The Cow was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii to
a career U.S. Air Force pilot and his wife stationed at Hickam Air Force Base.
Raised on, or adjacent to Air Force Bases until leaving for California
Polytechnic University (San Luis Obispo) at age 17, Second Lieutenant Cow was
commissioned in the United States Marine Corps the day before graduation. Two
years later, after Basic Infantry Training in Quantico, VA and Primary Flight
Training in Pensacola, FL, 2nd Lt Cow was designated a Naval Aviator and
promoted to First Lieutenant in Kingsville, TX.
1st Lt Cow's first operational assignment was with
Marine Observation
Squadron 2 (VMO-2), flying the North American Rockwell OV-10 "Bronco" at Camp
Pendleton, CA. He was designated a FAC(A)/TAC(A) [Forward and Tactical Air
Controller Airborne] and participated in seven combined arms exercises at MCAGCC
Twentynine Palms, California. During this two-year assignment, he served as a
ground FAC for the Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment and flew night systems
missions supporting the "Vice President's Task Force Against Drugs" along the
southwestern U.S. border.
Advanced Flight Training, Kingsville, TX
With Aerial Observer, Capt. George A. "Yellowhair" Custer, USMC
Cow and Yellowhair over El Centro, California
In
conjunction with two official requests for transition training in the AV-8A
"Harrier," 1st Lt Cow returned to Kingsville, TX for duty as a Flight
Instructor in the Intermediate and Advanced phases of jet training. During this
assignment, he was promoted to Captain, selected for transition training in the
AV-8B, and accumulated over 1,800 instructional flight hours. Prior to detaching
in the summer of 1988, Captain Cow was the junior graduate at the Naval War
College in Newport, RI and received the Naval War College Foundation Award.
Subsequent to five months of Harrier training at MCAS Cherry Point NC, Captain
Cow reported for duty with Marine Attack Squadron 311 (VMA-311), which was in
the process of accepting new AV-8B's from McDonnell Douglas following a
transition from the A-4M Skyhawk. In March 1990, Captain Cow and LtCol George
Goodwin were the first two Harrier pilots to report to Marine Attack Squadron
211 (VMA-211) in conjunction with its own transition from the A-4M to become the
second Night Attack Harrier Squadron (following VMA-214). Captain Cow served
as Aviation Safety Officer and Operations Officer before deploying to MCAS
Iwakuni, Japan for a year of duty with Marine Aircraft Group 12 as Director of
Standardization & Safety and augmenting Marine Attack Squadrons 223 and 231.
Harrier transition training, Cherry Point, NC
Base Operations, Wake Island, during trans-Pacific ferry behind USAF KC-10
Returning to Yuma in 1993, Major Cow was assigned as Aircraft Maintenance Officer of VMA-211 and saw
three consecutive years where the "Wake Island Avengers" were named "Attack Squadron of the Year."
He subsequently served as Executive Officer and Officer in Charge of the
six aircraft Harrier detachment aboard the USS Belleau Wood. In the
summer of 1996, Major Cow detached from Marine Aircraft Group 13 and reported to
Maxwell AFB, AL for duty as a student at
Air
Force Command & General Staff College. While there, he was
selected to remain for a second year to attend the USAF
School of Advanced Airpower Studies
(SAAS) within Air Force University during academic year 1997-1998.
After receiving his Masters of Airpower Art & Science degree in June 1998,
Lieutenant Colonel Cow was reassigned to "Marine Forces, Atlantic" in Norfolk
Virginia, where he served in Operations and Plans as a regional action officer
for South and Central America as well as Joint Forces Command. In July 1999, he was sent to the
Republic of Panama to serve as the Operations Officer (J-3) for Joint Task Force
Panama.
Upon the transfer of the Panama Canal and all U.S. military installations
to the government of Panama on December 14, 1999, LtCol Cow was returned to
Norfolk and offered command of a west coast Harrier squadron. During the Summer
of 2000, he received refresher training in the AV-8B "Harrier"
at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC and subsequently proceeded to MCAS
Yuma, Arizona where he assumed command of Marine Attack Squadron 513, the
"Flying Nightmares."
