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Brig. Gen. John Goodale retires
BOISE, Idaho
Jan. 31, 2018
Story by Capt. Robert Taylor
Idaho Army National Guard
Brig. Gen. John Goodale, Assistant Adjutant General – Army and commander of the Idaho Army National Guard, is retiring after spending four decades serving his state and nation. Goodale has served in the military since 1976 and in the Idaho Army National Guard since 1988, including the past five as the organization’s senior Army officer.
During the past five years, the Idaho Army National Guard has undergone several changes to remain among the most equipped and professional fighting force in the nation. Units in the organization also deployed and completed historical missions under Goodale’s command.
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit,” Goodale said, quoting President Harry S. Truman.
The 116th Calvary Brigade Combat Team, the state’s largest unit, returned from its second deployment to Iraq in 2011. Since then, the unit has transitioned to the modern M1 Abrams tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The brigade was the first National Guard brigade to be fielded with this equipment. The brigade’s special troops battalion converted to an engineer battalion, and its field artillery battalion restructured to add additional guns and personnel to its ranks.
In 2015, the 116th CBCT became the first National Guard brigade since 9/11 to attend the Army’s largest force-on-force training center, the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. More than 2,500 Soldiers from Idaho and an additional 1,700 Soldiers and Airmen from 17 other states supported the brigade’s training mission. The following summer, the brigade was the lead element in Saber Guardian 2016 in Cincu, Romania. The multinational military training exercise involved 2,800 military personnel from 10 countries. The exercise was the first time a National Guard armored brigade deployed to Europe since the end of the Cold War.
The 1-183rd Aviation Battalion (Attack) transitioned several times since 2012. First, the aviation battalion received the latest attack helicopters, the AH-64D Apache Longbow, and then transitioned to the UH60 A/L Black Hawk helicopter. So far the transition has left the aviation battalion with more aircraft than it previously had and provides a unit that can better assist in the execution of the Idaho Army National Guard’s state mission to respond to state and local emergencies.
In addition, more than 60 Soldiers from A Company, 1-168th General Support Aviation Battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2012-2013.
Goodale’s development of a strategic plan was instrumental in addressing strength, training, and readiness initiatives like the Idaho Army National Guard Public Affairs cell and Comprehensive Fitness Program that were needed to improve the strength and readiness in the Idaho Army National Guard.
Finally, the Orchard Combat Training Center has grown considerably during the past five years. Active Duty and National Guard units from around the country train at the site.
The Idaho Army National Guard has continued to develop the facilities and increase the number of Soldiers who train and work on the training range. The OCTC’s infrastructure and facilities have both improved and expanded vastly during the past five years and are expected to continue to do so over the next several years. The training site will continue to become more valuable to the Army National Guard as it continues to increase its operational tempo.
Goodale’s career path to the organization’s commander began at West Point and is filled with opportunities from some of the Idaho Army National Guard’s most challenging positions.
The United States Military Academy
Goodale’s career in the military started with his education at the United States Military Academy in July 1976, the same year the first class of female cadets attended the academy.
“The Academy teaches you to treat everyone with respect and dignity and they were no different,” Goodale said. “They were all cadets like I was a cadet and had to do the same things I had to do.”
119 female cadets were among the first co-ed class to attend West Point after President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation in 1975 directing the Army, Navy and Air Force academes to admit females. 62 females graduated in Goodale’s class.
Goodale remembers West Point for its hard academics, good friends, and home football games on Saturday. Because the Academy is small and cadets live on campus, cadets get to know each other well over their four years at the school.
Goodale still stays in touch with some of his classmates and follows the careers of others.
Giebelstadt, Germany
After graduating West Point in 1980, Goodale became an armor officer. Aviation wouldn’t become its own branch until 1983, but he was selected to attend flight school before graduation. He attended Armor Officer Basic Course at Fort Knox, airborne school at Fort Bragg, and air assault school at Fort Campbell before attending flight school at Fort Rucker. At flight school, he became qualified on both the A and the C models of the OH-58 via the aeroscout track.
Goodale’s first assignment was in 1981 to A Company, 3rd Aviation Battalion (Combat), 3rd Infantry Division in Giebelstadt, Germany, as an aeroscout team leader. While there, he flew along the air defense identification zone, which required him to fly an exact pattern along the German border.
He was also assigned to the general support platoon, which was responsible for flying 3rd Infantry Division general officers around the country.
“That was a tough mission because you never wanted to screw that up,” he said.
