Lawrence B. Wilkerson (born June 15, 1945) is a retired United States Army Colonel and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Since the end of his military career, Wilkerson has criticized many aspects of the Iraq War, including his own preparation of Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council, as well as other aspects of American policy in the Middle East, as well as criticizing Israel. He flew low and slow through South Vietnam, and was involved in one incident in which he says he prevented an atrocity by purposely placing his helicopter between a position that was full of civilians, and another helicopter that wanted to launch an attack on the position.