Southern alum Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré retires command

Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré

Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré retired from the Army and handed over his command on January 11 and now he says he wants to spend the rest of his life creating a "culture of preparedness" to prevent another post-disaster disaster.

The Southern alumnus was a leading figure in the attempt to restore order and save lives in the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

"There's an attitude everywhere else that people are smarter than they are in New Orleans and in Mississippi. They're not," the 60-year-old general said at his office at Fort Gillem, just outside Atlanta.

"What happened in New Orleans could have happened anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard."

For more, see complete Associated Press article on 2theadvocate.com.