Norman Schwarzkopf did not care much for his popular "'Stormin Norman" nickname.

Mitch Stacy and Lolita C. BALDOR Associated Press
WASHINGTON, December 28, 2012 (Reuters)
The truth is, retired General H. Norman Schwarzkopf did not care much for his popular "'Stormin Norman" nickname.

Famous Angry Desert Storm looked seriously and subordinate commanders with the maid to get that nickname rough and ready. But others in the general vicinity, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at the age of 78 of complications from pneumonia, knew him as someone who is friendly, lively conversation, and even a bit lighter as a nickname given by his troops: "Bear".

One may suit him better later, when he supported the cause of charity various national children while avoiding the spotlight and refused attempts to prepare to run for political office.

He was a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he last served military duty and where a primary school named after him is a testament standing in the community.

Known Schwarzkopf military career limited by ordering international coalition that pushed Saddam Hussein's troops from Kuwait in 1991 - but he managed to keep a low profile in public debate during the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubt that victory will be easy as the White House and Pentagon provides.


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Schwarzkopf was named commander of the U.S. Central Command in Tampa MacDill Air Force Base in 1988, oversees the headquarters of the U.S. military and security concerns in nearly two dozen states stretching across the Middle East to Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia, plus Pakistan.

When Saddam invaded Kuwait two years after convicting him of stealing Iraq's oil reserves, Schwarzkopf commanded Operation Desert Storm, the coalition of 30 countries hosted by President George W. Bush succeeded in pushing the Iraqis out.

At the height of the postwar national celebrities, Schwarzkopf - self-proclaimed political independent - has rejected suggestions that he run for office, and yet more personal than other generals, though he served briefly as a military commentator for NBC.

A company focuses primarily on charity in his later years, he campaigned for President George W. Bush in 2000, but ambivalent about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In early 2003, the Washington Post said that the result is known: "What looks like a post-war Iraq, Kurds and Sunni and Shia was a big issue, my mind It really should be part of an overall campaign plan?"..

Originally Schwarzkopf approved the invasion, said he believed that Secretary of State Colin Powell has provided strong evidence that the UN Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After that proved to be false, he said the decision to go to war should be dependent on what weapons inspectors find.

He rarely spoke during the conflict, but in 2004 he sharply criticized U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon errors include incorrect estimates for Iraq and proper training for reserve army posted there.

"In the final analysis I think we are behind the schedule .... I do not think we count on it turned into a jihad (holy war)," he said in an interview on NBC