Thucydides said:
. . . they immediately treated the message like toxic waste. Obviously his reputation was still well known throughout the forces in the early 2000's.
While BGen Cox
may have had his idiosyncrasies, some of the extremes of his antics and reputation have likely been exaggerated in the retelling (and I'm probably as guilty of that as any other on this means). Prior to being posted to 1 CMBG when he was the Bde Comd, my knowledge of him was limited to tales (taken with a grain of salt) from former phase training coursemates who had the "luck" in getting him as their first bn CO - yes, I heard the stories of TQ4 courses (e.g. Dvr Wheeled and MG) having to dig in and live in trenches in Shilo during the winter. But those stories were tempered by seeing him several times in the later 1980s on the local Ottawa public access channel (in uniform) discussing the challenges of having a speech impediment and some measures that could be taken to overcome it and be successful. If I remember correctly, those appearances were well regarded and were publically acknowledged by our leadership as reflecting positively on the CF.
But yes, he did have a reputation for some unique training philosophies. While most of us would say that "any fool can be uncomfortable" when referring to living and training in the field, Gen Cox apparently believed in a different track - living in the field during training exactly as we would during combat operations, in other words, "train as you fight". It was somewhat at odds with the mindset of most of the army of the day. The execution of that concept was not always successful (nor, IMO, necessarily a good idea in all instances), but that was not always the general's fault. However, I have seen similar suggestions for Cdn Army training from members in these forums. I guess going to a shooting war makes a difference.
As for his stammer, yes, it was noticeable. And we made jokes about it (behind his back). But I don't recall any occasion when it interfered with him getting his point across, either in an O Gp or (in the circumstance when I most closely interacted with him) during the preparation and presentation of a multi-presenter lecture on CF operations to a hall full of poli sci students at the UofC.
Okay, he can still be the go to standard for jokes about socks and potted plants (I didn't see either of those incidents attributed to him, though I do recall a GOC's inspection in the 1970s when the Bde RSM checked for the old green boxers) but to consider him as "toxic" is probably a bit extreme. He wasn't the most likeable general that was ever in my chain of command, but he certainly wasn't the worst. While he wouldn't have been my first choice of a commander to go to war with, he was a lot better than some others.
