Fort Novosel is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It is named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously named for a Civil War officer, Confederate Colonel Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE) and the United States Army Aviation Museum. Small sections of the post also lie in Coffee, Geneva, and Houston counties. Part of the Dale County section of the base is a census-designated place; its population was 4,636 at the 2010 census.
John M. Riggs is a retired United States Army general. He was retired in 2005. He had attained the rank of lieutenant general, but was retired with the loss of one star, at the rank of major general. According to the army, this was because of misuse of contractors, but some of Riggs' supporters argued that the retirement and demotion was a result of his contradiction of the United States government stance on troop strength needed to support the actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bryan Douglas "Doug" Brown is a retired four-star United States Army general. He retired in 2007 after four decades of military service. In his final assignment, he served as the seventh commander of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), from September 2, 2003, until July 9, 2007. As USSOCOM's commander, he was responsible for all unified special operations forces, both active duty and reserve.
James David Thurman is a retired United States Army general who served as the Commander of United Nations Command, R.O.K.-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and United States Forces Korea from July 14, 2011 until October 2, 2013. He previously served as the 18th Commanding General, United States Army Forces Command from June 3, 2010 to July 8, 2011 and as Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7. He was the former commanding general of United States V Corps in Heidelberg, Germany from January 19, 2007 to August 8, 2007.
The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence is the United States Army Aviation Branch's headquarters, and it's training and development center, located at Fort Novosel, Alabama. The Aviation Center of Excellence coordinates and deploys aviation operations and trains aviation officers in a variety of topics, including classroom navigation instruction, aircraft piloting, and basic combat. The current commanding general is Major General Michael C. McCurry II.
Henry Conger Pratt, professionally known as H. Conger Pratt, was a major general in the United States Army. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, and received awards from Italy, Brazil, and England. He is the only person in American military history to command both an air force wing and an army division.
Robert Bruce Abrams is a retired four-star general in the United States Army who last served as the commander of United States Forces Korea. He concurrently served as the commander of United Nations Command and commander of R.O.K.-U.S. Combined Forces Command. He previously served as the 22nd commanding general of United States Army Forces Command from August 10, 2015 to October 17, 2018. He was a 1982 graduate of the United States Military Academy where he was commissioned as an armor officer. During his years of active service, he has held command and staff positions across the Army and joint community in Germany, the United States, Southwest Asia and South Korea. Abrams comes from a family of career military officers. His father was former Army Chief of Staff General Creighton W. Abrams Jr., and both of his elder brothers, Creighton and John, were Army general officers.
Anthony Ray Jones is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as acting commander of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Michael Ferriter is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General. He served as commanding general of the United States Army Installation Management Command/U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management from 2011 until 2014. During his career he has participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, and served three tours of duty in Iraq. On June 19, 2018, he was named president and CEO of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio.
General Raymond Anthony Thomas III is a retired general officer of the United States Army and former commander of the United States Special Operations Command.
Daniel Robert Hokanson is a four-star general in the United States Army who currently serves as the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau. He previously served as the 21st director of the Army National Guard. His previous military assignments include serving as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, deputy commander of United States Northern Command, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, and commander of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Just Cause. Hokanson assumed his current assignment on 3 August 2020.
Major General James William Ball was a career officer in the United States Army who served as the 24th Chief of Ordnance for the United States Army Ordnance Corps.
Laura Jane Richardson is a four-star general in the United States Army who is the commander of United States Southern Command since 29 October 2021. Prior to that, she was the commanding general of United States Army North from July 2019 to September 2021.
Bryan Patrick Fenton is a United States Army general who serves as the 13th commander of the United States Special Operations Command since 30 August 2022. He most recently served as the 16th commander of the Joint Special Operations Command from July 2021 to August 2022. and as the senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense from 12 August 2019 to June 2021. He previously served as the deputy commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command. Fenton is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
Timothy James Edens is a retired United States Army Brigadier General and US Army combat Master Aviator, who commanded the 4th Brigade Avn, 1st Infantry Division and 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, both while deployed to Iraq. He later served as director of Army Safety and commanding general, USACR/Safety Center.
Charles A. Flynn is a United States Army general who serves as commanding general of United States Army Pacific since 4 June 2021. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Training (G3/5/7) of the Army Staff from June 2019 to May 2021. He is the younger brother of Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, Donald Trump's first National Security Advisor.
Eric D. Little is a United States Army brigadier general who serves as the deputy director for operations of the United States Space Command. He previously served as commanding general of the White Sands Missile Range and deputy commanding general for developmental testing of the United States Army Test and Evaluation Command from May 2021 to November 2023.
Michael D. Lundy is a retired United States Army lieutenant general. He last served as commanding general of the United States Army Combined Arms Center, dual-hatted as commandant of the United States Army Command and General Staff College, deputy commanding for combined arms of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and commanding general of Fort Leavenworth from June 1, 2016 to December 16, 2019. He previously served as commanding general of the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Novosel from March 2014 to April 2016. He retired in 2020 after 33 years of distinguished service.
James Cliffton Smith Jr. was a major general in the United States Army who served as commander of the United States Army Aviation Center and commandant of the Army Aviation School from 1976 to 1978. He previously served as commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division from 1971 to 1973.
Daniel Henry Rucker was a career officer in the United States Army. He was commissioned in 1837 and served for nearly 45 years, including during the American Indian Wars, Mexican–American War, and American Civil War. He attained the rank of brigadier general and was most notable for his service as Assistant Quartermaster General of the United States Army, then Quartermaster General. Rucker received brevet promotions to major general of United States Volunteers and major general in the Regular Army in commendation of his Civil War service. Rucker was the father-in-law of General Philip Sheridan.
