A Cold War Warrior's Report (ePub)

COL (RET) ALDEN M. CUNNINGHAM'S life and military career provide an example of professional and family life that was typical of the US Army officer corps during the Cold War period at least from 1963 to 1990, especially as regards the Foreign Area Officer Specialty program. His deployments and assignments ranged from Western Europe to West Point (Department of Foreign Languages), Washington, DC (Pentagon), and Carlisle, Pennsylvania (US Army War College), from Vietnam to Korea, and from Mexico to Nicaragua in effect covering most of the Cold War battlegrounds in situations from war, to no war no peace, to insurgency. During the last 15 years of his career, he provided senior leaders with valuable support through his extensive intelligence reporting, instruction, direct advice, articles, and speeches to the public and military leaders both in the United States and Latin America. To Alden Cunningham Congratulations on a job well done, [Panama Canal Treaties] - Jimmy Carter Now that the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America has completed its work, I should like on my own behalf and that of my colleagues to express our appreciation for your thoughtful response to our questionnaire. The contribution you and others made . . . were of invaluable assistance to the Commission's deliberations. - Henry A. Kissinger Colonel Cunningham is the finest Defense and Army Attache that I have observed in thirty years of foreign service. He has the surest grasp of hemispheric politico-military affairs of any officer, civilian or military, that I know. - Ambassador Harry Bergold [Nicaragua] As you complete your service with the Defense Intelligence Agency, I'd like to express my appreciation for the great work you've done [in Nicaragua]. Your contributions have been immeasurable to the success of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and were made during a critical period in the Nation's history. - Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr., Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff