Cody plays key role in Army upheavals

WASHINGTON, March 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army's Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Rchard Cody, has been thrust into the hot seat by recent top level upheavals.

Retired Brig. Gen. David Grange told the Army Times in comments published Monday that Cody would have to provide the steadying hand and balance the U.S. Army needed following the resignation of its civilian head over the Walter Reed Hospital health care scandal.

"As the vice chief, he is going to be the steadfast leader in this period," Grange told the newspaper. "You really have to have Cody kind of holding things together."

Cody is also acting as the bridging link between the former and incoming military leadership of the Army. Gen. George Casey, the former U.S. ground forces commander in Iraq, is coming in as the new Army Chief of Staff replacing retiring Gen. Peter Schoomaker. Schoomaker's brother, Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, is taking over the administration of Walter Reed Hospital in Baltimore following the recent revelations and scandals about the quality of health care for wounded soldiers there.

Cody became the 31st vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, on June 24, 2004. He had previously served as deputy chief of staff, G-3, U.S. Army. His other key assignments included those of commanding general, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell; director, operations, readiness and mobilization, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans the HQ of the Department of the Army; deputy commanding general, Task Force Hawk, Tirana, Albania; assistant division commander for maneuver, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; commander, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; commander, 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; aide-de-camp to the commanding general, Combined Field Army, Korea; and director, Flight Concepts Division.