Brian Casey

"He really is one of the best and the brightest," said his cousin, Brian Casey, 52, of Hyannis, yesterday."I wouldn't want [the job in Iraq], but he really has a wonderful disposition.I think he'll stay out of the politics and do his job as he's always done."

Over more than three decades in the Army, Casey has commanded troops at every level, from platoon to division, earning a master's degree in international relations from the University of Denver along the way.He has commanded US troops in Bosnia, served in the United Nations peace-keeping mission in the Sinai Desert and held senior positions in the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Currently the Army's vice chief of staff, or its second-highest ranking officer, Casey is the Army's day-to-day manager, making sure the troops are well-equipped and well-trained, while also dealing with highly charged political issues, including the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the recent charges of sexual assaults on female soldiers.

Family and friends remember Casey for his ready smile as well as his deference to his elders.He ran track and played basketball in high school and also wrote for the school's literary magazine.

"This guy was all American," recalled Thomas E. Burke, 85, of Cohasset, whose clubs Casey used to tote around the links at Hatherly in the 1960s.
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On the course, Burke would regale Casey about his experiences as a Merchant Marine captain in World War II, when his ship was torpedoed in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942.