wagner was reassigned as the commanding general for Special Operations Command South in Panama.

After commanding SOCSOUTH, he became the deputy director of operations in J-33 Current Operations of the Joint Staff. From 2000-2003, he commanded the U.S. Southern European Task Force (Airborne), in Vicenza, Italy, with an area of responsibility covering Europe and Africa, including missions in Kosovo, Bosnia, Hungary, Senegal and Morocco.

Once he was appointed as a lieutenant general in January 2004, Wagner became the deputy commanding general of the U.S. Joint Forces Command at Norfolk Naval Base, Norfolk, Va. From August to November 2005, he also served as the acting commanding general.

His last assignment brought him to Fort Bragg, N.C., and USASOC, where he assumed command from Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger Jr. on Dec. 6, 2005. This position put him in charge of all Army Special Operations Forces, including Special Forces, Civil Affairs, Rangers, Psychological Operations and Special Operations Aviation.