Brig. Gen. Robert Crear – The man, the soldier and the commander|[01/13/08]

Published 12:00 am Sunday, January 13, 2008

As Brig. Gen. Robert Crear prepares to end his 32-year Army career and begin what he calls his “second age,” he sees his life as having come full circle. And the stage has been the Walnut Street building that houses the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division and the Mississippi River Commission, both of which Crear heads.

When Crear, now 54, was a young boy growing up in Vicksburg, he would pass by the large, brick building, intimidated by its grandeur, not knowing what went on behind its doors.

Vicksburg then was a segregated city, much like others in the Jim Crow South. He attended different schools from his white counterparts, drank from different water fountains, entered the Joy Theater through a side door designated for blacks and dreamed of a life that was different.

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“I was constantly reminded I was different,” he said. “I would go to the Etta O’Neil Library, which was the ‘colored library.’ I spent a lot of time reading books about people who looked beyond color.”

Now, decades later, with a mile-long list of achievements, awards and honors, Crear looks out the building’s cupola, a small area with windows at the top of a spiral staircase, and looks at his entire history, he said.

With three months left as commander, Crear climbed those stairs one day last week and peered through the windows. He pointed out where the Joy Theater stood and the stores he visited as a child. And he recalled the locations of those separated schools and water fountains.

“It has all come full circle,” he said.

Judged by character

At 8 years old, Crear knew that he wanted to be an officer in the Army. It was a realization that came when he watched his cousin’s black and white television from a shotgun house in an area known as Lum’s Quarters.

“It was this documentary of West Point, where cadets were graduating.

“Their word would be their bond, and they were judged by their character,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be judged by my character, and I wanted my word to be my bond.”

After graduating from all-black Rosa A. Temple High School, Crear earned an academic scholarship to Jackson State University and joined the ROTC, his first taste of military life.

“I was impressed (with the officers in the ROTC). I had unbelievable respect for them. They could fly helicopters, drive tanks. Blacks and whites were equals,” he said. “That’s what I wanted to be.”

Hooah! says it.

Defined as “a U.S. Army slang term … used by infantry, cavalry, airborne troops and rangers, though ultimately by any and all Army soldiers regardless of rank, to varying degrees, referring to or meaning anything and everything except ‘no.'”

“Hooah!” is also the greeting Robert Crear, the man, the soldier and the commander can be heard bellowing to anyone — and everyone — he meets. Even as he announced to the employees of his division last week that he planned to retire, he ended his personal message, “Hooah!”

It’s the salutation that’s been the signature of Crear since he graduated in 1975, since he has been an officer with the Army and since his first commission as a second lieutenant. His climb has meant moving his family — wife, Reatha, his high school sweetheart, and four children — about 16 times. Along the way, he has had continual upgrades in rank and has often made history.

‘Go to Vicksburg and give back’

Among those times was when he was chosen to head the Corps’ Vicksburg District, which set him to make history as the first Vicksburg native to command the District and the first black, he said, an opportunity to give back. He served in that role from 1998 to 2001.

“When does a person have the opportunity to give back to the community responsible for being where you are?” he asked. “We led with our hearts, and our hearts said, ‘Go to Vicksburg and give back.'”

Since the Vicksburg command, Crear has served in Washington, D.C., Dallas and Iraq before being chosen for his current role, where he controls $15 billion in budgets and leads thousands of Army civilians. The Mississippi Valley Division, one of nine Corps divisions, extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and includes portions of 12 states, employs 5,000 people, encompasses 370,000 miles and has a budget of more than $7 billion. As Division commander, Crear is responsible for the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, the comprehensive flood control and navigation system for the alluvial valley from Cape Girardeau, Mo., to the Gulf of Mexico, one of the most successful civil works projects ever initiated. The Division also oversees projects in six districts, including the Vicksburg District.

In 2006, Crear was formally chosen as president of the MRC, an honor bestowed on him by President Bush. Crear was the first black to be chosen for the role since the MRC was created by Congress in 1879.

Pioneering events

Throughout his career, the soldier has faced two unprecedented events.

The first came in 2003 when he commanded Task Force Restore Iraqi Oil, a first for the Department of Defense. Crear and his group were in Iraq and Kuwait for about 10 months to extinguish well fires set by Iraqis retreating after the Allied invasion in March of that year. Crear and his group crossed the Iraq border two days after fighting began and entered “no man’s land” to start the first flow of oil in free Iraq.

