Hal Moore

Moore received his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy shortly after the United States entered into World War II. He reported to West Point for "Reception Day" on July 15, 1942, and the summer training referred to as "Beast Barracks" held before the formal academic school term took up in the fall.[9][10] During his plebe summer at Pine Camp, he qualified expert on the M-1 Garand rifle and was the top scorer in his company.[9] Although Moore did well in most of his classes, he was academically deficient in the required math subjects and he had to redouble his efforts to absorb the engineering, physics and chemistry, often studying two or three hours past lights out to memorize the material.[9][11] During the fall of 1942 his class received the news that because of the war his class would graduate in three years rather than the usual four years. Moore made it through the plebe year, but just barely, or as he put it, "an academic trip from hell." This observation caused Moore to lead a student life at West Point devoted to studying and very few extracurricular activities.[9] After a ten-day furlough, he reported to Camp Popolopen for summer military training where his company trained with various vehicles and fired many types of weapons.[Note 1] The summer ended with maneuvers held again at Pine Camp.[9] During the second year at the Academy, he studied more complicated subjects like calculus, electrical engineering, thermodynamics and historic military campaigns. Wednesdays were spent watching the latest Staff Combat Film Report which reported the most recent fighting from the Pacific and European war fronts. Summer military training after his second year consisted of touring U.S. Army basic training centers to study tactics and techniques. The final academic year was spent studying military history and tactics as the war was winding down in Europe. Just before graduation each cadet selected his branch of assignment dependent on their academic standing in the class and the quota of openings in each branch. Moore stood in the bottom fifteen percent and he wanted an infantry assignment. When his name was finally called to declare, there were still infantry openings available. Moore graduated from West Point on June 5, 1945, and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry branch.[4][9]

Moore's first assignment after graduation was the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia (known as Fort Moore, as of May 11, 2023), which was a six-week course. During the basic course he applied for the airborne jump school at Fort Benning, however, he was not selected and was instead assigned to the three-week jump school held at the 11th Airborne Division in Tokyo, Japan.[12] His first assignment out of jump school was with the 187th Glider Infantry Regiment at Camp Crawford near Sapporo, Japan from 1945 until 1948.[12] After a seven-month stint as company commander, he was assigned as Camp Crawford's construction officer and responsible for all of the construction improvements being made at the camp.[13] In June 1948, he was reassigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg. He volunteered to join the Airborne Test Section, a special unit testing experimental parachutes, and he made the first of some 150 jumps with the section over the next two years on November 17, 1948.[4][14] Over the course of his career, he became a jumpmaster with over 300 jumps.[15][16]

During the Korean War (1950–1953) in 1951, he was ordered to Fort Benning to attend the Infantry Officer's Advanced Course, which would prepare him to command a company or to serve on a battalion staff.[17] In June 1952 Moore was assigned to the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division. As a captain, he commanded a heavy mortar company in combat. He next served as regimental Assistant Chief-of-Staff, Operations and Plans. Moore's promotion to major was put on hold by a policy of the 7th Division commanding general that stated that no promotion to major would be possible without command of an infantry company in combat. The division commander personally assigned Moore to an infantry company so that Moore could be promoted to major and thus later become divisional assistant chief-of staff for operations.[18]

In 1954, Moore returned to West Point and served for three years as an instructor in infantry tactics. While serving as an instructor, Moore taught then-Cadet Norman Schwarzkopf, who called Moore one of his "heroes," and cites Moore as the reason he chose the infantry branch upon graduation.[4][19] Schwarzkopf later became a general in the U.S. Army and led the U.N. coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War against Iraq.[19] During this assignment, Moore took a personal interest in the battles between the French Army forces and the Việt Minh at Điện Biên Phủ in Vietnam.[20]

Moore was assigned to attend the year-long student course at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1956. The course prepared majors for the duties of staff officers at the division and corps level.[21] After school at Fort Leavenworth, Moore reported to the Pentagon and the Office, Chief of Research and Development where his initiative and insights were key to the development of new airborne equipment and airborne/air assault tactics. Following graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1960 Moore served a three-year tour as NATO Plans Officer with Headquarters, Allied Forces Northern Europe in Oslo, Norway.[22]

