The Soldier-Lawyer: A Summary and Analysis of An Oral History of Major General Michael J. Nardotti, Jr., United States Army (Retired) (1969-1997)

• Author: Major George R. Smawley
• Pages: 02

MILITARY LAW REVIEW

Volume 168 June 2001

THE SOLDIER-LAWYER:

A SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF AN ORAL HISTORY OF MAJOR GENERAL MICHAEL J. NARDOTTI, JR., UNITED STATES ARMY (RETIRED) (1969-1997)1

MAJOR GEORGE R. SMAWLEY2

[A] diligent concern for the rule of law, strong orientation toward the requirements of the military community they serve, and the standard of professional pride that is uniquely theirs. The Army lawyer has shown that the profession of law and the profession

of arms are complementary, not mutually exclusive. His is the deep personal satisfaction of dual achievement and dedicated public service.3

1. Introduction

   On 6 December 1970, elements of the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment were conducting routine patrols in the III Corps area of operations in the southern "fishhook" region of Vietnam. By late afternoon, a dispatch arrived requesting support for an isolated four-man Ranger reconnaissance team under heavy enemy machine-gun and rocket fire. First Lieutenant Mike Nardotti, and seventeen soldiers from his "Blue" Platoon, Bravo Troop, were quick to respond. Under sporadic enemy fire, the young platoon leader and his point man were the first to rappel from a UH-1 helicopter to assist the Rangers. Shortly thereafter, all hell broke loose.4

   With little warning, Bravo Troop and the Rangers suffered a sudden assault of rocket and machine-gun fire, which severely wounded the Ranger reconnaissance team leader and sent shrapnel shooting into the back and neck of Lieutenant Nardotti standing next to him.5 The young platoon leader was able to fight his way back to the perimeter for medical aid. The Ranger, suffering from a serious head injury, was not. As darkness fell, bleeding and only able to whisper, the lieutenant and another soldier crawled ten meters beneath a canopy of enemy fire to retrieve the severely injured man. On the return trip, Lieutenant Nardotti was again wounded, this time by an AK-47 tracer round that lodged in his left arm. In the face of continued enemy fire, they nonetheless continued to move the Ranger forward to the perimeter until they were close enough for others to assist. Severely wounded only three months after his arrival, Lieutenant

   Nardotti's service in Vietnam was over. He would finish his tour in a Long Binh hospital.6

   Lieutenant Mike Nardotti's extraordinary courage and selflessness under fire earned him the Silver Star for gallantry7 and helped define the personal philosophy and leadership character of an officer who would ultimately serve as the thirty-fourth Judge Advocate General of the Army. He was one of the last lions of his generation: that group of senior Army leaders who knew the reality of military combat, those who had sacrificed and endured. They were soldiers first, carrying their enthusiasm and understanding of military service with them beyond the battlefield and applying it throughout their professional lives.

   This article is a summary and analysis of interviews conducted with the former Judge Advocate General of the Army in March 2000, interviews later transcribed and bound in An Oral History of Major General Michael Nardotti (Retired), which is maintained at the library of The Judge Advocate General's School, United States Army, Charlottesville, Virginia. The article introduces Major General Nardotti by discussing his professional experience and accomplishments, while identifying the unique leadership qualities that contributed to his success. In particular, this article highlights his philosophy of the "soldier-lawyer" that became the hallmark of his remarkable institutional-and cultural-legacy for the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps.

2. The Early Years, 1947-1969

   Mike Nardotti was born 30 April 1947 in Brooklyn, New York. A couple of years later, his family relocated to Hempstead, Long Island, where he grew up attending parochial and public schools in a competitive environment marked by cultural and ethnic diversity. It was here that he first demonstrated an aptitude for academics and athletics, excelling at both. The combination of the two earned him scholarship offers from Dartmouth and Lehigh. The influence of friends and his own assessment

   of the quality education he might receive, however, also led him to consider the Military and Naval Academies.8

