NAME: Louis Caldera
NEW APPOINTMENT: Director of White House Military Office
OTHER TOP POSITIONS: California state assembly member; managing
director and chief operating officer for the Corporation for National
and Community Service (1997-98); Secretary of the Army (1997-2001);
president of the University of New Mexico
KNOWN FOR: Navigating the Army's recruitment problems in the late
1990s, when many young people were turning to the private sector in an
era of peace; started the ROTC Hispanic Access Initiative, which
allowed the ROTC to target Hispanic-heavy high schools and colleges.
Some critics said the program unfairly lured poor Latino students to
the Army, while supporters praised its outreach.
TRIVIA: First Hispanic Secretary of the Army; under his watch, the Army
changed its slogan from "Be All You Can Be" to "An Army of One."
Caldera said on CNN at the time, "There are a lot of young people who
thought that the Army was a big, nameless, faceless machine. They want
to know how does this benefit me as an individual today? And so. what
we're telling them is that the strength of the Army is in its
individuals."
--Seyward Darby