This is the last of the year’s Profiles of Valor, and I am writing it without advance notice to the person being profiled — my friend GEN Burwell Baxter “B.B.” Bell III. The reason is that if B.B. knew I was going to write about him, he would vigorously object, given he is a man of uncommon humility for one who has accomplished so much. Thus, I am writing this Profile with the hope that it is easier to ask forgiveness later than to ask permission now!

B.B. Bell III is an American Patriot of the first order. We have known each other for years, most recently through his role as chairman of the Advisory Board for the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, and we co-chair the Medal of Honor Sustaining Fund.

He is a fellow Tennessean, born and raised in Oak Ridge. His father was a West Point graduate (‘42) and spent much of his career focused on nuclear defense, starting with the Manhattan Project.

B.B. is a graduate of Oak Ridge High School ('65), where he excelled both academically and as a football player. He then graduated from the University of Chattanooga (now the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga). He has maintained important connections with UTC over the years, and today, our mutual friend Robert Dooley, current acting Chancellor of UTC and Dean of the Rollins College of Business, is a key member of B.B.’s Medal of Honor Heritage Center Board.

As an ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate, B.B.’s 39 years of active duty began as an Army 2LT with L Troop, 3d Squadron, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment, as a tanker after completing Ranger School.

Two decades and many service assignments after earning his Ranger Tab, B.B. deployed as Executive Officer for GEN “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He then served as Chief of Staff, USAREUR Forward Headquarters, during Operation Joint Endeavor in the Balkans.

In 1995, as a Brigadier General (one star), he was Assistant Division Commander in both the 3rd and 1st Infantry Divisions. He would then serve as Chief of Staff of V Corps and subsequently Chief of Staff, United States Army, Europe and Seventh United States Army. He is a veteran of the combat theaters of both Iraq and Afghanistan. As a Major General (two star), he commanded the United States Army Armor Center and Fort Knox. As Lieutenant General (three star) he commanded the Army’s III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas.

As a General (four star), he commanded the U.S. Army, Europe and 7th Army, and NATO’s Land Component Command in Germany. He then became commander of U.S. Forces, Korea, and the United Nations Command before his retirement.

Along the way, he completed a graduate degree from the University of Southern California and additional professional courses at the Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College.

That is the quick list of his considerable accomplishments and commands as an active-duty soldier.

From conversations and interviews in recent years, I compiled some of his key career observations and insights.

Of his most rewarding assignment: “Commander of 2 Squadron, 9 Cavalry Regiment. This unit, which was the reconnaissance unit for the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, had a history and lineage dating back to the Buffalo Soldiers. Buffalo Soldiers were the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments organized just after the Civil War with all black soldiers. Their service in the American West and the Spanish-American War was stunning, and thus, to be a part of one of these units was an incredible honor and privilege.”

His most challenging assignment: He says that was with “GEN Schwarzkopf for nearly three years,” during which “he served as the Commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversaw U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.”

His most interesting assignment: “[That] was as the Four-Star Allied Commander of all military (South Korean and U.S.) in South Korea in the defense of South Korea. This included leading and commanding over a million men and women in uniform with the mission of deterring an attack from North Korea and, should deterrence fail, counterattacking North Korea by land, sea, and air to defeat their armed forces and remove the government in Pyongyang.”

Regarding military challenges in the future, he says:

The explosion of technology is having a major impact on our military and militaries across the globe. Three areas of technological capability are particularly noteworthy: robotics, electronic warfare, and space operations. These three areas are the new “high ground” in strategic and operational thought, and the nation that commands one or more of these areas will have a distinct advantage in pursuing its military objectives. It is incumbent for the United States to “seize” these high ground, technological areas and indeed dominate them. Today, China feels the same way, so we, therefore, have a very serious strategic competitor.

Of life in the uniformed services, he says:

The military is a very closed “society” with its own norms, codes, rules, and requirements. That said, at its core, military life is much like civilian life. It consists of a group of professionals (we have a volunteer/professional military — no draft) who work hard to become competent at their jobs and tasks and families trying to do what is right and raise their children like the rest of society. While the risks of death or injury in training or combat are high compared to civilian life, the work is arduous, and family separations are numerous, these risks and realities tend to build “cultural character” and pioneering, “can-do” spirit. Because of this, military communities are very, very tight-knit and support one another in very special ways.

