The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areas with a U.S. Department of Defense mandate to be "on-call to fight any time, anywhere" at "the knife's edge of technology and readiness." Primarily based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division.
General Matthew Bunker Ridgway was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Although he saw no combat service in World War I, he was intensively involved in World War II, where he was the first Commanding General (CG) of the 82nd Airborne Division, leading it in action in Sicily, Italy and Normandy, before taking command of the newly formed XVIII Airborne Corps in August 1944. He held the latter post until the end of the war in mid-1945, commanding the corps in the Battle of the Bulge, Operation Varsity and the Western Allied invasion of Germany.
Bruce Palmer Jr. was a general in the United States Army. He commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps during Operation Power Pack, the II Field Force, Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and was acting Chief of Staff of the United States Army from July to October 1972.
General William F. "Buck" Kernan was born in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was commissioned in November 1968 from Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Our Lady of the Lake University and a Master of Arts degree in personnel administration from Central Michigan University. His military education includes the Infantry Advanced Course, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College.
Curtis Michael "Mike" Scaparrotti is a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the commander of United States European Command. He concurrently served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Scaparrotti previously served as the director of the Joint Staff. Prior to his tour with the Joint Staff, Scaparrotti served as commander, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command and deputy commander, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, the commanding general of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Frederick James Kroesen Jr. was a United States Army four-star general who served as the Commanding General of the Seventh United States Army and the commander of NATO Central Army Group from 1979 to 1983, and Commanding General, United States Army Forces Command from 1976 to 1978. He also served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1978 to 1979. He commanded troops in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, enabling him to be one of the very small number who ever was entitled to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge with two Stars, denoting active combat in three wars.
William Michael Steele is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who commanded major organizations including U.S. Army, Pacific, the Combined Arms Center and the 82d Airborne Division. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he graduated from The Citadel in 1967 and earned a Master of Arts in management from Webster University in St. Louis. His military education includes the National War College.
John William Foss was a United States Army general, and commander of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.
David Anthony Bramlett is a retired United States Army four-star general who commanded United States Army Forces Command from July 1996 to August 1998, after serving as Deputy Commander in Chief and Chief of Staff, United States Pacific Command at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii. During his tenure as Deputy Commander, he was the interim commander of Pacific Command after the commander, Admiral Richard C. Macke, came under fire for comments he had made in regard to the 1995 rape scandal in Okinawa that involved three United States servicemen.
Sam Sims Walker was a United States Army general who served as the Commanding General of Allied Land Forces, South East Europe from 1977 to 1978.
David Mitchell "Rod" Rodriguez is an American Army four-star general who served as the Commander of the United States Africa Command from April 2013 till August 2016.
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 10 August 2015 to 17 October 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.
Lieutenant General Eugene Priest Forrester was a senior officer in the United States Army. He served as commander of United States Army Western Command from 1981 until his retirement in 1983.
Malcolm Bradley Frost is a retired United States Army major general who last served as Commanding General, Center for Initial Military Training, United States Army, Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis, VA. MG Frost most recently served as Chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Frost's previous assignment was Deputy Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, NC from March 2014 to March 2015. In March 2014, Frost completed his assignment as deputy director for Operations at the National Military Command Center, J3 the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. Prior to that, he completed an assignment as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (G3/5/7) for the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC). and commanded the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Patrick James Donahue II is a United States Army lieutenant general who served as deputy commander, United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM).
Jack Brodie Farris was a United States Army lieutenant general who commanded the military ground forces during Operation Urgent Fury, the United States invasion of Grenada in 1983; at the time of his retirement in 1991 he was deputy commander of the United States Pacific Command in Hawaii.
Major General Charles Billingslea was a highly decorated United States Army officer. A graduate of the United States Military Academy (USMA) and a trained parachutist, Billingslea received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the second highest decoration in the United States Armed Forces for heroism in combat, during World War II.
Charles A. Flynn is a retired United States Army general who last served as the commanding general of United States Army Pacific from 2021 to 2024. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Training (G3/5/7) of the Army Staff from 2019 to 2021. He is the younger brother of Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, Donald Trump's first National Security Advisor.
Willard McKenzie Burleson III is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as commanding General of the Eighth United States Army and chief of Staff of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command from 2020 to 2024.
John W. Bowen was a career officer in the United States Army. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he served in the Organized Reserve Corps from 1927 to 1928, and in the army from 1932 to 1968, and he attained the rank of lieutenant general. His commands included the 26th Infantry Regiment (1943), 82nd Airborne Division (1956–1957), Third United States Army (1964), and XVIII Airborne Corps (1964–1965). Among his awards and decorations were four awards of the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star (2), Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Croix de Guerre (France), Order of Military Merit, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Infantryman Badge, and Senior Parachutist Badge.
