A Warrior for the Fight
The Pentagon wanted to tap a retired four-star general to lead an expanded counter-improvised-explosives office and help it grab a bigger slice of the budget pie. Montgomery Meigs, appointed last December, has already succeeded with that mission, and those who know him suggest he may be able to not only help revamp how the military parries roadside bombs but also help it improve how it fights irregular wars more broadly.
Descended from a long line of military leaders, Meigs won his own fame for leading the 1st Armored Division's Iron Brigade in the battle of Medina Ridge during the 1991 Gulf War. Meigs's brigade destroyed dozens of Iraqi tanks. But Meigs has said his peacekeeping assignment in Bosnia was far tougher.
"Monty Meigs is a near genius," says retired Maj. Gen. Bill Nash, who served with him in Bosnia. "He's an ideal guy." Nash says Meigs will be able to take a broad view of his new task. In the past, Meigs has been critical of an overreliance on precision technology, arguing America must also be ready to fight low-intensity conflicts. Stopping the bombs means defeating the insurgency, and Meigs is well equipped to help inject new ideas into that fight.
This story appears in the February 20, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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