The Reluctant General

About the Book

“Many people have asked me over the years how I became a general. My response is usually ‘reluctantly.’ Never genuinely believed it might be possible.”

In the first few chapters of this autobiography, Cooper recalls events from his childhood, growing up on the farm with his maternal grandparents. The next chapters follow his high school life, and finally, his entrance into the military. Follow Cooper’s audacious encounters from being a Training Officer, to 1st Battalion, 22d Artillery, to Field Artillery Staff Officer, to Senior Operations Officer, to Deputy Commanding General US Army Recruiting Command, taking him across the United States to Vietnam, Germany and the Persian Gulf.

Alternating stories about his exciting encounters in the field, his own insights and his experiences that will benefit the readers, The Reluctant General proves that what many others may think is a will-of-the-wisp can turn into something real.

About the Author

Brigadier General Billy R. Cooper was born in 1948 in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. He received an associate’s degree from the University of the State of New York, a bachelor’s degree in education from Cameron University in 1977, and a master’s in education from Georgia State University in 1980. Commissioned through Offi cer Candidate School in December 1968, he is a graduate of the Field Artillery Offi cer Advanced Course, the Command and General Staff College and the National War College. His military career has taken him across the United States, to Germany and Vietnam. Of his thirty-three years in the Army, twelve were spent at Fort Sill, OK. Cooper’s assignments include training offi cer, 1st Basic Combat Training Brigade, Fort Lewis, WA; forward observer, then executive offi cer, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 21st Artillery, 1st Calvary Division, Vietnam; artillery tactics instructor, U.S. Army Field Artillery School, Fort Sill, OK; S-1/adjutant, 1st Battalion 22d Field Artillery, then commander, Battery C, 1st Battalion, 22d Artillery, 1st Armored Division, then deputy installation coordinator, Pinder Barracks, 1st Armored Division, Germany. After serving as assistant professor of military science at Albany State College in Albany, GA, he returned to Fort Sill as a fi eld artillery staff offi cer, staff and faculty battalion, then operation’s offi cer, 214th Field Artillery Brigade. He served as research and development coordinator, U.S. Army Material Systems Analysis Activity, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD; then Commander, 2d Battalion, 1st Field Artillery, 1st Armored Division, Germany. He was senior operations offi cer and later assistant deputy director for operations, National Military Command Center, the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C. in the Pentagon. Again returning to Fort Sill, he was training and doctrine command systems manager for Fire Support Command, Control and Communications Systems in the Field Artillery School and later commanded the 214th Field Artillery Brigade, III Corps Artillery. His next assignment was chief, Fire Support Division and assistant director of requirements, Offi ce of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations on the Army Staff in the Pentagon. After promotion to brigadier general he was assigned to the United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, FL with duty in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa as the joint rear area coordinator. His fi nal assignment was as Deputy Commanding General US Army Recruiting Command. Following retirement from active Army service in 2001, he served as director of two different job corps centers in Cleveland, OH and Morganfi eld, KY for a total of nine years