Leon J. LaPorte (born May 5, 1946) 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 ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

who served as Commander, 1st Cavalry Division from 1995 through 1997 and as Commander, United States Forces Korea until 2006.

Career

LaPorte graduated from the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

with a B.A. degree in biology in 1968 and was commissioned 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 ...

in the U.S. Army as an Armor Officer. From 1969 until 1970 he served with the 3rd Infantry Division, in 1971 he transferred to the 238th Aerial Weapons Company in the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. In 1977 he received his M.S. degree in Administration from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

. From 1977 until 1980 he was an assistant professor at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. In October 1990 as the Chief of Staff, 1st Cavalry Division he deployed as part of

Operation Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. He returned in 1995 to command the 1st Cavalry Division until 1997. From February 2003 until February 2006 he was commander of

United States Forces Korea United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a Unified Combatant Command#Subordinate Unified Command, sub-unified command of United States Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-re ...

(USFK) and United Nations Forces, Korea. In February he retired from the Army after 38 years of service, handing command to U.S. Army General Burwell B. Bell III. Despite his reputation as an abrasive and callous commander, LaPorte played a major part in an investigation of the involvement U.S. military personnel in hiring

prostitutes Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

and facilitating

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

in South Korea. Laporte gave an apology to the families of the two South Korean junior high-school girls that were accidentally run over and killed by a U.S. armored vehicle in 2002.

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Leon J. 1946 births Living people People from Providence, Rhode Island University of Rhode Island alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army aviators Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) University of California, Irvine alumni United States Army personnel of the Gulf War Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Commanders, United States Forces Korea