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Major General George Francis Close, Jr. is a retired senior US Army officer, currently acting as a senior corporate and government executive. He has been recognized for leading and developing organizations in the US, Middle East, and in major strategic military commands.
In 1998, Close was awarded the Outstanding Alumni award from Dedham High School. [1]
| 1999 | Johns Hopkins/Syracuse University (Baltimore, MD) | Military security policy and strategy |
| 1998 | Center for Creative Leadership (Colorado Springs, CO) | Organization leadership |
| 1988–1989 | The National War College (Washington, D.C.) | Military and strategic leadership |
| 1979–1980 | United States Marine Command & Staff College | Military security policy and strategy |
| 1972–1974 | Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA) | Bachelor of Science (B.S.), business management |
Close began his military career in 1974 as an infantry battalion commander (lieutenant colonel) of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. He was later transferred to Washington, D.C., to be a senior aide-de-camp to the Secretary of the Army.
In 1989, after graduating from the National War College, Colonel Close was assigned to the 6th Infantry Division [2] as an infantry (airborne) brigade commander. Two years later, Close became a division chief with JROC (J7 Joint Requirements Oversight Council). In 1993, as a brigadier general, Close was commissioned to the Office of the Secretary of the Army as senior military assistant.
In 1994, Assistant Division Commander Close provided operational and command leadership to the Army's 10th Mountain Division and served as the deputy joint-task-force commander. He coordinated a 22,000-man joint tasks force to Haiti [3] and integrated the operations of 13 countries and 7 US agencies, which set the conditions for the restoration of democracy in Operation Uphold Democracy.[ citation needed ]
In 1995, Close served as director of operations (United States Southern Command, US Army) and led the training and operations direction of all US military air, land and sea forces stationed in Latin and South America and the Caribbean. He was simultaneously the Director Joint Interagency Task Force South, [4] responsible for the coordination of US drug interdiction efforts throughout the region.
In 1997, promoted to major general, director for operational plans and interoperability, Close was responsible for the integration of all deliberate military war plans, the joint training, doctrine and education of the Armed Services, and the joint lessons-learned system.
From 1997 to 2000, Close served as the executive in charge of Joint Vision 2020 which called for overseeing military preparedness for future global responsibilities. Close established the U.S. Military's Joint Training System through application of technology which has dramatically improved US joint war fighting.[ according to whom? ]
The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was a joint-service command of the United States Department of Defense, composed of forces from the United States Army, United States Navy, and United States Air Force, as well as their respective special operations forces.
Operation Uphold Democracy was a multinational military intervention designed to remove the military regime led and installed by Raoul Cédras after the 1991 Haitian coup d'état overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The operation was effectively authorized by the 31 July 1994 United Nations Security Council Resolution 940.
The Iceland Defense Force was a military command of the United States Armed Forces from 1951 to 2006. The IDF, created at the request of NATO, came into existence when the United States signed an agreement to provide for the defense of Iceland, which has only limited defense forces.
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Combined Joint Task Force – 76 (CJTF-76) was a US led subordinate formation of Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan (CFC-A) headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was active from the time CFC-A stood up to the time the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took full command of the coalition military operations in Afghanistan in October 2006. CFC-A reported in its turn to United States Central Command. While CFC-Afghanistan was supposed to have inactivated sometime after November 30, 2006, CJTF-76 remained as a headquarters for ISAF's Regional Command East. CJTF-76 was replaced by Combined Joint Task Force 82, led by the 82nd Airborne Division, in the middle of 2007.
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Multinational Division Central-South (MND-CS), created in September 2003, and supported by NATO, was a part of the Multinational Force Iraq. Headquartered in Camp Echo, it was under Polish command until October 2008, when the last of Poland's troops were withdrawn. The Polish contingent was its largest. Other participants included Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Romania, El Salvador, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States of America. As of December 2008, Armenian, Bosnian, Danish, Latvian, Kazakh, Lithuanian, Mongolian, Spanish and Slovakian forces had been fully withdrawn.
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John Francis Campbell is a retired United States Army general who was commander of the Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces – Afghanistan. He was the 16th and last commander of the International Security Assistance Force. Prior to this, he served as the 34th Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He is currently a member of the board of directors of IAP, and BAE Systems, and serves on the advisory board of Code of Support Foundation.
Việt Xuan Luong is a retired United States Army major general. He is the first American officer promoted to general officer rank who was born in Vietnam. He last served as the Commanding General of United States Army, Japan/I Corps Forward. He previously served as the Deputy Commanding General (Operations), Eighth Army. His prior assignments included chief of staff of United States Army Central; Director of Joint and Integration, Headquarters Department of the Army, G-8; assistant division commander–maneuver for the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, concurrent with assignment as commander, Train Advise Assist Command – South, Resolute Support Mission Joint Command, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Afghanistan.
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Stephen J. Townsend is a retired United States Army four-star general who served as Commander United States Africa Command from 26 July 2019 to 8 August 2022. He previously commanded the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command from March 2018 until June 2019 and XVIII Airborne Corps from May 2015 until January 2018.
Austin Scott Miller is a retired four-star general in the United States Army and former Delta Force commander who served as the final commander of NATO's Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces – Afghanistan from 2 September 2018 to 12 July 2021. He previously served as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command from 30 March 2016 to August 2018. He participated in numerous combat operations, such as the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, and, since 2001, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired from the Army in December after relinquishing command in July 2021. Miller currently serves on the board of advisors for Striveworks and the board of directors for Workhorse.