He eventually became the operations officer for the company. At the time, each company resembled a battalion. His company had 45 helicopters, compared to the six to eight aircraft in today’s aviation companies.
While there, Goodale met his wife, Elisabeth. The two have four children and one granddaughter.
In 1985, Goodale left Germany to attend aviation officer advanced course and was then assigned as the operations officer in Air Troop, 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment with the Idaho Army National Guard on Gowen Field. The Army used to assign active duty aviation and engineer officers to National Guard units.
In 1989, Air Troop became the 1-116 Aviation and later, the 1-183 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion.
This transition from an Air Cavalry Troop to a battalion created the need to hire additional staff officers. Goodale was selected to become the unit’s assistant operations officer in December 1988.
Idaho Army National Guard
To accept the Army Guard/Reserves (AGR) position, Goodale had to resign from the active component and be re-commissioned into the Idaho Army National Guard.
Goodale said that his decision to leave the active component wasn’t met well by his current Army leadership, but he did so because he didn’t want to have to move his children around and he liked being in the Pacific Northwest. He has no regrets about doing so.
Goodale played a key role in the unit’s transition to an attack aviation battalion as the assistant operations officer and later the operations officer, but left the unit before the unit completed the Apache Battalion certification at Fort Hood, Texas. His next assignment was as the training officer in the deputy chief of staff of operations directorate, which is comparable to working in today’s G-3 (operations) section.
In 1996, he was assigned to the 116th Calvary Brigade in anticipation of the unit’s rotation through the National Training Center in 1998. He was the brigade’s operations officer and managed the exercise’s budget for the state. The 116th Calvary Brigade was one of the first National Guard units to deploy to the Army’s largest force-on-force training center.
“I basically got a cot,” he said, an indication of the long hours he put into learning the job. “I didn’t grow up in a brigade. I didn’t know things like how many tanks were in the brigade, but I had the ability to maneuver and control because I did a lot of that in aviation.”
During the battles at the National Training Center, Goodale had to monitor several radios and know which ones to respond to when. He credits his time in the cockpit in Germany for the success he had in being able to do so.
Goodale said that his experience as the operations officer for the NTC rotation set him up for success for the rest of his career, but first he would spend a year at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, before continuing his career.
“You have to take the hard jobs if you want to move up.”
At the conclusion of the National Training Center rotation, Goodale flew straight to the Army War College, where his family was already waiting for him.
“It was awesome,” he said. “They tell you it’s one of the best years of your life, and it’s right up there.”
Goodale said he met a lot of good people there and enjoyed the extra time with his family. In addition, he learned a lot from the school that provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officers.
He became the deputy chief of staff, operations (G3/J3), when he returned home and held this position until March 2005. This position put him in charge of operations at the state level for the organization.
He left this position to become the interim Assistant Adjutant General-Army, Idaho National Guard while the 116th Calvary Brigade was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.
When the unit returned, Brig. Gen. Alan C. Gayhart assumed the Assistant Adjutant General-Army position and Goodale took command of the 116th Calvary Brigade. Gayhart commanded the brigade in Iraq.
In 2008, Goodale was the joint task force commander for the World Special Olympics, held in Boise in 2009.
“It was a big undertaking, but it went well,” he said.
His next assignment was as the United States Property and Fiscal Officer for the state until 2012, when he was promoted to brigadier general into his final position as commander of the Idaho Army National Guard and Assistant Adjutant General-Army.
He said his experience as the commander of the 116th Calvary Brigade, the Idaho National Guard’s largest unit, helped prepare him for the challenges and opportunities he faced as commander of the Idaho Army National Guard.
“The organization did a good job moving me around to prepare me,” he said. “You have to take the hard jobs if you want to gain experience and move up.”
Though Goodale originally planned to retire as a lieutenant colonel and has since surpassed that rank, there are still two things that he didn’t get to do in his career that bother him: he never got to be the 1-183rd battalion commander or deploy to a combat zone.
Goodale plans to spend his retirement catching up on several delayed projects at home, spending time with his family, traveling and coaching his granddaughter’s basketball team.
After some time off, he plans to eventually volunteer in some capacity, but does not anticipate working again, including any civilian military positions.
“The Army keeps rolling along,” he said. “Old Soldiers just fade away.”
His advice to other Soldiers as he ends his career is similar to the lessons he learned at West Point at the start of it.
“Treat everybody fairly and with respect,” he said. “No matter what ranks they are. And you have to maintain a positive attitude no matter what’s going on. It really shows up when you’re around Soldiers when you don’t have a positive attitude. Set the Example in all you do or say.”