Edward L. Trobaugh (born 7 November 1932) is a former

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 ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Early life and education

Trobaugh graduated from

Kokomo High School Kokomo High School (merged with Haworth High School in 1984) is a four-year public high school in Kokomo, Indiana, USA. The school is the only high school in the Kokomo School Corporation. History The earliest Kokomo High School found in rec ...

in 1950.

Career

Trobaugh attended

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

graduating in 1955 and was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduation.

1955-1967

He served with the 3rd Armored Division in West Germany from 1959-61.

Vietnam War

From 1967 to 1968 Trobaugh served in

South 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 the 1st Infantry Division. In April 1970 Trobaugh was appointed to command the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment replacing Lt Col. Hannas who had been seriously wounded in a

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the ...

(PAVN) attack on Firebase Jay on 29 March. 2/7 Cavalry moved to a new base, Firebase Atkinson after the attack on Jay and it too came under attack in the early hours of 16 April 1970 and Trobaugh was slightly wounded while leading the defense of the base.

1970s to 1987

From 1971-3 he attended 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 ...

. In 1975 he took command of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. In July 1980 BG Trobaugh became assistant commandant of the

United States Army Infantry School The United States Army Infantry School is a school located at Fort Benning, Georgia that is dedicated to training infantrymen for service in the United States Army. Organization The school is made up of the following components: * 197th Infantr ...

. In 1981 Trobaugh was promoted to Major General and from August 1981 he served as

Military Assistance Advisory Group Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for United States military advisors sent to other countries to assist in the training of conventional armed forces and facilitate military aid. Although numerous MAAGs operated around ...

, Spain. Trobaugh served as commander of the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

from 24 June 1983 to 19 June 1985 and during this time led the division in the US invasion of Grenada. During the operation 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 ...

, General

John Vessey John William "Jack" Vessey Jr. (June 29, 1922 – August 18, 2016) was a career officer in the United States Army. He attained the rank of General (United States), general, and was most notable for his service as the tenth chairman of the Joint C ...

, reportedly called MG Trobaugh and said “We have two companies of Marines running all over the island and thousands of Army troops doing nothing. What the hell is going on?” His final assignment was as Deputy Commander, Fifth Army. Trobaugh retired from active service in 1987.

Personal life

After retiring from the U.S. Army in 1987, he returned to Kokomo Indiana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trobaugh, Edward 1932 births United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Living people People from Logansport, Indiana United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Indiana People from Kokomo, Indiana