1. Ricardo Sanchez was born on September 9,1953 and is a former lieutenant general in the United States Army.
26 Facts About Ricardo Sanchez
1. 2.
Ricardo Sanchez was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army.
3.
Ricardo Sanchez became a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
4.
Ricardo Sanchez received promotions regularly and was stationed at posts in the United States, South Korea, Panama and Germany.
5.
In 1991, then Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo Sanchez served as a battalion commander during Operation Desert Storm, successfully leading his unit of the 197th Infantry Brigade to Basra without suffering any casualties.
6.
Shortly after the Gulf War, Ricardo Sanchez was promoted to colonel and given command of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division.
7.
On July 10,2001, by then a general, Ricardo Sanchez became commander of 1st Armored Division under V Corps.
8.
Ricardo Sanchez held that position for nearly two years, including commanding the division during the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, before assuming command of V Corps on June 14,2003.
9.
Much of Ricardo Sanchez's time commanding 1st Armored Division had been as a brigadier general.
10.
Ricardo Sanchez was in command when the abuse of prisoners occurred most notably at Abu Ghraib prison.
11.
Ricardo Sanchez was succeeded as commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq by a four-star general: former Army Vice Chief of Staff George Casey.
12.
Ricardo Sanchez was commander of coalition forces during a period when abuse of prisoners occurred at Abu Ghraib and at other locations.
13.
On May 5,2006, Ricardo Sanchez denied ever authorizing interrogators to "go to the outer limits".
14.
Documents obtained by The Washington Post and the ACLU showed that Ricardo Sanchez authorized the use of military dogs, temperature extremes, reversed sleep patterns, and sensory deprivation as interrogation methods in Abu Ghraib.
15.
In June 2004, Ricardo Sanchez relinquished command of the Multi-National Force Iraq to General George Casey, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army.
16.
Ricardo Sanchez returned to Germany, where he continued as Commanding General, V Corps.
17.
Ricardo Sanchez was briefly considered for promotion to four-star rank with assignment as Commander, Southern Command; nomination would have required Senate confirmation, which would have been contentious due to the Abu Ghraib scandal.
18.
Ricardo Sanchez was not nominated; the position went to General Bantz Craddock.
19.
On September 6,2006, Ricardo Sanchez relinquished command of V Corps in a ceremony at Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany.
20.
Ricardo Sanchez had commanded the corps for more than 3 years; longer than any previous commander in the unit's history.
21.
Ricardo Sanchez retired on November 1,2006, culminating 33 years of Army service.
22.
The book focused mostly on Ricardo Sanchez's frustrations following his appointment to command coalition ground forces in Iraq in 2003.
23.
In May 2011, Ricardo Sanchez announced that he was considering a candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate seat held by Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2012 elections.
24.
Ricardo Sanchez went on to criticize the partisanship that has characterized America's political leadership on Iraq:.
25.
Ricardo Sanchez has become the most senior retired general to criticize American political leadership of the war.
26.
On May 7,2008, General Ricardo Sanchez was interviewed by Fresh Air host Terry Gross on NPR where he discussed the Iraq war, his life and book.