Commandant to retire from Army

By Richard Hyatt
Staff Writer
Glenn Weidner will be the last commandant of the School of the Americas.

Not only is the controversial U.S. Army school getting a new name and a renewed mission early next year, but the 51-year-old Army colonel is retiring from active duty this June.

"It's time for a change," Weidner said Saturday as protesters milled around Fort Benning's main gate speaking against the school he has commanded since 1998. Known as the School of the Americas since its founding in 1946, it has been at Fort Benning since 1984. It will close next month and reopen in January as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Weidner expects a search for his successor to begin soon.

Weidner, a West Point graduate, expects to devote his time to academia while teaching and writing. "And of course, I will continue to support this school in every way."

A graduate of the SOA himself, Weidner has spent much of time dealing with Father Roy Bourgeois and the SOA Watch's annual rally against the school. Not long ago, the two adversaries ran into each other in an airport.

"I told Roy that I was surprised we hadn't done that more often. We're like those two old dogs in the cartoons who fight all day then go off together," Weidner said.

Weidner said the military has lost the information war, which is discouraging. "But just when I tired of dealing with the protests, something here would lift me up. This is the best assignment in the U.S. Army."