Hamilton H. Howze

Hamilton Hawkins Howze (21 December 1908 – 8 December 1998) was a general in the United States Army. He was a developer and advocate of helicopter-borne air mobility warfare.

Early life Howze was born on 21 December 1908, in West Point, New York, while his father, Major General Robert Lee Howze, an 1888 West Point graduate, was serving as Commandant of the United States Military Academy.

Early career

Howze attended West Point, graduating in the Class of 1930. He was commissioned into the 6th Cavalry.

In World War II Howze served as Operations Officer of the 1st Armored Division, then as the commander of: 2nd Battalion, 13th Armor Regiment (1943); 13th Armor Regiment (1943–44); 1st Armored Division, Italy (1944–45). Three years later he attended the National War College, which was followed by an assignment in the office of the G-2 from 1949 to 1952. After promotion to brigadier general in 1952 he became Assistant Commanding General, 2nd Armored Division, European Command, until 1954.

Final commands Howze served as the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps from 1961 to 1962, and briefly acting Commanding General, Third United States Army from 1962 to 1963. In October 1962, he assumed command of the armed forces deployed to support the enrolment of James Meredith at the segregated University of Mississippi.

Howze's last assignment was as Commanding General, Eighth United States Army, Commander-in-Chief of United States Forces in Korea, a four-star United Nations Command position involving United States and Republic of Korea Army troops, from 1963 to 1965. General Howze retired from active duty in 1965 to Fort Worth, Texas. As a 1957 Charter Member of the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA), he served for four years as the organization's Senior Vice President and President. He was also a member of the Army Aviation Hall of Fame and was the Chairman of the AAAA's board of trustees.

Howze died on 8 December 1998, at age 89. He was buried next to his father at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery.

The Howze Gunnery Award is presented by the AAAA and is sponsored by Rockwell International Corporation (in the memory of General Hamilton H. Howze), and is presented annually to the top AH-1 & AH-64 crew in the annual GEN Hamilton H. Howze Gunnery Competition.

Awards and decorations

1962 AHS International Vertical Flight Society "Honorary Fellow" 1974 Army Aviation Association of America Hall of Fame inductee

Popular culture General Howze was represented in a fictional account of W. E. B. Griffin's "Brotherhood of War" series of books as General "Triple H" Howard.