   He applied to Dartmouth and Lehigh because of their excellent reputations and emphasis upon engineering, a field he seriously considered due to a strong background in mathematics. For the Naval Academy, he sought and received the assistance of United States Senator Jacob Javitz, leading to an alternate appointment to Annapolis. This alternate appointment, however, caused Nardotti's local congressmen to drop him from consideration for his first choice-the Military Academy-which interested him because of its all-around high standards. Undeterred, and with the assistance of the Academy's wrestling coach, he convinced West Point officials to place him into the pool of alternates for consideration by members of Congress who had not used their allotted slots.9

   The necessary nomination finally came from an unexpected source, Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, 18th District of New York, a district that included Harlem in New York City. At the time, Congressmen Powell was one of only a handful of African-Americans serving in Congress. Nardotti never forgot Powell's help, and he often reminded others that "[y]ou never know where your opportunity is going to come from."10 Years later, he would be an enthusiastic supporter of initiatives that gave women and minorities access to career opportunities in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.11

   In 1965, the year Nardotti graduated from Uniondale High School, the escalation of the war in Vietnam had begun. While the military buildup in the region was supported by a majority of Americans, there was nonetheless a keen awareness that the conflict in Southeast Asia was real and that Americans were going to die. Young men entering the military academies knew-or should have known-that there was an expectation for their service in the growing conflict. Mike Nardotti was no different. While his father had served in World War II, there was no other military tradition to introduce him to the idea of selfless service. It came naturally.

   I went [to West Point] with the full expectation that I would go to Vietnam and it was because I assumed that your duty was to go where you were needed. There were plenty in my class who felt the same way, but there were others who didn't . . . and to the extent they could avoid that duty, they did.12

   There were many opportunities at West Point. Nardotti continued to excel in athletics and academics, just as he had at Uniondale. The adjustment to the rigors of a structured military regime came easily to him. He was an all-American wrestler throughout his time at West Point,13 he

   served as the secretary of the cadet honor committee, and he excelled in an academic curriculum concentrated in hard sciences and engineering. Leadership, not surprisingly, was another challenge the young cadet met and exceeded. By his fourth year, he was one of only ten permanent cadet captains-the highest rank among the Corps of Cadets-and had responsibilities as the Cadet Regimental Commander for the First Regiment of the Corps of Cadets.14

   By his senior year, there was no doubt in the twenty-two year-old's mind that he wanted to be an infantryman. Much of the instruction and training at the Military Academy was geared toward basic Army and infantry skills. Infantry was Nardotti's first choice. "I guess I was really sold on the philosophy that the fundamental in combat is the individual fighting man and all the other functions are there to support what the infantry essentially does." By spring of his senior year, he had chosen the 1st Cavalry Division for his first assignment and had volunteered for Vietnam.15

3. Vietnam, 1969-1971

   Nardotti received his Regular Army commission in the spring of 1969. Following graduation he successfully completed the U.S. Army Ranger School (the most challenging small unit tactics course available), Airborne School, and the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. At the time, it was Army policy to send new Infantry officers to an interim developmental assignment to gain troop experience prior to entering combat in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, in February 1970, Na

   dotti was sent to the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Carson, Colorado. There, he served as a Reconnaissance Platoon Leader and Headquarters Company Commander. Operationally, it was a distinctly unremarkable training experience for the young officer.16 The 5th Infantry Division had a motorized, Warsaw Pact mission thoroughly inconsistent with the realities of the war in Vietnam. Moreover, the resources demanded by the effort in Southeast Asia left unaffiliated units strapped for money and material, compromising even the best efforts to maintain minimum readiness.17 Nardotti recalls:

   [I]t was . . . a disaster. We were not able-we were not permitted to take our vehicles up until July because of fuel shortages. We could not take vehicles out of the motor pool for any distance. Basically we tried to maintain vehicles by starting them up every day. . . . It was a disastrous way to try to maintain vehicles . . . [and] it showed.18

   One distinct benefit of the training, however, was the immediate exposure to non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Like most young officers, Nardotti began his career under the watchful eye of experienced NCOs who taught him about the Army and the critical manner in which they keep it running. Nardotti's first sergeant at Fort Carson was a twenty-six year veteran with experience in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.19 Indeed, on the day he was told he would receive a company command, Nardotti's senior officer was quick to remind him that "[b]efore you get too big a head, you just understand one thing-the only reason you're...