The Nightmares first saw combat in the Battle
of Okinawa during WW-II and stood up as the first AV-8 Harrier squadron in the U.S.
Marine Corps following a transition from the F-4 Phantom. During his tenure as CO,
VMA-513 operationally employed all three variants of the AV-8B
simultaneously
and passed 45,000 mishap-free flight hours, the only Harrier squadron to have done either.
On 18 December 2001, the Cow was selected for promotion to Colonel.
He accumulated over 4,000 mishap-free flight hours prior to
relinquishing command of the Nightmares on 7 June 2002. As he
approached the end of his command tour, instability in South Asia dictated that
his orders to Islamabad Pakistan and that country's
National Defense College be cancelled. New orders
redirected him to the
Industrial College of
the Armed Forces (ICAF) in Washington D.C. On 10 June 2003, he matriculated with
a Masters of Science degree in National Resource Strategy and proceeded to Miami,
Florida where he assumed duties as Deputy Director of Operations, United States Southern Command.
USSOUTHCOM is responsible for U.S. security interests
in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
At U.S. Southern Command, the Cow was privileged to lead a team of officers from each branch of the armed forces assigned to conduct all U.S.
deliberate and crisis-action planning for DoD-led operations in Latin America. Notable among the many accomplishments of the Future Operations Directorate
was the 29 February 2004 response to the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, known as Operation
Secure Tomorrow.
Anarchy and murderous civil strife was rapidly ended via USMC-led stability and security operations followed by
an efficient transition to a UN peacekeeping operation in late summer.
In addition to service as USSOUTHCOM J35, the Cow was the designated Commanding Officer of the USMC element until he achieved three years time in
grade and became eligible for retirement as a colonel.
On 4 November 2005, Cow was nominated by the Director of the
Institute for National
Strategic Studies (INSS) to
serve at
National Defense University as a Senior Research Fellow; Deputy Director,
National Defense University Press; and Managing Editor,
Joint Force Quarterly Journal.
On 28 November, he reported for duty at
Fort
Lesley McNair in Washington, D.C. where he spent his final month in the Marine Corps before officially retiring 1 January 2006.
The
Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is a policy research and strategic gaming organization
within the National Defense University serving the U.S. Department of Defense, its components, and interagency partners.
The Institute provides timely, objective analysis and gaming events to senior decision makers and supports NDU educational programs in the fields of
international security and defense policy.
Through an active outreach program, including conferences, international exchanges, and publications, the Institute seeks to promote wider understanding
of emerging international security challenges and defense policy options.
Established by the Secretary of Defense in 1984, INSS is comprised of four components: the Research Directorate, which analyzes global and regional
security trends and frames national security policy and defense strategy options for senior decision-makers; the National Strategic Gaming Center,
which develops and facilitates numerous strategic-level policy exercises and experiential learning activities for senior Executive Branch officials,
the military combatant commands, Members of Congress, and various NDU educational programs; the Publication Directorate, which is responsible for the
editorial development and production of a range of NDU Press publications, as well as
Joint Force Quarterly (
JFQ), published for the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the Conference Directorate, which annually organizes several major symposia and supports more than 100 other conferences,
seminars, and round-tables organized by the research staff.
On 19 July 2006, the Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies announced the appointment of Cow as
Director, National Defense University Press and Editor,
Joint Force Quarterly Journal. The Cow lives above an Irish Pub
and rides his mountain bike to work; how could life be better (except for the hideous singing and the periodic bike wrecks)?
29 April 2009 in the Pentagon office of ADM Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Cow over the Salton Sea in a Harrier II+ April, 2002
Photo by Ted "Kodak" Carlson from the ramp of a USMC KC-130
©2002 Fotodynamics (www.fotodynamics.net)
Once I thought, when we were flying,
life was short - and friends were dying -
life was short and brief thought I;
we were flying through the sky.
Life was brief and short for us,
but for townsmen down below,
life was long and life was slow;
life was long for them below.
Now I know, who am below,
life is never long nor slow;
such my burden is, my grief;
life is ever swift and brief.
- Jim Bailey
