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Freeman ’69
retires from Army
After nearly 35 years of
service, Carl H. Freeman ’69
retired from the U.S. Army as a major general in December.
Freeman remains president of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB)—a position that requires 60 percent travel—and director of the Inter-AmericanDefenseCollege, positions he
has held since July 2000. IADB promotes military cooperation among countries in the Western Hemisphere. The college offers
a one-year course focusing on
political, economic, psychosocial, economic, and military issues
affecting the hemisphere.
Son of a career Army officer, Freeman was commissioned after graduating from Lafayette with a major in history. He is also a graduate of the MexicanWarCollege; the Command and General Staff College, U.S. Army School of the Americas; and the U.S. Army War College. He holds a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Alabama.
Freeman served in Vietnam as
a platoon leader and executive
officer. He later served as an
instructor and commanded a
quartermaster company. Transferred to Panama in 1982, he served as an instructor in the U.S. Army School of the Americas and provided support for the 1989 overthrow of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Freeman also served at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Kuwait; and South Korea.
“Lafayette . . . put me in a good position to succeed as both a soldier and statesman,” said Freeman. “The focus of
undergraduate education on
how to think logically and in depth—rather than on what to think—helped prepare me for
virtually any assignment.”
Of his professors, he particularly remembered the “enthusiasm and profound appreciation for other lands” of history professors Al Gendebein and Richard Welch Jr. “They truly understood globalization long before
it became a media buzzword,” said Freeman. In addition, he
remembered men’s lacrosse and
swimming and diving coach Bill Lawson’s stress on teamwork— “a good life lesson for all of us.”