Reflecting on his years of service honoring his oath “to support and defend” our Constitution and American Liberty, B.B. says:

I spent 39 years on active duty, moving my family 33 times. I was deployed to places across the globe where human rights and freedoms were denied and exploited. You couldn’t help but think about America’s Constitution and how our founders created a special form of government that guarantees our individual freedoms. I still remember putting on the uniform … and thinking how proud I hoped my father would be of me. … When I took the uniform off after my retirement ceremony at Fort Knox, not to wear it again, all I could think about was that I might be letting down some of those great Americans I would no longer be serving with. Being with my fellow military service members in difficult, complex, and even dangerous environments where we depended on one another for mission success — and in some cases for our lives — was all very special to me. Leaving was very difficult. … Those were the bookends of all those years, and it was a great honor for me to have had the opportunity to serve our country.

The most valuable lesson he learned during his career: “Always do what is right. Look in some type of mirror once a day and ask the question, did I do what was right today? If the answer is yes, then continue along the course you have set. If you have any doubts, then make changes right now in your personal and professional life. Always do what is right. The harder right is always better than the easier wrong.”

Notably, B.B. has demonstrated a life-long devotion to honoring those who have sacrificed greatly to “do what is right.” He was very instrumental in revitalizing a years-old petition to upgrade the Silver Star awarded to Vietnam Cobra pilot CAPT Larry Taylor. And the result of his advocacy, combined with that of the men whom Larry saved, including SGT Dave Hill, resulted in Tayler becoming our nation’s most recent Medal of Honor recipient in September of last year.

B.B. has also been upfront in his assessment of those who have not done what was right, including, most recently, condemning former VP candidate Tim Walz for his record of stolen valor.

Regarding what our nation needs most today, B.B. says: “We need to reestablish the patriotic values that were established by our Founding Fathers and in our Declaration of Independence. These are not trite statements on some old piece of paper. They are a manifesto for human beings to live their lives in peace and freedom. And, yes, when it is necessary and appropriate, we must be prepared to use force to address threats.”

Thus, one of his greatest passions is promoting the six character traits that best reflect the gallantry of our nation’s Medal of Honor recipients, the educational initiatives at the National MoH Heritage Center teaching Patriotism, Citizenship, Courage, Integrity, Sacrifice, and Commitment.

To that end, no mention of B.B. is halfway complete without mentioning his extraordinary life partner, the wife and mother with whom he moved those 33 times during his career. That would be Chattanooga native Katie Fields Bell, in whose name the education initiatives at the Heritage Center have been funded by both B.B. and the Fields family.

Katie and B.B. met when they were undergrads and, lucky for him, she agreed to a second date! They married in 1969 and remained deeply devoted to each other through the day Katie departed this life in May 2023.

Like many military spouses, Katie became, in effect, a single parent during B.B.‘s deployments. As the wife of an officer, she not only held the fort together for their family but devoted a great deal of energy to caring for other military spouses and families. While she understood the rank structure and protocols for military members, she believed that spouses should all equally be afforded her support and service. She formed military family resource groups to assist families in crisis or facing many other challenges. She became an advocate on their behalf with both political and military leaders in Washington, and policy changes to support and strengthen military families was, and remains, her legacy.

She earned the love, respect, and admiration of all who knew her, and her absence leaves a void in all the lives she touched.

A final note on a military ceremony I know Katie would have appreciated — a few months ago, B.B. made a trip to Fort Benning (Moore), Georgia, where he had earned his Ranger Tab in 1969. He became the latest recipient of the MG Chaffee Award, the highest honor for Armor and Cavalry Soldiers, and became a “Legend of Armor.” (The first recipient was GEN George Patton.)

GEN Burwell Baxter Bell: Your stellar record of military service — a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all — is eternal.

“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.

(Read more Profiles of Valor here.)

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

Follow Mark Alexander on X/Twitter.

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