Keith Dayton

Last updated
Keith W. Dayton
Keith Dayton in 2015.jpg
Born (1949-03-07) March 7, 1949 (age 75)
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service1970–2010
Rank Lieutenant General
Commands heldHHB, 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery, 9th Infantry Division
C Battery, 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery, 9th Infantry Division
4th Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 8th Infantry Division
Division Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division
Deputy Director, Human Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency
Director, Iraq Survey Group
Battles/wars Operation Iraqi Freedom
Awards Defense Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit

Keith W. Dayton (born March 7, 1949) is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army who currently serves as the director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Dayton served as the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel-Palestinian Authority in Tel Aviv, Israel from December 2005 to October 2010. He has also served as the Director of the Iraq Survey Group, as a senior member of the Joint Staff, and as U.S. Defense Attaché in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia.

Contents

Career

After graduating from the College of William & Mary in 1970, Dayton was immediately commissioned as an artillery officer through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He received Russian language training at the Defense Language Institute and trained as a foreign area officer (FAO) with an emphasis on the former Soviet Union. Prior to his current assignment, he spent 37 years in a variety of command and staff assignments, most recently serving as the director of the Iraq Survey Group (responsible for finding evidence of alleged WMD) during Operation Iraqi Freedom and as Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3, United States Army, before his assignment as U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Other key assignments include deputy director for Politico-Military Affairs, Joint Staff; United States Defense Attaché, Moscow, Russia; senior Army fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations, New York; commander, Division Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Germany; and commander, 4th Battalion, 29th Field Artillery; 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Germany.

He has written many technical articles over the course of his career, as well as was one of the co-authors of The Future of NATO: Facing an Unreliable Enemy in an Uncertain Environment, a study on the future of NATO published in 1991.

Lt. Gen. Dayton served five years as the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. His leadership of the USSC team included overseeing the training of Palestinian Authority forces. Lt. General Dayton was widely lauded for his "rebuilding" of the Palestinian National Security Service, with thousands of members training in neighboring Jordan. He left Israel in October 2010 and retired from the military in December 2010. [1] [2] In 2018, Defense Secretary James Mattis appointed Dayton to serve as the senior U.S. defense advisor to Ukraine. [3]

In December 2019, Politico reported that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was considering Dayton to be the nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. [4] On May 1, 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Dayton to the position. [5] [6] [7] On May 14, 2020, his nomination was sent to the United States Senate. [8] On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. [9]

In May 2021, Dayton retired as director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. [10] He was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service on May 3, 2023.

Dates of rank

Medals and decorations

Formal education

Military education

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. H. Binford Peay III</span>

James Henry Binford "Binnie" Peay III is a retired four-star general of the United States Army. He served as the 14th superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute from 2003-2020, and as chairman of the Allied Defense Group from 2001-03. He has also served on various corporate and nonprofit boards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Austin</span> 28th United States Secretary of Defense (born 1953)

Lloyd James Austin III is a retired United States Army four-star general who has served as the 28th and current United States secretary of defense since January 22, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. R. McMaster</span> United States Army general (born 1962)

Herbert Raymond McMaster is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Reimer</span>

Dennis Joe Reimer is a retired general of the United States Army, who served as the 33rd Chief of Staff of the Army from June 20, 1995, to June 21, 1999. He is also a graduate of Ranger and Airborne school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William E. Ward</span> US Army general

William E. "Kip" Ward is a retired United States Army three-star general who served as the inaugural Commander of United States Africa Command from October 1, 2007 to March 8, 2011. During his long career in public service, he has taught international affairs and relations at West Point, US Military Academy; served as Commander of Stabilization Force, Operation Joint Forge, Sarajevo, Bosnia; was appointed the Secretary of State's Security Coordinator to the Israel - Palestinian Authority; Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany; and many other progressively responsible assignments. He later retired and served as President and chief operating officer of the logistics, IT, and engineering business, Vectrus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John R. Allen</span> US Marine Corps general (born 1953)

