General (Ret.) Frederick M. Franks, Jr.
General (ret) Fred Franks was born in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, graduated and was commissioned 3 June 1959 from the United States Military Academy. He retired from active Army service 1 December 1994.
During his active Army service, General Franks commanded Armored Cavalry units at platoon, troop, squadron, and regimental levels in the 11th and 3d Armored Cavalry Regiments in periods from early 1960 to 1984. General Franks served in combat in Vietnam as S-3, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment August 1969 until being medically evacuated to Valley Forge General Hospital in May 1970 after being wounded in action in Cambodia. After having his leg amputated below the knee and recovery and rehabilitation at Valley Forge General Hospital, he was permitted to remain on active duty and returned to active service in early 1972. Later, in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, then Lieutenant General Franks commanded the 146,000 US and British forces of VII Corps that attacked over 250 kilometers in 89 hours, that won the tank battle of southern Iraq and northern Kuwait, the largest tank battle in Army history, and as part of the Coalition liberated Kuwait in February 1991. He concluded his active service as Commanding General Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) from 1991-1994, responsible for the U. S. Army’s school system and for formulating concepts and requirements for future land warfare.
Since active Army retirement 1 December 1994, General Franks has continued work in public service and as a strong advocate for Wounded Warriors, using the theme, ‘to lead is also to serve’ and “fulfilling the trust of our Veterans and Families and Gold Star Families.”.
He has taught and mentored strategic and senior tactical level leadership, mentored serving senior officers, and has been mentor to Army studies on training and leader development and medical support for disability evaluation system. He collaborated with Tom Clancy on a book, Into the Storm: A Study in Command, first published in 1997 with two additional chapters added and the latest edition published 2007. In September 2001 President George W. Bush appointed him to serve voluntarily on the American Battle Monuments Commission whose mission honors the service, achievements and sacrifice of US Armed Forces as guardian of America’s overseas cemeteries and memorials. He became the ninth Chairman of ABMC in January 2005 and served in that capacity until January 2009.
He held the Class of 1966 Chair in the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1999-2016, as a senior mentor, teaching an elective to Cadets on Battle Command for five years and began a capstone course on Officership, MX 400.
Since 2009 he serves as a senior advisor and honorary board member of the Red Sox Foundation-Massachusetts General Home Base Program, and since its forming in 2014 serves voluntarily as Honorary Director of Home Base Florida. He is committed to assisting Home Base Florida Program Director Armando Hernandez and the team in healing Florida Veterans and their Families with PTSD and TBI through the full family of Home Base programs. He also currently serves voluntarily as Chairman of the Board of VII Corps Desert Storm Veterans Association and previously served voluntarily for 10 years on the Defense Health Board, 2006-2008 then 2011-2019, while also chairing the Limb Loss Panel of that Defense Health Board.
General Franks holds two Masters Degrees from Columbia University in New York City, and honorary Master of Military Art and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Albright College in Reading, PA. He successfully completed U.S. Army Airborne and Ranger training, as well as military service schools to include the National War College.
He received four awards for valor, two Purple Hearts, numerous military awards for service, and individual decorations and awards from Germany, France, and Spain, his native Pennsylvania, and the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation in Kansas City. He was elected to the Athletic Hall of Fame and named a Distinguished Alumni by his hometown Wilson High School and elected in 2004 to the Berks County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. In May 2000, the Association of Graduates named him a Distinguished Graduate of West Point. In May 2008 he was inducted into the Ft. Leavenworth Hall of Fame. In March 2011 he received the Guardian of Liberty Award presented by the West Point Society of Philadelphia at the Union League in Philadelphia. In 2023 he was awarded the Major General Joseph Warren M.D. Award from Home Base.
He and his wife of over 65 years, Denise, live in Naples, Florida. They have a daughter, Marjorie (Bozek), three grandchildren, Jake, Mickey, and Denise, and five Great Grandchildren.