1. John Batiste was commissioned as an infantry officer from West Point and served in five US Army heavy divisions over the next 31 years.
13 Facts About John Batiste
1. 2.
John Batiste is a two-time combat veteran in both the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
3.
John Batiste was promoted to major general in 2002 and in the spring of 2002 General Eric Shinseki chose Batiste to be commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army, which was deployed to Iraq from February 2004 to March 2005, during the war.
4.
John Batiste served as president and CEO of Klein Steel Service Inc in Rochester, NY from 2005 to 2013, during which time the company was recognized as an IndustryWeek Best Plant in 2011.
5.
John Batiste is currently president and CEO of Buffalo Armory, in Buffalo, New York.
6.
John Batiste is a past member of the board of advisors of the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, a board and executive committee member of the Metals Service Center Institute, a board member of the Rochester-based Veterans Outreach Center, the president of the Rochester Regional Veterans Business Council, and chair of the Warrior Salute Advisory Board.
7.
John Batiste co-wrote the best-selling book, Cows in the Living Room: Developing an Effective Strategic Plan and Sustaining It.
8.
In 2006, Batiste testified before the US Senate where he criticized Donald H Rumsfeld for a lack of leadership, and the failure of the Bush administration to develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with worldwide Islamic extremism with clearly defined goals.
9.
John Batiste said Rumsfeld "surrounded himself with like-minded, compliant subordinates who violated basic principles of war and sound military planning in the mission to change the regime in Iraq", and that the country "rushed to war without exhausting all diplomatic, political and economic options".
10.
John Batiste appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in April 2006.
11.
In May 2007, John Batiste appeared in a political ad for VoteVets.
12.
John Batiste argues that at the moment, such a strategy does not exist.
13.
The elder John Batiste was a 1969 graduate of the War College, while his son is a 1970 graduate of Carlisle Senior High School.