John Rutherford Allen is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general, and former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A). On September 13, 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Allen as special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He was succeeded in that role by Brett McGurk on October 23, 2015. He is the co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence with Darrell M. West and Future War and the Defence of Europe alongside Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges and Professor Julian Lindley French. Allen was president of the Brookings Institution from October 2017 until his resignation on June 12, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Dunford</span> 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2019. He was the 36th commandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the first Marine Corps officer to serve in four different four-star positions; the others include commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces – Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014, and as the thirty-second assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from October 23, 2010 to December 15, 2012. He has commanded several units, including the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The United States has provided security assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the mid-1990s. After the Oslo Accords formed the PA, the U.S. gave aid on an ad hoc basis, often covertly at the outset. Since 2005, however, the U.S. State Department has provided direct financial and personnel assistance to Palestinian security organizations when it established the office of the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian territories through the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). In 2007 the USSC team began training certain Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF) including the Palestinian National Security Forces (NSF) and the Presidential Guard with the intent to train, equip, and garrison 10 NSF battalions by the end of 2010. Over the year, U.S. security assistance to the Palestinian Authority has expanded and received praise as well as criticism from American, Palestinian, and Israeli groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Longo</span>

Richard C. Longo is a retired major general of the United States Army. At the time of his retirement on 22 July 2014, he was deputy commanding general and chief of staff for U.S. Army Europe. He previously served as the deputy commanding general for Initial Military Training for the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James W. Nuttall</span> United States Army general

James W. Nuttall is a retired United States Army major general who served as deputy director of the Army National Guard and deputy commander of the United States First Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter E. Fountain</span> United States Army officer

Walter E. Fountain is a retired United States Army officer who attained the rank of major general. In his final assignment, he served beginning in January 2018 as Director of Domestic Operations and Force Development at the National Guard Bureau. His previous assignments include Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for National Guard Matters, Deputy Director for Domestic Operations (J-3) at United States Northern Command, Assistant Adjutant General of the Oklahoma National Guard, and acting Deputy Director of the Army National Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gustave F. Perna</span> United States military officer

Gustave F. Perna is a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the chief operating officer of the federal COVID-19 response for vaccine and therapeutics. He previously served as the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed from July 2020 until the operation's duties and responsibilities were transferred to the White House COVID-19 Response Team in February 2021. As chief operating officer of COVID-19 response, he oversaw the logistics in the United States federal government's distribution of the vaccine to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate confirmed his nomination as chief operating officer on July 2, 2020, and he assumed the office shortly after.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Kellogg</span> Retired Lieutenant General in the United States Army (born 1944)

Joseph Keith Kellogg Jr. is a former United States government official and a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army. He previously served as the National Security Advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, and as the Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff of the United States National Security Council in the Trump administration. He served as National Security Advisor on an acting basis following the resignation of Michael T. Flynn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry E. Miller Jr.</span> United States Army general

Harry E. Miller Jr. is a retired Army National Guard officer. A veteran of the Iraq War, he attained the rank of major general as commander of the 42nd Infantry Division, a position he held from 2013 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James C. King</span> United States Army general

James C. King is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General. A career Military Intelligence officer, he served on active duty from 1968 to 2001. At the time of his retirement he was serving as the Director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, one of the intelligence agencies of the United States Intelligence Community.

Alexander Semyon Vindman is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel who was the Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council (NSC) until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020. Vindman is currently director for the think tank the Institute for Informed American Leadership (IIAL).

Yevgeny Semyon "Eugene" Vindman is a retired United States Army colonel and a national security and international law expert. He was a deputy legal advisor for the United States National Security Council (NSC) until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles A. Flynn</span> United States Army general

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.

References

Notes

  1. Issacharoff, Avi (October 8, 2010). "Keith Dayton to retire after five years of training PA forces". Ha'aretz. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  2. Thrall, Nathan (October 14, 2010). "Our Man in Palestine". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  3. "Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith W. Dayton U.S. Army". George C. Marshall European Center For Security Studies. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  4. Bertrand, Natasha; Toosi, Nahal (December 16, 2019). "Trump team weighs ambassador pick for Ukraine as ties fray". Politico . Retrieved December 17, 2019.
  5. Bonner, Brian (May 2, 2020). "Trump to nominate Keith W. Dayton as US ambassador to Ukraine". Kyiv Post. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  6. Kuleba welcomes nomination of Keith Dayton for new U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Interfax-Ukraine (5 May 2020)
  7. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts" White House, May 1, 2020 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  8. "Three Nominations Sent to the Senate", The White House, May 14, 2020
  9. "PN1901 - Nomination of Keith W. Dayton for Department of State, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". www.congress.gov. 2021-01-03. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  10. "Marshall Center bids farewell to Director Keith Dayton". Marshall Center. May 28, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2023.