With more than 35 years of service — including holding the position of the Army’s 31st Vice Chief of Staff — Gen. Dick Cody and his wife, Vicki, understand military life: the pressure, the excitement, the community. Together (even while enduring countless nights apart), they grounded each other during war and peace, supported the military families in their units and raised two boys.
When Dick graduated in 1972 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, he and Vicki knew they were dedicating a lifetime — their lifetime — to the Army. What they couldn’t have guessed was that they were laying the foundation for a legacy of service across generations. With Dick frequently called “an aviator’s aviator” and Vicki a pilot (she got her license in what she dubs “the year we all went to school” in her memoir “Army Wife: A Story of Love and Family in the Heart of the Army”), it is little wonder that the Cody sons became Army aviators themselves. Col. Clint Cody is the current chief of staff for the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Col. Tyler Cody took command of the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade in July 2024. Both of Clint’s sons want to be pilots in the military as well.
“It just is a wonderful thing to see that they’ve taken on the mantle of being coaches and mentors to the next generation,” Dick said proudly of his sons. “And so I’m just sitting back now and watching, and every once in a while they’ll ask me something, but I always say, ‘You already know the answer. You guys have been through it all.’ But it’s really rewarding. And that’s what’s nice about the Army … leaders, as they get higher in rank — or when they’re retired — all want the next generation to learn from them.”
“The Army has changed a lot in the last 17 years since he’s been out, and he knows that,” Clint said. “But we also always say, ‘Yeah, things have changed, but there are still some of the basic elements of leadership — taking care of people — that [will] never change.
“He’s always told me, ‘Get focused on the families, focus on your soldiers. Everything else will kind of work out.’”
Grit on the homefront
While each Cody service member forged their own path in the military, they met their matches in their respective wives. Vicki, Kim (Clint’s wife) and Brooke (Tyler’s wife) have stood stoically as they have sent their husbands to war, fiercely supported military families and privately provided comfort, understanding and advice.
“When I got my pilot’s license back in the early ’80s, that gave me insight into Dick’s life and everything that that’s all about,” said Vicki. “And so over the years, I think I’ve been able to support him even more because I understand flying and what it means — and what it means to him especially.”
Kim comes from a military family and has the unique perspective of being both a military spouse and a veteran with two combat deployments under her belt. With this hard-earned understanding of command and family, the West Point graduate has been key in building the Soldier and Family Readiness Groups (SFRGs) in their units. Even with the added challenge of multiple dual-military couples, she understands the complexity of situations, navigates between soldiers and families, and supports the SFRG with Clint’s blessing.
“[Clint] was like, … ‘Run with it,’” she said. “So I would not only go, I would go to the commander — male or female, didn’t matter — [and] I would go to their spouse — male or female — and say, ‘Hey, what do you need from me? What can I do to help assist you?’”
“Kim took care of all the families and the spouses,” Clint added. “And we just built this really powerful team, and that’s everything I saw my mom and dad [do]. Growing up seeing what they did, I just kind of applied the same basic principles again.”
Continuing in service
Dick and Vicki continue to take care of families even after retirement. Vicki has authored multiple books that provide guidance for spouses and parents navigating military life, and most recently, Dick, chairman of Homes for our Troops, was awarded the Ultimate Patriot Award for his service after Hurricane Helene.
“When Vicki and I saw on the TV the devastation [in] North Carolina, and I saw a couple of the civilian helicopters flying, I said, ‘Jeez, I gotta go down there and help,’” Dick said.
His bride of nearly 50 years was unsurprised and unfazed. The couple encourages seeking out opportunities to help, especially when it comes to military families.
“Both of us just knew that even though he was taking his uniform off, it wasn’t going to end in August 2008,” Vicki said. “It was going to continue to be a lifetime of service, and supporting our sons and their families, and then that branches out and leads us to other endeavors.
“In the military, it’s just such a close-knit, tight family that you can’t just not help out when needed. And there’s always a need somewhere.”
