Gabriel Wilson
Dr. Gabriel Wilson | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator from Virginia | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2021 Serving with Mark Warner | |
| Preceded by | Tim Kaine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gabriel Wilson August 20, 1948 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (PhD) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1970-2011 |
| Rank |  General |
| Commands |
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| Battles/wars |
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Dr. Gabriel Wilson (Born August 20, 1948) is an American politician, author and retired United States Army General, serving as the junior United States Senator from Virginia as of January 3, 2021. In his 41 years in the United States Army, he commanded forces in the War in Afghanistan, War in Iraq and First Gulf War.
Wilson was commissioned in the United States Army through West Point Military Academy. From a service family, and a career servicemember, Wilson retired in 2011 and went on to hold multiple private sector roles. In early 2019, Tim Kaine announced his retirement from the United States Senate at the next election, and thus, Gabriel Wilson declared his intention to run for the seat. Running on a mainstream platform, and agreeing with the anti-Wadeism of the Democratic party at the time, he won both the primary and the general election handily.
In the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, Gabriel accused then-President Frank Wade of having planned a coup and called him an enemy of democracy and freedom. As Senator, Gabriel has earned a reputation of a policy wonk, as he eschewed sloganeering for charts and statistics in explaining his policy proposals. He criticized the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan - claiming that it was this botched up withdrawal that led to the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and eroded trust in the US internationally - but strongly supports President Jim Byron's actions in support of Ukraine. He has called Putin "our century's Hitler" and "a menace to the liberal international order".
Early Life and Education
Gabriel Wilson was born in 20 August 1948. His father – Jonathan – was employed at a desk job in a big company while his mother was working as a librarian. As a young boy, going into the library where his mother worked, he would read books about the exploits of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hannibal and Napoleon Bonaparte. As he was a rather reserved young man who was lacking in social interactions, those books provided him company. He would dream of one day becoming a great general, like those men, and even surpassing them.
Growing up, his uncle Alexander - a Korean War veteran - helped Gabriel become more socially competent and gain more friends. He also instilled in him a love for baseball. Gabriel graduated from high school with good grades, especially on history, mathematics and literature. He went on to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point. During that time, Gabriel was a baseball star and often played on semi-pro teams for no remuneration. He was considered one of the most outstanding college players in the nation during his junior and senior seasons at West Point, noted as both a power hitter and an outfielder, with one of the best arms in his day. He rejected multiple offers to play professional baseball, choosing to pursue his Army career. Gabriel became a cadet captain on the brigade staff, and was a "distinguished cadet" academically, graduating first in the Class of 1970 with an academic score of 2424.12 merits out of a possible 2470.00 or 98.14.
After completing Ranger School (Distinguished Honor Graduate and other honors), Gabriel was assigned to the 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team, a light infantry unit stationed in Vicenza, Italy. After leaving the 509th as a first lieutenant, Gabriel became assistant operations officer on the staff of the 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart, Georgia and in 1975 he assumed command of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), and then served as that battalion's operations officer, a major's position that he held as a junior captain.
Gabriel became aide-de-camp to General James B. Vaught - commanding general of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) - in 1977. Gabriel then attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1978-9, earning the General George C. Marshall Award as the top graduate of the Class of 1979, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Military Science. He subsequently earned an M.P.A. in 1981 and a Ph.D. in international relations in 1983 from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 1984–1985, he served as operations officer to the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized)'s 30th Infantry Regiment. He was then posted as an aide and assistant executive officer to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General John A. Wickham Jr., in Washington, D.C.
Upon promotion to lieutenant colonel, Gabriel moved from the office of the chief of staff to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he commanded the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)'s 3rd Battalion 187th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Iron Rakkasans", from 1986 to 1989. Gabriel was promoted to colonel and assumed command in 1989 of the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, centered on the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. In that capacity, he took part in United States invasion of Panama. The goal of the 1st Brigade task force (1–504th, 2–504th INF, 4–325th INF, Company A, 3–505th INF, 3–319th FAR) was to oust Manuel Noriega from power. They were joined on the ground by 3–504th INF, which was already in Panama. The invasion began with a night combat jump and the takeover of airfields. This was followed by air assault missions in Panama City and the surrounding areas of the Gatun Locks. The 82nd then successfully assaulted multiple strategic installations, such as the Punta Paitilla Airport in Panama City and a Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) garrison and airfield at Rio Hato, where Noriega also maintained a residence. Several key objectives such as Madden Dam, El Ranacer Prison, Gatun Locks, Gamboa and Fort Cimarron were secured.
Seven months later, the 82nd Airborne Division was again called to war, this time in the First Gulf War. In August 1990, the division was deployed to Riyadh and Thummim Saudi Arabia. Intensive training began in anticipation of desert fighting against the heavily armored Iraqi Army. On 16 January 1991, Operation Desert Storm began. The 1st Brigade (commanded by Gabriel) and 3d Brigade consolidated at the Division HQ (CHAMPION Main) near Dhahran. In the coming weeks, using primarily the 5-Ton cargo trucks of these NG truck companies, the 1st Brigade moved north to "tap line road" in the vicinity of Rafha, Saudi Arabia. Eventually, these National Guard truck units effectively "motorized" the 325th Infantry, providing the troop ground transportation required for them to keep pace with the French Division Daguet during the incursion. The ground war began almost six weeks later. On 24 February, the 1st Brigade moved forward to extend the Corps flank along with 3d Brigade. In the short 100-hour ground war, the 82d drove deep into Iraq and captured thousands of Iraqi soldiers and tons of equipment, weapons, and ammunition. During that time, the 82nd's band and MP company processed 2,721 prisoners.
Upon returning to the United States, Gabriel retained his command of the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. His brigade's training cycle at Fort Polk's Joint Readiness Training Center for low-intensity warfare was chronicled by novelist and military enthusiast Tom Clancy in his book Airborne. In 1995, Gabriel was assigned to the United Nations Mission in Haiti Military Staff as its chief operations officer during Operation Uphold Democracy. His academic background helped him to dialogue with civilian aid groups and UN officials, and he learned how to communicate effectively with senior military and political leaders in Washington. He supervised training programs for the police, sought funding to build schools and civic buildings, and helped to coordinate transportation and support for raids targeting criminal elements that still disrupted stability in the major towns. Gabriel even found a way to restore power to key parts of Port-au-Prince: he sent a staff officer to the foreign embassies in the capital, seeking donations to purchase generators.
From 1997 to 1999, Gabriel served in the Pentagon as executive assistant to the director of the Joint Staff and then to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Henry Shelton. In 1999, Gabriel returned to the 82nd Airborne Division as the acting commanding officer. From the 82nd, he moved on to serve as chief of staff of XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg during 2000–2001.
During 2001–2002, as a brigadier general, Gabriel served a ten-month tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of Operation Joint Forge. In Bosnia, he was the NATO Stabilization Force assistant chief of staff for operations as well as the deputy commander of the U.S. The hunt for war criminals, which Gabriel directly oversaw as the deputy commanding general, was the army’s largest special operations and intelligence deployment in the world at the time.