“That was the most challenging thing I’ve done. I have great admiration for the soldiers and the civilians who helped me through the process,” he said.

Two years later, when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, Crear was in charge of establishing and leading Task Force Hope, the Corps’ effort to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s national response plan. The task force, which continues its restoration efforts, is the largest disaster recovery operation in the history of the Corps.

“It was unprecedented. I was lucky enough to be here at the right time,” Crear said.

It is both the extensive training he has received from the Army and his roots in Vicksburg that Crear attributes to his being able to step up as a leader — even in the most trying times.

“A lot of it I attribute to my upbringing and my values,” he said.

“The people I grew up around — I saw these people who wouldn’t let their spirit be dampened and they pulled together. It inspired me to give back.”

He believes in what he calls the “golden triangle” — home, school and teachers, a formula that he also attributes to his success.

Crear, who took over the MVD in 2004, has held the post longer than all but one other person.

Now, he said, if he doesn’t leave the Army, he feels he and his family will be packing up for their 17th move.

“I didn’t come with the intention of retiring,” he said. “I have been very satisfied. Any job after this is not going to be satisfactory. This is where I want to end my career — commander of the best division of the Army.”

What’s next?

As far as what his “second age” has in store, “The sky is the limit,” he said. But, it will not involve politics, even on the local level, he insisted.

“I will basically go where it leads me,” he said. “I am poised to go out and take the experiences I gained in the military and use it in a bigger way. It’s amazing what it can prepare you for.”

Though he and his wife have not yet made a decision, Crear said his second career could involve either the social or educational realm. And, he hopes to be able to stay in Vicksburg, or at least Mississippi, he said.

Reatha Crear, who has been in real estate sales since 1985, said she has enjoyed the Army.

“It’s been like a vacation for me, and it’s been a lot of growth for our family,” she said. “We’ll continue the ride and have fun and we’ll have more time to spend together.”

Looking back on his career, Crear is happy with what he has accomplished. He has held several Open Houses at the MVD and MRC headquarters to help the community gain a better understanding of what that “intimidating” building and the Corps mean to the nation and his hometown. He has participated in civic groups, charitable organizations and has made himself available to local schools. When he left the Vicksburg District, he had encouraged 30 civilians to become Community Champions, giving back to Vicksburg and helping bridge the gap between the MVD and the communities within the districts it oversees.

“If you do give back for the right reason, it will bring positive publicity and people will have a better understanding of what we do,” he said. “That’s what drives me. It’s important you change things by participating — not just in Vicksburg, but throughout the entire Mississippi Valley.”

From the outside

Crear’s work has not gone unnoticed.

Lt. Gen. Robert VanAntwerp, chief of engineers, said Crear and his wife have raised the bar with their “professionalism and selfless service.”

“They have loved the soldiers and civilians under their charge — and it shows,” he said. “They help everyone around them reach their potential and make everyone better. They leave a legacy of excellence.”

While there is still work to be done in his post, Crear, who officially leaves the Army in April, will leave that to his successor, Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, who will take the command Feb. 20. Walsh will come to Vicksburg from Baghdad, where he is division engineer for the Gulf Region Division.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t do it all, but I have to leave sometime.

“There is a lot of work,” he said. “The best is yet to come.”

In coming years, Walsh will lead the Division as it completes projects on hold until this year. MVD received funding for the first time since 2001 to move forward with the Water Resource Development Project, which will enable work to be completed on 29 locks and dams in need of repair. Congress has authorized $7 billion for improvement and expansion of the locks and restoration of the ecosystem.

Other ongoing projects are the reduction of erosion along the coastline of South Louisiana, which loses about the size of a football field each day, and $15 billion in hurricane recovery in Louisiana.

Crear said he feels lucky to have had the opportunity to spend a portion of his military career in his hometown. When he first moved here to lead the Vicksburg District, he said it allowed him to spend time with his mother, Gladys Ferguson, before she died in December 1999.

“I feel blessed to be stationed in Vicksburg,” he said. “When she needed me I was here — with her the whole time. I consider it the most profound moment — to have my mom see and realize” what he had accomplished.

It was his mother, he said, who gave him the upbringing that pushed him to become the man, the soldier and the commander that he is today.

“She told me, ‘You can do anything,'” he said.

Hooah!