Howard H. Cooksey
# Howard H. Cooksey

Howard Harrison Cooksey (1921-1999) was a United States Army Lieutenant General who served as deputy commander of the 23rd Infantry Division during the Vietnam War.

## Early life and education

Cooksey was born in Brentsville, Virginia and grew up in Manassas. He attended Virginia Tech, graduating in 1943.

## Military service

### World War II

He served with the 158th Regimental Combat Team.

### Korean War

He served in the 7th Infantry Division.

### Post Korean War

In 1961, he served with 2nd Battle Group, 6th Infantry Regiment, part of the Berlin Brigade.

In 1964, he obtained a Master's Degree in Foreign Affairs from George Washington University.

In 1968, he was the commanding officer of Fort Dix before receiving orders to locate to South Vietnam in June 1968.

### Vietnam War

He served as deputy commander of the 23rd Infantry Division from 12 June 1968 to 1 May 1969.

In June 1972, Cooksey took over MG Frederick Kroesen's role as senior U.S. military adviser in I Corps and assumed responsibility for supporting the South Vietnamese forces in undoing the North Vietnamese gains in the Easter Offensive.

### Post Vietnam

He served as deputy chief of staff for research, development and acquisition until his retirement from the Army in 1978.

## Later life

After his retirement he established a military consulting firm in Alexandria, Virginia. He worked as a consultant for Ford Aerospace when they were competing for the award of the Division Air Defense gun system. The contract was awarded to Ford on 7 May 1981. It was later suggested that Ford had acted improperly in engaging consultants such as Cooksey who had only recently retired from key equipment decision-making roles in the Army and an investigation was launched by Undersecretary of the Army, James R. Ambrose, a former Ford Aerospace executive.

He died of heart disease on 22 December 1999 at Fort Belvoir and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

