Benjamin Harrison (major general)

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Benjamin Leslie Harrison (July 23, 1928 – January 22, 2022) was an officer in the United States Army who contributed to the tactics of modern airmobile warfare involving the integration of helicopters with infantry and armor forces for both rapid deployment and subsequent support. General Harrison was an early advocate, theorist and practitioner of these tactics, commonly referred to as "air assault." They are analogous to the revolutionary use of armor and air support with infantry in blitzkrieg warfare in early World War II, and are critical to modern military doctrine as practiced in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.^[1][2]

General Harrison developed basic principles and practices of "

Early in 1946, six months before his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming a Regular Army sergeant first class at age 19. He completed airborne training as the enlisted honor graduate of the class. Upon completion of his enlistment, he returned to the University of Mississippi, obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree there in 1951, majoring in psychology. He had remained in the enlisted Army Reserve, was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry as Distinguished Military Graduate in 1951 and volunteered for active duty to serve as a military personnel psychologist.[3]

Harrison married Carolyn Algee, in September 1951. They had two children together.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to his undergraduate degree, Harrison earned graduate degrees while studying off duty in the Army. He graduated with an MA in Counseling and Education Psychology from the

Military service

Early in his initial assignment as a Military Personnel Psychologist, Harrison requested transfer back to his original branch of service, the infantry. He was assigned to the

His subsequent assignments included the 5th Infantry Division in Germany which GYROSCOPE'd to Fort Ord, CA, where he commanded a rifle company. His B Co, 2nd Infantry Regiment, was selected by the Division Commander as the most outstanding company in the Division.

While a student in the Infantry Advanced Course at Fort Benning, he was selected for flight school and in April 1958 he received his flight wings and graduated at the head of his class (and was subsequently to graduate first in his class at instrument school). Following his training, he took command of the Aviation Detachment in the 2d Infantry Battalion Combat Team in Iceland and put his instrument training to almost daily use.

From Iceland, Captain Harrison was selected to attend the

On the recommendation of the U.S. Army Tactical Mobility Requirements Board, the former 11th Airborne Division was reactivated as the 11th Air Assault Division (Test) in the mid-1960s to become a light infantry division and the first of the major army units to explore and develop the airmobility concept. With Harrison's enthusiastic approval,^[4] his "stabilized" tour at CGSC was ended with a transfer to Ft Benning to become the chief evaluator of all Air Cavalry and Mohawk units during, contributing significantly to the development and testing of the air mobility concepts. At the conclusion of the evaluation period, the 11th was converted to the 1st Air Cavalry division and deployed to Vietnam.

After the Air Assault tests, Major Harrison was selected to attend the Armed Forces Staff College with subsequent assignment and promotion to lieutenant colonel, as the "ground guy" in the Southeast Asia Division of J-5, CINCPAC Headquarters, Hawaii. After six months in this joint assignment, Major General

In an interview with Maj Gen Chu Phong Doi, Commander of the 324B Division in 2004 in Cao Bang, Vietnam, he admitted to then Maj Gen (Ret) Harrison that he had suffered the loss of eight of his nine infantry battalions. Thousands of his support troops were also lost.[8]

American losses, though comparatively small in numbers, were heavy with 250 KIA from 12 March to 23 July. The battle was marked by truly extraordinary bravery in combat with the award of five Distinguished Service Crosses and three awards of the Medal of Honor during this campaign to troopers and leaders of the 3rd Brigade.

After completion of his assignment with the 3rd Brigade, he became the Senior Advisor to the commanding general of the ARVN 1st Infantry Division, during the incursions into Laos for Operation Lam Son 719.^[9] He worked closely with Vietnamese combat commanders to develop airmobile skills and experience as the war transitioned to a totally Vietnamese struggle. In his two combat tours in Vietnam, Harrison flew hundreds of helicopter missions, accumulating a total of 1842 combat flying hours out of a total military flight history of over 5,000 hours.^[10]

Following that assignment, Harrison directed the^[11] (Triple Capacity) testing at Fort Hood, Texas which resulted in the demise of the TRICAP Division concept and the subsequent formation of the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat).

Upon promotion to brigadier general in July 1973, for three years he was the academic and administrative head of the

From August 1976 to August 1977, Harrison was the Deputy Commanding General of

Major General Harrison retired from the US Army after 28 years of commissioned service as an infantryman, aviator and educator. Harrison's assignment at the time of his retirement was commander of the Soldier Support Center and Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. In this position he directed studies on unit cohesion and decentralization of personnel management that have had a major impact on today's personnel policies and replacement system.

In 1982, the TRADOC commander asked Harrison, then retired, to be the senior aviator of a group of four officers tasked to review Army Aviation. This four-month study effort resulted in the creation of Aviation as a separate combat arms branch and the centralization of all aviation doctrine, materiel and training development at Fort Rucker.

Post-military career

After his retirement from the Army, Harrison was president of a holding company with small manufacturing plants and real estate properties. He continued to do specialized command studies as a consultant on defense matters and leadership development. He was a certified trainer and adjunct staff member of the prestigious Center for Creative Leadership for 17 years. He and his partner, Dr. George Peabody, conducted 38 leader development programs for the CIA at the "Farm."

With his wife developing serious heart problems in 1995, he fully retired.^[13] He died on January 22, 2022, at the age of 93.^[14]

Awards and honors

During his military career, General Harrison was awarded the

Open publications

Harrison was a prolific writer on military doctrine and management. Among his writings are:

• "Awesome, Mean: Now What Do We Do with the APACHE", ARMY, January 1988
• "Five Keys to Becoming a Successful Manager", ARMY, September 1988
• "Which PLATOON?", movie review in various publications
• "Aviation: A Branch Decision Revisited", ARMY, January 1991
• "The A-10: A Gift the Army Can't Afford", ARMY, July 1991
• "AirLand Battle-Future and the Aviation Brigade", Army Aviation, July 31, 1991
• "From the Hills West of Hue: A Cautionary Tale", ARMY, July 1993
• "Leaders or Managers?", selected for publication by ARMY
• "Simulating the "New World Disorder" ARMY, August 1994
• "Vietnam and the Information Age" ARMY, July 1995
• "Changing the Division Structure – Ask the Right Questions First", ARMY, July 1997
• "Aviation: A Branch Decision Revisited-Again", ARMY, April 2000
• "Battle Tests Prove the APACHE Highly Survivable", ARMY Aviation, September 2003

In addition, he authored a significant number of restricted military readings and management studies.

Following the publication of Keith Nolen's account of the battle of FB Ripcord ("Ripcord: Screaming Eagles Under Siege, Vietnam 1970" by Keith W. Nolan, Presidio Press, 2000), General Harrison wrote a book of the battle from the North Vietnamese perspective entitled, "Hell On A Hill Top', published in November 2004. This book was based both on documents from each side of the Vietnam War and on information received on several trips to Vietnam to meet with former North Vietnamese military leaders, including his opposite number in the Ripcord Campaign.^[17]

References