Editing Colin Powell (section)

===National Security Advisor and other advisory roles===
Powell retained his role as the now-senior military assistant into the [[presidency of Ronald Reagan]], serving under Claytor's successor as deputy secretary of defense, [[Frank Carlucci]]. Powell and Carlucci formed a close friendship,<ref name="Journey" />{{rp|631}} referring to each by first names in private, as Powell refused any sort of first-name basis in an official capacity.<ref name="Journey" />{{rp|618}} It was on Powell's advice that newly-elected President [[Ronald Reagan]] presented [[Roy Benavidez]] the [[Medal of Honor]]; Benavidez had received the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]], which his commander argued should be upgraded, but army officials believed there was no living eyewitness to testify to Benavidez's heroism. A soldier who had been present during the action in question learned in July 1980 of the effort to upgrade Benavidez's medal and provided the necessary sworn statement; the upgrade to the Medal of Honor was approved in December 1980.<ref name="Journey" />{{rp|622–23}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mann|first=James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhXlFku4bhoC&pg=PT136|title=Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet|year=2004|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143034896|language=en-US|pages=}}</ref> Powell also declined an offer from [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]] [[John Otho Marsh Jr.|John O. Marsh Jr.]] to be his [[United States Under Secretary of the Army|under secretary]] due to his reluctance to assume a political appointment; [[James R. Ambrose]] was selected instead.<ref name="Journey" />{{rp|623–28}} Intent on attaining a division command, Powell petitioned Carlucci and [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army chief of staff]] [[Edward C. Meyer]] for reassignment away from the Pentagon, with Meyer appointing Powell as assistant division commander for operations and training of the [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division]] at [[Fort Carson, Colorado]] under Major General John W. Hudachek.<ref name="Journey" />{{rp|628–29}}

After he left Fort Carson, Powell became the senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense [[Caspar Weinberger]], whom he assisted during the [[Invasion of Grenada|1983 invasion of Grenada]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kukielski|first=Philip|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1123182247|title=The U.S. Invasion of Grenada : legacy of a flawed victory|publisher=McFarland & Co.|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4766-7879-5|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|pages=209–10, 218|oclc=1123182247|access-date=October 18, 2021|archive-date=December 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227142453/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1123182247|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[1986 Bombing of Libya|1986 airstrike on Libya]].<ref name="Graham-2021">{{Cite news|last=Graham|first=Bradley|date=October 18, 2021|title=Colin L. Powell, former secretary of state and military leader, dies at 84|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/colin-powell-dead/2021/10/18/fdc71fde-c5db-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html|access-date=October 18, 2021|issn=0190-8286|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018125314/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/colin-powell-dead/2021/10/18/fdc71fde-c5db-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Under Weinberger, Powell was also involved in the unlawful transfer of U.S.-made [[BGM-71 TOW|TOW]] anti-tank missiles and [[MIM-23 Hawk|Hawk]] anti-aircraft missiles from Israel to Iran as part of the criminal conspiracy that would later become known as the [[Iran–Contra affair]].<ref name="Firewall">{{cite book |first=Lawrence E. |last=Walsh |title=Firewall: The Iran–Contra Conspiracy and Cover-up |location=New York |publisher=Norton & Company |date=1997 |isbn=978-0-3933-1860-9}}</ref>{{rp|pp=342–49}}<ref name="WalshReport1">{{cite report |last=Walsh |first=Lawrence |title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters |volume=1 |pages=xx, 70, 92, 341, 406–11, 414, 416–17, 421, 423, 427–28, 430–32, 434, 436, 438–40 |date=August 4, 1993 |access-date=October 19, 2021 |url=https://archive.org/details/WalshReport |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref> In November 1985, Powell solicited and delivered to Weinberger a legal assessment that the transfer of Hawk missiles to Israel or Iran, without Congressional notification, would be "a clear violation" of the law.<ref name="Firewall"/>{{rp|345}}<ref name="WalshReport1"/> Despite this, thousands of TOW missiles and hundreds of Hawk missiles and spare parts were transferred from Israel to Iran until the venture was exposed in a Lebanese magazine, ''[[Ash-Shiraa]]'', in November 1986.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Arms, Hostages and Contras: How a Secret Foreign Policy Unraveled |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/19/world/iran-contra-report-arms-hostages-contras-secret-foreign-policy-unraveled.html |work=The New York Times |edition=National |date=November 19, 1987 |at=sec. A. p. 12 |access-date=October 19, 2021 |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426004710/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DB173EF93AA25752C1A961948260 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=hunter>{{cite journal|author=Shireen T. Hunter|title=After the Ayatollah|journal=Foreign Policy|date=Spring 1987|volume=66|issue=66|pages=77–97|doi=10.2307/1148665|jstor=1148665| issn=0015-7228 }}</ref><ref name="Why arms dealings failed">{{cite web |last=Cave |first=George |author-link=George W. Cave |title=Why Secret 1986 U.S.–Iran 'Arms for Hostages' Negotiations Failed |date=September 8, 1994 |publisher=Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs |access-date=October 19, 2021 |url=https://www.wrmea.org/1994-september-october/why-secret-1986-us-iran-arms-for-hostages-negotiations-failed.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505172844/https://www.wrmea.org/1994-september-october/why-secret-1986-us-iran-arms-for-hostages-negotiations-failed.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Iran-Contra [[Independent Counsel]] [[Lawrence E. Walsh]], when questioned by Congress, Powell "had given incomplete answers" concerning notes withheld by Weinberger and that the activities of Powell and others in concealing the notes "seemed corrupt enough to meet the new, poorly defined test of [[Obstruction of justice|obstruction]]".<ref name="Firewall"/>{{rp|403}} Following his resignation as Secretary of Defense, Weinberger was indicted on five felony charges, including one count Obstruction of Congress for concealing the notes.<ref name=Brinley>{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/17/us/weinberger-faces-5-counts-in-iran-contra-indictment.html | title = Weinberger Faces 5 Counts In Iran-Contra Indictment | author = Brinley, Joel | date = June 17, 1992 | access-date = October 19, 2021 | newspaper = The New York Times | archive-date = March 9, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210309180241/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/17/us/weinberger-faces-5-counts-in-iran-contra-indictment.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="WalshReport2">{{cite report |last=Walsh |first=Lawrence |title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters |volume=2 |date=August 4, 1993 |access-date=October 19, 2021 |url=https://archive.org/details/WalshReport/Walsh%20Report%20volume%202%20Indictments%2C%20Plea%20Agreements%2C%20Interim%20Reports%20to%20the%20Congress%2C%20and%20Administrative%20Matters/mode/2up |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>{{rp|p=456}} Powell was never indicted by the Independent Counsel in connection with the Iran-Contra affair.<ref name="WalshReport2"/>

