GERALD SCHUMACHER Colonel, United States Army, Retired

Gerald Schumacher is a retired U.S. Army officer, having served many years with the Armys elite Special Forces, commonly referred to as the Green Berets. He is now a published author and military analyst. During his 32 years of active and reserve service his command and senior staff assignments included Brigade Commander, Division Chief of Staff, Division Operations Officer, Special Forces Battalion Commander, Special Forces Service Company Commander, Vietnam District Senior Advisor, Mechanized Infantry Company Commander, Vietnam Mobile Advisory Team Leader, Basic Combat Training Company Commander and Infantry Platoon Leader. While on active duty he completed tours in Korea, Germany, and Vietnam as well as dozens of short term missions in various countries. As an enlisted man in Korea he worked with the U.S Secret Service on developing security for a Presidential visit near the DMZ. Shortly after he was commissioned and stationed in Europe, he led the American contingent on the Nijmegen marches in Holland. As a First Lieutenant, he assumed command of a Mechanized Infantry Company with the Armys 3rd Armored Division near Frankfurt Germany. In Vietnam, then Captain Schumacher was assigned to the Military Assistance Command Civil Operations for Revolutionary Developments (CORDS) under the direction of the late William Colby. In his initial assignment he trained and accompanied local militias on combat operations in remote rural villages and hamlets. Later he was appointed to the position of District Senior Advisor where he coordinated and supported Vietnamese, Korean, and American combat operations and infrastructure development throughout his District in the Central Highlands. Upon leaving Southeast Asia, he was assigned to command a training unit at Fort Ord, California. While there he instituted new training concepts and after

completing multiple training cycles with consistently exceptional results, he was one of two Basic Combat training commanders nationwide that were selected to meet with senior leadership at the Pentagon. During the ensuing briefings he participated in one-on-one meetings with the Armys Chief of Staff, then General William Westmoreland. As a Special Forces Battalion Commander with his unit participating in an annual winter Brimfrost exercise in Alaska, he directed his units rescue response to a Canadian C-130 military aircraft crash at night, and in temperatures exceeding sixty degrees below zero. Their actions contributed significantly to saving the lives of dozens of Canadian Paratroopers. His American Special Forces unit and the Canadian Parachute Regiment had forged a deep and enduring bond. In support of Operation Desert Storm, he assisted in the development of advanced biological sensors. Working at Dugway Proving Grounds with scientist from Stanford Research Institute, he developed the technical training and tactical fielding plans for deployment of biological sensors on the battlefield. This rapidly assembled ad hoc group of military and civilian experts successfully created cutting edge technology and built operational real-time sensors capable of detecting and defeating enemy use of lethal biological weapons. Following the first Gulf Conflict, Schumacher became a certified Observer Controller (OC) at the Armys premier National Training Center. He subsequently staffed and commanded the first Reserve Component OC team there at Ft. Irwin, California During his last several years in the Army, he was active in providing unique information concerning possible exposure of soldiers to biological agents. He aggressively solicited the Pentagon, the Presidents Committee on Gulf War Syndrome, the United Nations, and other government agencies to investigate factors that may have contributed to the physical illnesses experienced by many returning veterans. Following his retirement, Colonel Schumacher went to Washington D.C. and met with numerous Congressional representatives urging them to explore previously uninvestigated biological delivery systems and possible causes of Gulf War Syndrome.

He has authored several books to include To Be a U.S. Army Green Beret, Zenith Press, and A Bloody Business: Americas War Zone Contractors & the Occupation of Iraq, also published by Zenith Press. He is currently working on Holding the Line which will delve into the complex issues evolving on the U.S./Mexico border. In researching material for Holding the Line he has spent countless nights on both sides of the border across an eighteen hundred mile stretch from San Diego to Laredo. Additionally, Colonel Schumacher wrote the forewords for Hunting Al Qaeda and War Stories of the Green Berets. Expanding on his military experience and writing, he has been featured on television news networks as a military analyst and has been a guest speaker on numerous radio programs nationwide. He has been interviewed on CNN program news and has been a guest panelist on Voice of America Television where he engaged the former Pakistani Chief of Intelligence (ISI) concerning U.S. sponsored contractor operations inside of Pakistan. Gerald Schumacher now resides in beautiful Northwest Montana with his wife Alice Clay, and his two Akitas, Kuma and Tora.