Ltg ron lewis bio
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Lewis, a wiry man who stands 5 feet, 10 1/2 inches, recalled his Chicago years in an interview at his Pentagon office, which is chock with military coins, battle flags and other colorful memorabilia — including a tribute from a military unit with the motto “Too Tough to Die.”
He recalls learning to ski at Alpine Valley Resort in Wisconsin and going to a church-run summer camp in Michigan.
He said his first job — selling men’s clothing at the old Henry C.
Lytton & Co. store in Evergreen Plaza — gave him enough money to fuel up his father’s gas guzzler, a 1977 Chrysler New Yorker.
The general is married with two children, including a son, R.J., who attends East-West University in Chicago and tends bar in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Gen. For every two pilots who jump into an Apache helicopter, he observed, there are about eight other soldiers performing tasks such as arming, refueling, intelligence-gathering, running a command post and maintaining ground vehicles.
Lewis tries to get the “most and best out of everyone” on his team by listening and making sure soldiers know they’re appreciated.
As Army Maj. Gen. Ronald F. Lewis was receiving his second star this month, he joked that he’d come a long way for a “punk kid from Chicago.”
But his parents said their son was anything but trouble.
“He never started any fights, but he could end one,” father Richard Lewis said. A lieutenant colonel with the 1st Cavalry Division, he commanded a battalion of 500 troops and 48 helicopters, both Apaches and Kiowa Warriors.
“He personally led in all our major battles in Najaf, in Fallujah, in Sadr City,” said Lt.
Gen. James McConville, his commanding officer on all three deployments. Lewis later said his government card had been stolen, which led Citibank to forgive the charges in South Korea.
The report also found that Lewis sought to engage in inappropriate relationships with female subordinates and said he often drank in excess in front of junior officers.
All of the cases arose while Lewis traveled with Carter as defense secretary.
Phil McCausland
Phil McCausland was a former NBC News Digital reporter.
Courtney Kube
Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
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“He wasn’t worried about the next rung on the ladder.The general said being their son was key because they set him on a path to success.
“They created an environment of no ceilings, no caps,” the general told the Tribune. “He always looked out for his younger brothers. He is a recently retired Army General who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Lewis said he tries to get back to Chicago twice a year, except when he’s deployed. “I prefer to have people not want to let the team down,” he said, “as opposed to fearing, ‘I’m going to get hammered if I don’t do this.’ “
Having worn a uniform since he was 17 years old, he said he is proudest for “leading America’s sons and daughters, having the opportunity to train them up, to care for them, to provide just good mentorship and good leadership for them, and then take them to combat.”
His first combat tour was in Iraq during 2004-2005, a time marked by bloody insurgencies.
The father spent 25 years with the phone company and began substitute teaching for Chicago Public Schools, where he still teaches a couple days a week.
His son was an athletic and mechanically oriented Boy Scout and a “good Christian boy,” said his father. Duckworth, who lost both her legs in the attack, is now a member of the U.S.
House from Chicago’s northwest suburbs.
In 2006-2007, Lewis received a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.
He left the states in 2008 for a year in Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division, commanding a brigade with about 5,000 soldiers and about 200 aircraft, including helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned vehicles.
In 2013, he returned for another year in Afghanistan, still fighting a stubborn insurgency, as a deputy commanding general with the 101st Airborne.
He was worried about doing the right thing every day.”
“I think the sky’s the limit with this fellow,” Cody added. The organizations he led ranged in size from 30 to 20,000 personnel.
He spent most of his career working as a strategist, leader, manager, and director. He has had comprehensive experience as a transformational leader and a complex problem solver.
Former Major General Demoted in Retirement for Using Credit Card at Strip Clubs
A one-time three-star general will be demoted and retire as a brigadier general, the Army confirmed Thursday after he used a government credit card to pay for bills at strip clubs in Rome and South Korea.
Cynthia Smith, a spokeswoman for the Army, said the Pentagon's inspector general was able to verify that Major Gen.
Ronald Lewis — who was the senior military assistant to former Defense Secretary Ash Carter — charged the government for his visits to the strip clubs, made false statements and "engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman on multiple occasions." As a result, he will be bumped down to brigadier general.
Lewis had reached the three-star rank of lieutenant general, but he was demoted to major general when Carter fired him more than a year ago after an investigation uncovered that Lewis had misused a government credit card and had become involved in an extramarital relationship.
Federal law states that military officers can retire only with the benefits of the rank they last served "satisfactorily" — a call the secretary of the Army makes for major generals and brigadier generals.
"In this case, the Secretary determined that Maj.
Gen. Lewis' highest grade of satisfactory service was as a Brigadier General," Smith said in a statement.
Carter, who had been a friend and mentor to Reynolds, said in a statement at the conclusion of the investigation: "I expect the highest possible standards of conduct from the men and women in this department particularly from those serving in the most senior positions.
The father, a sergeant at the old Pease Air Force Base, worked on B-47s and B-52s as a bomb navigation technician, before leaving in 1966 for Chicago, where he had a job waiting at AT&T.
Ronald Lewis was not even 2 years old when his parents, natives of Mississippi, adopted Chicago as their home. They include three who have four stars — notably, Lloyd Austin III, leader of Central Command — plus three with three stars, 16 like Lewis with two stars, and 12 with a single star.
Lewis was born in Kittery, Maine, while his father wrapped up 12 years in the Air Force.
“We set high standards for our kids and we spent time with them.”
Emma Lewis, 77, said her son learned to read before starting school. He loved building and fixing things, and when he entered science fairs, “if he was not the winner, he was second,” she said.
She was a stay-at-home mom until she began hosting Tupperware parties, becoming a manager for the company.
He’s a fan of the Chicago Bulls (“way before Jordan — Artis Gilmore days”) and Blackhawks and likes to golf.
When he arrived at West Point in 1983, he said he and other cadets aspired to be infantry soldiers, having a tough-guy mindset: “You’ve got to be a Special Forces-Airborne-Ranger snake eater.”
But while studying mechanical engineering, a mentor steered him to aviation, which looked “pretty dang-on good,” the general said.
There is no exception."
According to the report, Lewis used a government credit card to spend $1,121.25 at the Candy Bar strip club in South Korea and $1,755.98 at the Cica Cica Boom strip club in Rome — both of which are allegedly often visited by prostitutes. Much of his recent experience was at the cabinet level in the United States, Europe, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions.
Ron is a proven strategic planner, team builder, change manager and communicator.