[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Colin Powell.jpg|thumb|right|President [[Ronald Reagan]] and National Security Advisor Powell, 18 April 1988]]
In 1986, Powell took over the command of [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]] in Frankfurt, Germany, from [[Robert Lewis "Sam" Wetzel]]. The next year, he served as [[United States Deputy National Security Advisor]], under [[Frank Carlucci]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bamford |first=James |author-link=James Bamford |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/18/magazine/carlucci-and-the-nsc.html |title=Carlucci and the N.S.C. |date=January 18, 1987 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 25, 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526164929/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/18/magazine/carlucci-and-the-nsc.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following the Iran–Contra scandal, Powell became, at the age of 49, [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]], serving from 1987 to 1989 while retaining his Army commission as a [[Lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Barno|first1=David|author-link1=David Barno|last2=Bensahel|first2=Nora|date=February 28, 2017|title=An Active-Duty National Security Advisor: Myths and Concerns|url=https://warontherocks.com/2017/02/an-active-duty-national-security-advisor-myths-and-concerns/|url-status=live|access-date=October 18, 2021|website=War on the Rocks|language=en-US|archive-date=October 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019145805/https://warontherocks.com/2017/02/an-active-duty-national-security-advisor-myths-and-concerns/}}</ref> He helped negotiate a number of arms treaties with [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the leader of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="NYT Obit" />

In April 1989, after his tenure with the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]], Powell was promoted to four-star [[General (United States)|general]] under President [[George H. W. Bush]] and briefly served as the [[Commanding General, United States Army Forces Command|Commander in Chief]], [[United States Army Forces Command|Forces Command]] (FORSCOM), headquartered at [[Fort McPherson, Georgia]], overseeing all active [[U.S. Army]] regulars, [[U.S. Army Reserve]], and [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] units in the [[Contiguous United States#Continental and mainland United States|Continental U.S.]], Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. He became the third general since World War II to reach four-star rank without ever serving as a division commander,<ref name="Graham-2021" /> joining [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and [[Alexander Haig]].

Later that year, President George H. W. Bush selected him as Chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/inauguration/transition/powell.html |title=Online NewsHour: Colin Powell |publisher=PBS |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=October 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027154925/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/inauguration/transition/powell.html |url-status=live }}</ref>