Who is your favorite military figure past or present?

COL David Hackworth.  About Face and Steel My Soldiers hearts and two of my fav military books.

Greg Boyington. Ever since I saw Ba Ba Blacksheep when I was a kid. I met him once at an RC airshow around 1980 and had no idea who he was until we were leaving and someone asked "so how was it talking to your hero"?

WHAT!!!!

Too many to pick!!!!!!

I am currently reading THE FOURTH STAR, and I will admit that the stories of Generals Petraeus, Abizaid, Casey Jr., and Chiarelli are definitely hitting home with me right now. I am seeing quite a bit of similiarities here and there between their careers, my career, and where I hope to go with mine (not neccessarily to the GO level, but just in general).

Historically, there are so many:
CW4 Durant
GEN Patton
GOA Bradley
LTG Hal Moore
MAJ Dick Winters
GEN Stanley McChrystal

...among many others. As you can see, if they have something to read by them or about them, I am generally interested and will learn the most about them.

However, right now....my favorite has become Francois-Louis Teissedre de Fleury. This is due to the fact that my regiment has a medal named after him and being located around so much Revolutionary War history, I am finding the base for our nation and Army takes an interesting take when you compare it to its beginnings in a tangible manner.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Officer, GO, Statesman and probably one of the better examples of the citizen soldier. His biography, "In the Hands of Providence" is a great read!

RADM Grace Hopper, Grandmother of the Computer Age. Challenged us all to look for a better way to do the Navy's Business. Famous last words for the few sailors that said it "That is the way we have always done it Admiral" She would verbally serve you your own ass if you ever said that to her. "There is always a better way to do anything".

I guess Norman Schwartzkopf (when he was a LTC) of the modern era.  He kicked me and my team off a fire base in Vietnam.  10 years later, I was briefing him and his Brigade Staff at Ft. Lewis (9th ID) and got half way through it before he stopped me and asked if we had met before.  I reminded him of the incident. He laughed and said "We've both come along was from there."  Great guy to be around.  Loved his troops and nobody messed with them but him, and MOST of the time, he was right.

Well if you look at Joan of Arc she was the last French Military Leader to put fear in the hearts of the Enemy.

Another good one. I would say Sun Tzu since he truly understood strategy, tactics and logistics.

Ghengis Khan - Uniter, leader, & statesman. By todays standards he was brutal, even for his time he was brutal, but as for a military leader wow he created/led to the creation of one of if not the largest empires in history.

Sun Tzu- The Art of War.

I have read somewhere that Gen MacArthur once said that before he went to bed at night, he read a chapter of the Bible and a Chapter of the Art of War.