42nd Quartermaster General

Lieutenant General Cusick was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His military career began in May of 1964, when he received a commission as a Second Lieutenant from the University of Scranton. A distinguished military graduate, his military education continued with the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Airborne School, Rigger School, Quartermaster Advanced Course, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College. He is a CAPSTONE graduate and attended Harvard Senior Managers in Government. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in American History from the University of Scranton, a Master of Arts Degree in American History from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Master of Arts Degree in Management from Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri.

He has held a wide variety of command and staff positions culminating with duties as the Director for Logistics, the Joint Staff Pentagon. Previous to this assignment, he was assigned as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command in St. Louis, Missouri. Other key assignments include duty as Director for Supply and Maintenance, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics; Commanding General, U.S. Army Quartermaster Center and School and the 42d Quartermaster General, U.S. Army at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia; Commanding General, Defense Personnel Support Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Commander, 1st Corps Support Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Commander, 82d Airborne Division Support Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and Commander, 407th Supply and Service Battalion, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

General Cusick served in a wide variety of important assignments. In September 1967, he was assigned as an assistant G-4 of the 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and was deployed with the Division to the Republic of Vietnam that December. He commanded the 623d Quartermaster Company (AER&D) in the Republic of Vietnam from June to November 1968. In 1969, he was assigned to the ROTC detachment at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where he taught American Military History and Logistics. During the period 1972-74, General Cusick served as a logistics advisor to the Ethiopian Army in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

On his return to the United States he assumed the duties of executive officer for the 407th Supply and Service Battalion, 82d Airborne Division and then served as the Division Parachute Officer from 1974 to 1976. He was then assigned to the Troop Support and Aviation Materiel Readiness Command in St. Louis, Missouri as the Readiness Project Officer for Air Delivery Equipment from November 1976 through August 1978.

In 1979 he was assigned to the Defense Contract Administration Services Management Area in Towson, Maryland. His next assignment was as a logistics management staff officer of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida to which he was assigned upon the units activation in February 1980. In August 1985 he became the Deputy Director of Procurement and Production at the Troop Support Command in St. Louis, Missouri. From February 1987 through January 1990, he returned to Fort Bragg as Commander of the Division Support Command, 82d Airborne Division, and Commander, 1st Corps Support Command, XVIII Airborne Corps. In January 1990, he assumed command of the Defense Personnel Support Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. from July 1991 to July 1993, he commanded the U.S. Army Quartermaster Center and School, Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, as the 42nd Quartermaster General.

A great trainer and motivator, as the 42nd Quartermaster General of the Army General Cusick expanded field training exercises at the Quartermaster School, and employed such phrases as "Logistics Warror" and "THINK WAR" to cultivate a sense of pride and esprit - and improved readiness - among all Quartermaster soldiers.

From August 1993 through June 1995, he served in Washington, D.C. as Director for Supply and Maintenance, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, returning to St. Louis, Missouri in June 1995, as Commanding General, U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command. He was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed as the Director for Logistics, the Joint Staff in April 1996. He retired on 31 May 1998 with over 34 years of active military service.

A dedicated "Red Hat," General Cusick had five key rigger assignments over the course of his illustrious career, and left an indelible mark on that critical area of Quartermaster responsibility. He also authored a host of joint logistics plans and doctrine at the very highest level of the defense establishment, plans that are in use today, and will no doubt help guide logistics practices for decades to come. Indeed one senior logistician has maintained that: "General Cusick was arguably the best planner of his generation."

General Cusick’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Bronze Star, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, and the Parachute Rigger Badge.

General Cusick was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Quartermaster Regiment in 1991 (Charter Year) and the Quartermaster Hall of Fame in 2004.