Draft Gen. Ricardo Sanchez for U.S. Senate

by: draftsanchez

Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 02:38 PM CDT

Posted on Draft Sanchez

The time is now. The moment has presented itself.  With Mikal Watts bowing out of the race and Rick Noriega appearing to have no primary opponent but little money for a state wide race, it is time that we start asking "Is Noriega all we have?"  We believe that we can do better because you have to bring your 'A' game if you are going to beat John Cornyn, his ill-gained dollars and the Texas Republican political machine.  We believe that there is plenty of time to bring out a better candidate.  That better candidate is General Ricardo Sanchez.

Here is a little information about the man who we believe has a better shot at taking down Cornyn:

Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez (born 1953) is a retired United States Army general who served as the commander of coalition forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. He was the highest-ranking Hispanic in the United States Army when he retired on November 1 2006 (a more complete bio can be found at the end of this post)

We are committed to supporting a primary, and a draft movement..... is the best way to ensure a Democratic primary race for this year's U.S. Senate seat. We support a primary for a number of reasons, including:

• A primary further raises the profile of the TX-Sen race to a national level
• A primary allows an increasingly knowledgeable electorate to learn more about the candidates before the fall of 2008
• A primary quickens the development of an infrastructure of a campaign, ensuring the winner is better prepared to take on Cornyn in November '08

Even Houston curmudgeon, John  Coby, would have to agree that Gen. Sanchez fits his cherry-picked list of criteria.

Join us and submit you name to draftsanchez@gmail.com to Draft Ricardo Sanchez for U.S. Senate.

Born into a poor family in Rio Grande City, Texas, Sanchez studied hard throughout school. He spent one year at the University of Texas at Austin on an ROTC scholarship, eventually transferring to Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) in Kingsville, Texas, where he graduated in 1973 with a double major in math and history. Sanchez was named a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG), meaning he was in the top 10% of all ROTC cadets in the nation.

He was commissioned as an active duty Second Lieutenant.  Shortly after graduation, Sanchez was commissioned into the Army, becoming a paratrooper platoon leader with the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. By 1977, he was transferred to Armor. He received promotions swiftly and was stationed all over the United States, in Korea, Panama and Germany. 

In 1991, then-Lieutenant Colonel Sanchez served as a battalion commander during Operation Desert Storm, successfully leading his battalion in the 197th Infantry Brigade (Mech) to Basra without losing any men. Shortly after the Gulf War, Sanchez was promoted to Colonel and given command of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. 

Afterwards, he served on the staff of U.S. Southern Command, first as deputy chief of staff then as director of operations.  On July 10, 2001, General Sanchez became commanding general of V Corps' 1st Armored Division. He held that position for nearly two years before assuming command of the entire corps on June 14, 2003. On this date he also became commander of coalition ground forces in the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.

In June 2004, Lieutenant General Sanchez relinquished command of the Multi-National Force Iraq (MNF-I) to General George Casey, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. Sanchez returned to Germany where he continued as Commanding General, V Corps. He was briefly considered for promotion to four-star rank with assignment as Commander, Southern Command; nomination would have required Senate confirmation, which would have been contentious due to the Abu Ghraib scandal. 

He was not nominated; the position went to General Bantz Craddock.  Sanchez lead V Corps in Germany during 2004-2005 as it refitted in anticipation of its second deployment as the command headquarters in Iraq. When V Corps returned to Iraq as headquarters element for the Multi-National Corps Iraq (MNC-I), Lieutenant General Peter W. Chiarelli was named commander; the V Corps flag remained in Germany with Sanchez. The result was somewhat unusual; the V Corps headquarters was in Iraq under Chiarelli's command with the name MNC-I while Sanchez remained in Germany with the corps flag, but with replacement (V Corps-Rear) personnel. 

On 6 September 2006, Sanchez relinquished command of V Corps in a ceremony at Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany. Sanchez had commanded the corps for more than 3 years; longer than any previous commander in the unit's history. In deference to Sanchez' longevity, he relinquished command to General David McKiernan, Commanding General, US Army Europe and Seventh Army, his higher commander, instead of to a successor. 

Sanchez retired on 1 November 2006, culminating 33 years of Army service. Sanchez now lives in his home state of Texas.