LTC (R) Scott P. Caldwell

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Scott P. Caldwell sat down with me for Heroes Live.

Ranger Caldwell. That is how I knew him. Ranger qualified in air defense was a big deal. Still is.

Sandusky, Ohio. Lake Erie. Halfway between Cleveland and Toledo. Cedar Point. Nice place to grow up. Nice place to see in the rearview. High school in 81. Enlisted in 81. Blonde afro. Smart mouth. Parents figured two weeks. They came to visitation and found a kid who loved it. First time he felt like he belonged.

He did three years and got out. ROTC at Bowling Green. Guard infantry. SMP cadet. Two years in the Air Guard he does not advertise. Master Sergeant Holman. Vietnam. Green Beret. Quiet. Then a command sergeant major who had been a Ranger battalion sergeant major. Opposite man. First year of Raider Ranger Challenge. Scott led the team. Captain Fred Smith mentored. He wanted infantry. Ranger battalion. SF. He compromised for family. Air defense. 82nd. Still jump. Still maybe Ranger School.

Bravo Battery. Then Charlie. Advanced Airborne School. Jumpmaster. He failed the first shot. Second day the pressure was on. You do not come home a failure when you are the Undertaker's XO. Captain Underhill. Later a general. One of the most loved figures in the branch. Whittling a dart. Key to the LNO shop. Stake it in that lieutenant's heart. Nobody wanted to be the ADA LNO.

High school GPA was 1.9. Sports were everything. School was nothing. The Army clicked. Now he teaches JROTC. His kids text him. They got out of that cycle of poverty. A lot of them went into service. He is proud of them. Proud of his own time.

He is an introvert. Ask him ten times. Nine times he says no. He still wants you to ask. He misses the oldsters. His wife kept up with the Army friends better than he did. He says we are the best of America. Challenge him on it.

He wants senior NCOs for JROTC. Meat eaters. Not retired more than three years. There was a picture of him as a brigade commander giving an operations order in Spanish. Guys from all over Central America. Two brothers. Big Joey. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.