Military service[edit]
On January 11, 2005, Cotton enlisted in the
United States Army.
[8][9] According to his recruiter, Lieutenant Colonel Roger Jones, commander of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion in Houston, Cotton decided not to pursue a commission as an officer at the rank of Captain in the
Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army, the typical rank and specialty for a person with his education and training. Instead, he chose to enlist under the US Army's Officer/Warrant Officer Enlistment Program, Enlistment Option 9D
[10] at the rank of
Specialist or Corporal, with the guaranteed opportunity to Officer Candidate School and pursue a commission as a military officer.
[11][12][13] Cotton's relationship with his enlisted basic training drill sergeant, Master Sergeant Gordon Norton, remained so good that years later he would hire Norton to help with his political campaign.
[14] In March 2005, he entered
Officer Candidate School, and in June 2005 was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry.
[11][12][13] He was initially stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he entered a 14-week Officer’s Basic Course. After completing OBC in November 2005, Cotton attended the
U.S. Army Airborne School as well as
Ranger School and
Air Assault School.
[2]
Iraq[edit]
In May 2006, Cotton deployed to
Baghdad as part of
Operation Iraqi Freedom as a platoon leader with the
101st Airborne Division. In
Iraq, he led a 41-man
air assault infantry platoon in the
506th Infantry Regiment,
[15] and planned and performed daily combat patrols.
[16] In June 2006, while stationed in Iraq, he gained international public attention after he emailed a letter to
The New York Times, criticizing the paper's publication of an article detailing a Bush administration secret program monitoring terrorists' finances. The newspaper ignored his letter, but it was published in
Power Line, a prominent conservative blog which had been copied on the email.
[17][18] In the letter, Cotton called for the journalists responsible for the newspaper article to be imprisoned for
espionage. He asserted that the newspaper had "gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here." The article was widely circulated online and reprinted in full in several newspapers.
[19] The letter reached General
Peter Schoomaker,
Chief of Staff of the United States Army, who forwarded it via e-mail to all his generals, stating: "Attached for your information are words of wisdom from one of our great lieutenants in Iraq ..."
[20] Cotton said in an interview that after meeting with his immediate commander, he was "nervous and worried all night long" about losing his position and even worse, possibly being court-martialed. When he finally met the battalion commander, he was simply told "Well, here’s a piece of advice: You’re new here. No one’s trying to infringe on your right to send a letter or whatnot. But next time, give your chain of command a heads-up."
[2][20]
The Old Guard[edit]
In December 2006, Cotton was promoted to First Lieutenant. He was assigned as a platoon leader for the
3d US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at
Arlington National Cemetery in
Northern Virginia.
[21]
Afghanistan[edit]
In October 2008, Cotton deployed to eastern
Afghanistan. He was stationed within the
Regional Command East at its Gamberi
Forward operating base (FOB) located in one of the command's 14 province locations,
Laghman Province. The overall mission at his duty station – the Gamberi FOB from April 2008 to June 2009, during
Operation Enduring Freedom IX – included
military logistics,
civil reconstruction engineering, government organization, and training from a Joint Task Force. The Joint Task Force at Gamberi FOB included
Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA), the
101st Airborne Division,
NATO,
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Interagency Partners, and
CJTF-101/Regional Command East Forces. These joint forces sought to secure the citizenry governance, and to rebuild a sustainable economy in order to extend Afghanistan (GIRoA) authority as the legitimate government of the Afghan people.
[22][
citation needed]
[23] He said his assigned duty was as a
military logistics officer of a
Provincial Reconstruction Team, where he also helped plan logistical operations for
counter-insurgency.
[2][24] His 11-month deployment to Gamberi FOB in Laghan province ended when he returned from Afghanistan on July 20, 2009.
[9]
Reserve duty and military awards[edit]
In July 2010, Cotton joined in the
United States Army Reserve. His military record shows his final discharge from the Army Reserve was in May 2013 and he was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal, and earned the following: Ranger Training Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and Iraq Campaign Medal.
[16][25]