LTC Hal Moore in 1965

In 1964, now a lieutenant colonel, Moore completed the course of study at the Naval War College,[23] while earning a master's degree in International Relations from George Washington University in Washington, DC. Moore was transferred to Fort Benning and commanded 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry later to become a part of 11th Air Assault Division, undergoing air assault and air mobility training and tests.[24] On July 28, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced that he was sending "the Airmobile Division to Vietnam".[25] That same month the 11th Air Assault Division was re-designated the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and alerted for deployment to Vietnam.[25] Moore's battalion was re-designated as 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, the same regiment that was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Custer when the Irish song Garry Owen was adopted as a marching tune.[25] The "Garry Owen" Brigade left Fort Benning August 14, 1965, and went to South Vietnam by way of the Panama Canal aboard USNS General Maurice Rose arriving at the Division's An Khê Base Camp a month later.[26]

LTC Hal Moore during the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965.

Beginning on November 14, 1965, Lt. Col. Moore led the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in the week-long Battle of Ia Drang. Encircled by enemy soldiers with no clear landing zone that would allow them to leave, Moore managed to persevere despite being significantly outnumbered by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces that went on to defeat the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry only two-and-a-half miles away the next day. Moore's dictum that "there is always one more thing you can do to increase your odds of success" and the courage of his entire command are credited with this outcome.[11] Blond haired Moore was known as "Yellow Hair" to his troops at the battle at Ia Drang, and as a tongue-in-cheek homage making reference to the legendary General George Armstrong Custer, who commanded as a lieutenant colonel the same 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn just under a century before.[27] Moore was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism at Ia Drang.[4] After the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, Moore was promoted to colonel and took over the command of the Garry Owen (3rd) Brigade.[28]

Lt General Moore in 1975

After his service in the Vietnam War, Moore served at the Pentagon as the military liaison to the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense.[29] In his next assignment the Army sent him to Harvard University, where he completed his M.A. in International Relations in 1968.[30] Having completed his work at Harvard, Moore reported back to the Pentagon to work with the Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Operations. He then helped draft the Army plan for the withdrawal of two brigades of the 9th Infantry Division to the United States as a part of the Vietnamization of the war effort.[30] On August 31, 1968, Moore was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.[31] In July 1969, he was assigned as assistant chief of staff, operations and plans, of the Eighth Army in South Korea, where tensions were high from demilitarized zone incursions and drug use and racism among Eighth Army troops were at an all-time high.[32] Shortly after becoming commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division Moore was promoted to major general in 1970 and he and his family moved to Camp Casey, South Korea. He was charged by General John H. Michaelis, commander, United States Forces Korea, with cleaning up the drug abuse problem and racial strife that were prevalent at the time in the 7th Division. His plan established Officer's Leadership Schools for company-grade officers and an NCO Leadership School for staff sergeants and below as well as issuing an "Equal Opportunity Policy". He backed up the policy with the promise to punish those leaders who discriminated based on race, ethnicity or creed. As a part of the reformation of division morale, he established several different athletic programs, including football, basketball, and boxing.[33] As commanding general of the Army Training Center at Fort Ord, California, in 1971–1973, he oversaw extensive experimentation in adapting basic and advanced individual training under Project VOLAR in preparation for the end of conscription and the institution of the Modern Volunteer Army.[34][35] In August 1973, Moore was assigned as commanding general, US Army Military Personnel Center (MILPERCEN), and in 1974 he was appointed deputy chief of staff for personnel, Department of the Army, his last assignment before leaving the army. He dealt with army recruiting issues after the termination of the draft as well as the orderly reduction of forces after the close of the Vietnam War.[36] Moore's next assignment would have been to become the commanding general, U.S. Army Japan, but he decided to retire instead. Moore retired from the army August 1, 1977, after completing 32 years of active service.[37]

While included in the list of awards, Moore never wore the Purple Heart and tried to return the award to the Army while in Vietnam and more formally in 1968. In his January 11, 1968, letter to the Army Adjutant General, he provided this rationale, "I have great respect for the Purple Heart Medal and would be proud to wear it if I consider it were fully earned by me in the future. In the case of this particular award, it was presented on the basis of a superficial "punji-stake" injury in Vietnam in October 1965. I do not feel that I earned the award for that slight injury and hence have never worn it, do not intend to, and request my records be set straight."[50]

On January 16, 1968, the Adjutant General provided a formal response declining the request. The letter summarized, "General Orders pertaining to this award cannot be revoked. This award is part of your official records. It will be available to you in the future if you desire it."[51]