Official USSOCOM portrait of General Wayne Downing

General Wayne A. Downing, US Army Retired, died on the 17^th of July at the age of 67.  Nicknamed “The WAD” for his initials, General Downing’ military career culminated as Commander of the Special Operations Command.  General Downing’s godson, a Special Forces officer and friend of mine, told me his death was completely unexpected.  I was only able to have minor brushes with him during my career.

On the 6^th of June 1994, I was with my parents and sister at the 50^th Anniversary of D-Day and we were making our way up the steps from the beach near where my Dad had landed, up to the Cemetery area.  As I got to the top, I saw a few US military officials and there looking at the beach was General Downing.  I asked his “Loop” (his Aide) a Navy SEAL officer (who has become a close friend of mine) if I could say hello to the general and he said sure.  I was in uniform and told the WAD I was one of “his guys” and he asked where I was stationed and I said Okinawa, he laughed and said “you probably get the award for traveling the furthest to get here.”

Later that same summer, I was deployed with a joint task force on a US Navy ship off the coast of Haiti for Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY.  My job was to monitor a radio frequency for airplanes supporting our folks.  General Pete Schoomaker, later USSOCOM commander and more famously brought out of retirement as Army Chief of Staff, would occasionally listen from his office to the various radio nets and he didn’t like the lack of good communications procedures.  When aircrews were doing radio checks you heard verbal buffoonery like “have you Lima Charlie” (or just Loud and Clear), Five-by, or the dreaded, 10-4 from some wiseguy.  Well, eventually he had enough and after I got my ass chewed out royally by my boss, word went out to the force to clean up the communications and proper procedures were handed out. 

One day, we got word General Downing was leaving Haiti after traveling there for coordination and I was told to raise his airplane on the secure radio once they were airborne.  Once I got them, General Schoomaker came out of his office, sat next to me with the headset on and had a conversation with the CINC, except there were really two different conversations.  General Schoomaker used very precise, proper brevity terms while the WAD was having a telephone conversation with an old friend, which they were.  After they were done, General Schoomaker took off his headset, looked at me and with a twinkle in his eye said “looks like I am going to have to give General Downing a course in proper radio telephone procedures” and suppressing a laugh, I said “you probably should General!”

Most fitting, for his last period of service to his nation, General Downing founded the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.  Here is their tribute site.