Veterans Day: Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, Quincy veteran, reflects on storied 37-year military career

This week, veteran Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges will travel to London for a 10-year reunion with fellow military staff during his time in Afghanistan.

The Quincy native and Tallahassee resident has led operations through the rough, mountainous terrain of Afghanistan and commanded infantry during the Iraq War.

“I loved every day of it. I didn’t love every minute, but I loved every day,” a candid Hodges told the Democrat by phone. He was in Berlin for the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. “To be in the Army was really something I wanted to do since I was 6 years old.”

Hodges graduated from the now-shuttered James A. Shanks High in Quincy before attending West Point, New York’s U.S. Military Academy.

Now the Pershing Chair of Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis, 61-year-old Hodges spends his days as a consultant on defense security and strategies to protect NATO alliances.

Though he’s made a home in Tallahassee, Frankfurt, Germany is his other home base and he spends much of his time in Europe on the job.

Reflecting on his 37-year military career that ended as United States Army Europe commander, Hodges ranks his 15 months until Nov. 2010 as director of operations at Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan as his most challenging times.

“For me it was hard knowing that when I made mistakes or if I made a mistake or we didn’t coordinate things to the best of our ability or provide the resources — and you were always having to make priority choices — then someone ends up paying the price. I was pressured. You got tens of thousands of troops and you’re trying to carry out a strategy for our country and for NATO.”

Hodges served in multi-national headquarters at the time toward a mission of protecting Afghan civilians and aiding the Afghan government against the Taliban.

A chat with Hodges yields a flood of memories. He recalled the time the late Sen. John McCain came to visit the base after he'd lost a presidential election against Barack Obama. Hodges and McCain wound up sitting on the floor of a local mayor's office in Arghandab, chatting over Afghan chai. Hodges said the mayor told McCain through a translator that a ritualistic rite of passage for kings was to pass through the rugged province.

" 'Well, you may know I recently was defeated running for president in the United States. Maybe I should have come here before the election,' " Hodges recalled McCain telling the mayor with a laugh. "Well, maybe next time," the mayor joked in Pashto.

What made the moment memorable was "the humor that made it through the translator," Hodges said.

It wasn't the only bond beyond language Hodges remembers. Once, he was stationed during a mission in a Taliban stronghold called Marjah, which the pro-government Afghans and their allied troops were trying to weaken. Marjah was known for its stretches of poppy fields from which the Taliban harvested opium for money.

Dozens of forces were deployed, and Hodges, as director of operations, kept vigil, monitoring the mission inside the forward command post with his Afghan counterpart, who didn't speak English. And Hodges didn't speak Pashto.

"We stood there all night long. I don’t smoke cigarettes, but you can be sure I smoked a pack of cigarettes that night as this thing was going on," Hodges laughed. "The shared anxiety and the tension with him and the relief as you begin to receive reports back from the young officers on the ground, even though we couldn’t speak the same language, we both were thinking the same thing."

During the Iraq War, Hodges led a brigade serving as Commander of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne.

Hodges recalled an Iraqi soldier he'd hired, whom he remembers as "Sheikh Raad." The man lived along the countryside, his home surrounded by sheep. There was a long pipeline that went 20 kilometers through his property, and he was hired to protect the pipeline from terrorists who tried to blow it up, and from people who'd try to steal fuel, Hodges said.

Hodges befriended Raad and got to know his family: his sons, and his wife, a nurse and spoke English.

Over and over again, Hodges said, terrorists would try to capture Raad. A few years after Hodges returned home, he received the news that they'd eventually killed him.

“It was gut wrenching when I heard... it was very personal," he said. “Knowing that there were people like him gave me hope about what positive things could happen in Iraq. Which is why the terrorists went after him... they blew up his house."

Hodges had a diverse military career working a variety of positions, from chief legislative liaison in the 1990s — ever since then, he's carried a copy of the U.S. Constitution everywhere he goes — to commander for U.S. Army Europe, his last military assignment before retiring in 2017.

The retired lieutenant general says he's proud of the men and women who serve to protect the nation and its allies.

"The Army’s not perfect, I don’t want to overstate that," he said. "But I met so many young men and women that had courage, excellence, accepted huge responsibilities."

Veterans Day events in Tallahassee:

Sacred Soil Project 1 Mile Fun Run and 5K

When: 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Where: Corner of S. Gadsden Street and E. Park Avenue

Veterans Day Parade

When: 10:40 a.m.

Where: Viewing area is S. Monroe Street from the intersection of Tennessee Street, a right on Madison Street and ending at Duval Street. View route

More info: veteventstally.org

Vet Fest

When: 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Downtown Tallahassee, between Monroe and Duval Street

North Florida Fair Freedom Day

When: Gates open at noon

Where: North Florida Fairgrounds, 441 E. Paul Russell Road

Cost: Active/retired military with ID – free; Children under 5 - free; Youth - $5, Adults - $8

Operation: Thank You Ceremony

When: Breakfast served at 8 a.m.

Where: American Legion Hall, 229 Lake Ella Drive

Veterans Day Service

When: 7 p.m.

Where: St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, 4784 Thomasville Road

Veterans Day Sk8 Mania

When: 4 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: 2563 Capital Circle N.E.

Cost: $2 admission, $2 skates rental

Veterans Day BBQ and Entertainment

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Canterfield of Tallahassee, 208 E. Tharpe Street

Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.