FORT SILL, Okla. -- When Brig. Gen. Jesse R. Cross makes his last speech as an Army general next Monday, Nov. 7, during his retirement ceremony, Lawton-Fort Sill will welcome back a favorite son.
Though Cross hasn't been assigned to Fort Sill since he was a platoon leader of the 225th Maintenance Company of the 100th Service and Support Battalion in 1981, Lawton-Fort Sill has never been far from the heart of this Army leader.
Cross spent most of his childhood in Lawton, the son of an Army sergeant and cook.
"I was born an Army brat, one of eight children of a sergeant first class," Cross said in a telephone interview. Cross said that the family followed the sergeant to assignments at Fort Polk, La., and Hawaii, "but we kept coming back to Fort Sill. When Dad retired in 1969, we stayed here. This is home."
Cross was a three-sport athlete at Lawton High School: football, wrestling and track. He was offered scholarships at other schools, but he admits that he wanted to play football at (where else?) OU.
"I wanted to play at OU and be their next star running back, but I really didn't have the size. I wanted to be like Joe Washington and all those guys, but there were just so many quality running back vying for the position that it wasn't a realistic goal."
Cross had a cheering section at Lawton High, including his ROTC instructor, Lt. Col. Preen, who thought he was the complete package and had the potential to become an Army officer. They encouraged him to attend West Point. When they found that classes like auto shop weren't favored by the academy, they looked for another way for this bright young man to "Be all you can be." They arranged for him to attend the West Point Preparatory Academy.
Cross wasn't buying it. His desire to play football was big, so he took a football scholarship from a team in Texas. Cross became a "Buffalo" at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas (just west of Amarillo).
Cross admits that, in those days, he was a flashy football player … complete with the oversized afro, hip-hugger slacks, goatee and the high-heeled shoes (Hey, this was the 1970s). His college roommate, who was in ROTC, asked Cross to come see a college ROTC program. Cross went and saw them on the rifle range: A lot. Cross admits that he was "suckered" into joining the ROTC program … they lured him in with rifle training and slowly turned him into a real, live potential officer. They even let him, for a while, wear the uniform and keep the goatee. He found that he liked the Army training and that his leadership abilities were growing.
Once he finished college in 1979, his ROTC instructors wanted him to go to armor or infantry branch. He opted for the quartermaster corps, which he felt was a better fit with his college degree in commerce marketing and merchandising.
It was obviously a good choice. He did well in the Army, served in several countries and across the U.S. in progressively responsible positions before receiving the star of a general as the commander of the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia. He said the assignment after that was his favorite.
"Becoming the commanding general of the quartermaster corps," Cross said with a smile in his voice, "is exactly the type of position you dream of getting when you're a young second lieutenant, and I was blessed to actually have that dream come true."
When it came time for Cross to retire, he had a tough call to make. In the vicinity of Fort Lee, Va., there is any number of jobs available for a retired general. At Lawton-Fort Sill, not so much.
But this prairie post is the Cross home. He has family living here. He has family working at Fort Sill. A daughter is married to a lieutenant stationed at Fort Sill.
But maybe, just a little bit, Cross moved back because of a dream. Cross has a son who is a 6'6", 235 pound high school student and athlete. Dad would probably be very content to see his 16-year-old achieve the one dream that Dad was denied … wearing the crimson and cream of the OU Sooners.
Join us to celebrate the return and retirement of Brig. Gen. Jesse R. Cross and his family at 4:30 p.m., Monday, at McNair Hall. Team Sill Oklahoma PRIDE.
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