Samuel Vaughan Wilson

Samuel V. Wilson
LTG Samuel V. Wilson
Birth name	Samuel Vaughan Wilson
Born	(1923-09-23)September 23, 1923 Rice, Virginia, U.S.
Died	June 10, 2017(2017-06-10) (aged 93) Rice, Virginia, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1940–1977
Rank	Lieutenant general
Unit	Office of Strategic Services 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) “Merrill’s Maurauders”
Commands held	Director, Defense Intelligence Agency 6th Special Forces Group
Battles/wars	World War II Vietnam War Cold War
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Defense Distinguished Service Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal (3) Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star (2) with Valor device
Other work	Technical Advisor, Merrill's Marauders Chairman, Special Operations Policy Group (SOPAG) Professor/Political Science & President, Hampden-Sydney College

Lieutenant General Samuel Vaughan Wilson (September 23, 1923 – June 10, 2017), aka "General Sam", completed his active military career in the fall of 1977, having divided his service almost equally between special operations and intelligence assignments. He served as President of Hampden-Sydney College from 1992–2000 and as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from May 1976-August 1977; for his foundational work in doctrine for low intensity conflict, where he coined the term "counterinsurgency" (COIN); and for facilitating the drafting and passage of the Nunn-Cohen Amendment to the Goldwater-Nichols Act creating the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (ASD/SOLIC). He is also credited for helping to create Delta Force, the U.S. Army's premier counterterrorism unit.

As a general officer, some of his assignments included: Assistant Division Commander (Operations), 82nd Airborne Division; (First) United States Defense Attaché to the Soviet Union; Deputy to the Director of Central Intelligence for the Intelligence Community; and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. In his post-military career, he has been a Professor of Political Science and subsequently Wheat Professor of Leadership at the Wilson Center for Leadership in the Public Interest at Hampden–Sydney. Wilson died from lung cancer on June 10, 2017.

A native of Rice, Virginia, Samuel Vaughan Wilson grew up on a tobacco, corn and wheat farm in Southside Virginia hard by the Saylers Creek battlefield, where on 6 April 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia fought its final battle before limping on westward to surrender three days later at Appomattox Courthouse. As a boy, Sam Wilson often rode his pony over the battlefield area looking for the footprint of two armies locked in combat. What still remained of his spare time after arduous farm chores was spent hunting, fishing, reading and pursuing his musical interests. His mother had been a public school teacher, and his father was a ruling elder in the local Presbyterian church. Both parents taught Sunday school – his mother was his first Sunday School teacher and raised the Wilson siblings in the church. Both parents were readers and deeply influenced their children to love books and enjoy reading, especially history.