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During a March 1998 conference on Army acquisition, Honore tore into the officers and executives who build the tanks, helicopters and rifles his soldiers use.
``You are fielding pieces of crap,'' then-Brig. Gen. Honore told them. ``Is that clear enough to you?''
That direct approach will serve him well in the coming months, as he tackles what may be the most difficult assignment of his 34-year military career.
With three stars on each shoulder, Army Lt. Gen. Honore is in charge of Joint Task Force Katrina, the hastily established organization that is coordinating the military's role in the massive
relief effort along the Gulf Coast.
On Friday, National Guard convoys loaded with food, water and other supplies began moving into the hardest-hit areas of New Orleans.
The delayed federal response has been heavily criticized by city officials, particularly New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
In an emotional interview with a New Orleans radio station, Nagin said federal authorities, including President Bush, ``don't have a clue what's going on down here.''
But Nagin did give Bush credit for putting Honore, a Louisiana native, in charge of the task force.
``He sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get things done. And his name is Gen. Honore. He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing, and people started moving. And he's
getting some stuff done,'' Nagin said Thursday evening.
Honore knows how to deal with controversy. He was commander of the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea in 2002 when a 60-ton vehicle operated by his troops ran over and killed two 13-year-old South
Korean girls.
The vehicle's driver and navigator were found not guilty of negligent homicide, a ruling that prompted a wave of anti-American protests in South Korea.
An officer who worked closely with Honore at the time gave him high marks for how he handled the politically charged episode.
``It was a very difficult situation for us all,'' said Army Brig. Gen. Philip Coker, who was Honore's assistant division commander in Korea. ``The differences between cultures become
remarkably distinct when death is involved.''
Honore also knows how to command, said retired Army Gen. John Tilelli.
``He is, in my view, a take-
charge leader,'' said Tilelli, former commander of the combined U.N.-U.S. forces in South Korea.
Honore's management style is to identify the problem, break it down into simple tasks and attack, he said.
Honore was raised in Lakeland, a small town northwest of Baton Rouge.
He earned a bachelor's degree in vocational agriculture from Southern University and A&M College and was commissioned a second lieutenant in January 1971.
Over the past three decades, he has served in a variety of command positions, including the Joint Staff's vice director for operations and chief of homeland security for U.S. Northern
Command.
Since July 2004, Honore has been commanding general of the 1st U.S. Army at Fort Gillem, Ga. In that post, Honore is responsible for training Army Reserve and National Guard forces and
preparing them for deployment.
Coker, now assigned to the Army's Training and Doctrine Command in Virginia, said Honore ``has a fierce determination to get things done.''
Coker laughed when he recalled Honore's speech at the 1998 acquisition conference.
``He's not a guy who stutters,'' Coker said. ``If he believes it to be true, he'll tell you so.''
Information from Inside the Army, a Washington publication, was used in this report. Reporter Richard Lardner can be reached at (813) 259-7966.