Guy A. J. Laboa (born December 9, 1939) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer. A veteran of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, his senior command assignments included the 4th Infantry Division and the

First United States Army First Army is the oldest and longest-established field army of the United States Army. It served as a theater army, having seen service in both World War I and World War II, and supplied the US army with soldiers and equipment during the Korea ...

Early life

Guy Anthony Jackson Laboa was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, on December 9, 1939, the son of Anthony B. LaBoa and Mary Inez (Hill) LaBoa. He graduated from

Channelview High School Channelview High School is a senior high school in Channelview, Texas, Channelview, Harris County, Texas, United States. It is a part of the Channelview Independent School District. Academics The school educates over 2,500 students in grades 9-12. ...

, and in 1962 he received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in commercial marketing from

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; french: link=no, Les Natchitoches) is a small city and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named ...

. A participant in the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

program, at his graduation he received his commission in the

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

Military career

Start of career

LaBoa completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course in 1962. His additional training included the

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

and

Pathfinder Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder (w ...

courses. From October 1964 to September 1965, LaBoa served in Vietnam during the

. After returning to the United States, he was assigned as supply officer for the 6th Student Battalion at

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

. In 1966, LaBoa was appointed aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General

Louis W. Truman Lieutenant general (United States), Lieutenant General Louis Watson Truman (June 20, 1908 – December 2, 2004) was a senior United States Army officer. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army Central, Third United States Army. ...

, commander of the

Third United States Army Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

Fort McPherson Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Ar ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. During his second deployment to Vietnam, LaBoa served with the 25th Infantry Division as commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment and operations officer for 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry. He was selected for promotion to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1968. LaBoa's post-Vietnam assignments included commander of 2nd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment from 1977 to 1979. In 1981, LaBoa graduated from the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military offic ...

and received a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in public administration from

Shippensburg State University Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (Ship or SU) is a public university in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Founded in 1871, it later became the first teachers college in Pennsylvania. ...

. In the early and mid 1980s, LaBoa's assignments included assistant chief of staff for plans, operations and training (G-3) and inspector general for the 5th Infantry Division.

General officer

As a colonel, LaBoa commanded 1st Brigade, 8th Infantry Division. He then served as chief of staff for the 8th Infantry Division, and remained in this position until being selected for promotion to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in 1985. From March 1986 to June 1987, LaBoa served as deputy director of operations in the operations directorate of the

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: app ...

. LaBoa's later assignments as a general officer included assistant division commander (support) for the 4th Infantry Division, and director of operations for Forces Command. LaBoa served as commander of the 4th Infantry Division from October 1991 to October 1993. He served as chief of staff for Forces Command from 1993 to 1995. From May to July 1995, LaBoa commanded

Second United States Army Second Army was most recently located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia as a Direct Reporting Unit to Headquarters U.S. Army, Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6. Under the CIO/G-6, Second Army served as the single point of contact for Army missions an ...

as a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. When

and Second Army were combined, LaBoa assumed command of First Army, which he led until his 1997 retirement.

Post-military career

After leaving the army, LaBoa was employed by

CIBA Vision Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

as director of daily contact lens manufacturing. He became a resident of

Dahlonega, Georgia The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...

, and served on the city council from 2004 to 2008. In 2008, LaBoa joined KBR, Inc. as principal manager for the company's participation in the

LOGCAP The Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) is a program administered by the US Army to provide contingency support to augment the Army force structure. The first three contracts (and all task orders under them) were awarded to a singl ...

III program. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for chairman of the

Lumpkin County Lumpkin County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,488. Its county seat is Dahlonega. History This area was settled by the Cherokee, who also occupied a ...

Board of Commissioners in 2012.

Family

In 1961, LaBoa married Monya Ann Winn (1941–1964). His second wife was Patricia Ann Berry of

East Point, Georgia East Point is a suburban city located southwest of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,358. The city name ...

. LaBoa is the father of three children: Anthony, Tracy, Mary Kaye.

Awards and decorations

In 1992, LaBoa was inducted into Northwestern State University's Hall of Fame, the Long Purple Line.

References

Sources

Internet

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Press release

News

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Books

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Magazines

* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:LaBoa, Guy A. J. 1939 births Living people Military personnel from Houston People from Dahlonega, Georgia Northwestern State University alumni Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania alumni United States Army War College alumni United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Medal