David D. McKiernan

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General McKiernan

David Deglan McKiernan (born December 11, 1950 in Atlanta , Georgia ) is a former general in the US Army and was the commander of the International Protection Force for Afghanistan ( ISAF ) from June 2008 to June 2009 . Since October 2008 he was also the commander of the newly established US Forces Afghanistan, which meant that all remaining US troops in the country were under his control, with the exception of the special units of the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Before that he was Commander of the 7th US Army / US Army Europe from December 2005 to May 2008 . From 2002 to 2004 he was in command of the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) of the coalition forces in the Iraq war , which was responsible for all allied ground forces in Iraq .

Military career

McKiernan joined the US Army in 1972 by receiving a ROTC scholarship to the College of William and Mary . He holds a Masters of Public Administration from Shippensburg University and an honorary doctorate from his old college.

After basic training as an infantry officer , he was transferred to the 4th Battalion , 63rd US Tank Regiment, 1st US Infantry Division. There he served as platoon leader of a reconnaissance platoon and later until 1975 as Executive Officer (XO) of a tank company . After serving in the 2nd US Infantry Division in South Korea , he was transferred to the 4th Squadron of the 7th US Cavalry Regiment and served there as the squadron's first officer and engine officer until he attended the tank officer training course in 1976.

After this course McKiernan served in the 2nd Battalion, 33rd US Armored Regiment of the 3rd US Armored Division in Kirchgöns in Germany. There from 1977 to 1981 as engine officer of the battalion, tank company boss and S-3 (training, planning, operations) of the battalion. After graduating from Command and General Staff College , he was transferred to the headquarters of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command , the training command of the US Army, and served there as a staff officer in the office of the assistant chief of staff for training. In 1984 he came back to the 3rd US Armored Division and took over the post of S-3 of the 1st Brigade, later that of the first officer of the 2nd Battalion of the 32nd US Armored Regiment and finally as the G-3 of the division responsible for training . In 1987 McKiernan left the 3rd US Armored Division and served as a tank assignment officer in the Colonels Division of the US Army Personnel Commands.

From 1988 to 1990 McKiernan commanded the 1st Battalion , 35th US Tank Regiment of the 1st US Armored Division in Germany . He then became a senior observer and controller of the armored forces at the Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC) near Hohenfels in Germany in July 1990 . In December 1990 he was transferred to the headquarters of the VII. US Corps to take over the Tactical Command Post of the Corps during the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. After this use, he went back to CMTC and soon after graduated from US Army War College .

After the Army War College McKiernan was transferred to the 1st US Cavalry Division and served there as G-3 (operations) of the division and from 1993 as commander of the 1st brigade of the division until 1995. He also gained experience as a staff officer in the 1990s during the Yugoslav Wars . In July 1996 McKiernan was transferred to the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) and served there as Deputy Chief of Staff G-2 / G-3 , including in Rheindahlen in Germany and forward deployed in Sarajevo , Bosnia and Herzegovina . Then he was transferred to the 1st US Infantry Division in 1997 and was employed there as an assistant division commander (maneuvering tasks) until 1998. From August 1998 to September 1999 he served as Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at US Army Europe headquarters during operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo .

McKiernan with Brigadier General Richard F. Natonski (2003).

Then McKiernan was transferred to Fort Hood , Texas and took command of the 1st US Cavalry Division from October 1999 to October 2001. He was then used as Chief of Operations (G-3) at the US Army Headquarters in the Department of the Army . A year later, on September 6, 2002, he took over command of the 3rd US Army and thus of the US Army (ARCENT) troops, which are subordinate to the US Central Command (CENTCOM). In this assignment he also took command of the Coalition Forces Land Component Command in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom , the invasion of Iraq by US-led coalition forces . In March 2003, at the beginning of the Iraq campaign, McKiernan commanded all US and coalition ground forces involved. From 2004 to 2005 he was Deputy Commanding General or Chief of Staff of the US Army Forces Command , the largest command in the US Army. And then, on December 15, 2005, took command of the 7th US Army / US Army Europe .

McKiernan as ISAF commander at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul , Afghanistan (Jan. 2009).

On January 18, 2008, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates McKiernan nominated to succeed General Dan K. McNeill in the role of Commander of the International Protection Force for Afghanistan ( ISAF ). Therefore, on May 2, 2008 McKiernan passed command to his deputy Lieutenant General Gary D. Speer , as the nominated successor Martin E. Dempsey was still bound as acting commander of the US Central Command . On the occasion of his transfer, he was honored by the Bundeswehr with a big tattoo and on April 29, 2008, Federal President Horst Köhler awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon. On June 3, 2008, McKiernan finally took command of the ISAF in the Afghan capital Kabul .

On October 6, 2008, McKiernan was also given command of the newly established United States Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) and operations ISAF and OEF were in fact merged. The US troops that were not under ISAF command were until then led by the Regional Commander East, a major general of the US armed forces .

In May 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that Stanley A. McChrystal von McKiernan would take over the post of commander of ISAF and the US Forces Afghanistan . The exact reasons for the rapid replacement of McKiernan after only one year as commander was unclear. It has been suggested that, just as in Iraq in 2007 in Afghanistan, a change of course towards a new strategy in the insurgency should take place and McKiernan, who during the war in Iraq had led all ground operations in 2003, this is not the best man is. In fact, President Obama made explicit mention that the surge he had ordered had been requested from McKiernan.

It was that a top general was sacked during the war by the service, the first time in more than 50 years ago, when President Harry Truman General Douglas MacArthur at the height of the Korean War dismissed .

On June 15, 2009, McChrystal succeeded McKiernan. On July 15, 2009, McKiernan retired.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

literature

  • Lisa Mundey: McKiernan, David Deglan. In: Spencer C. Tucker (Ed.): The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars. Abc-Clio, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85109-947-4 , pp. 783-784 ( digitized version ).
  • Carl Levin: Nominations Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Second Session, 110th Congress. DIANE Publishing, 2010, p. 49 ( digitized version )

Web links

Commons : David D. McKiernan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ General Officer Announcement (DefenseLink.mil January 18, 2008; English)
  2. ↑ McKiernan says farewell to US Army Europe as he heads to Afghanistan to command international force by Dave Melancon, message from the US Army Europe press office of May 9, 2008, as of July 24, 2010 (English)
  3. ↑ General Officer Announcement (DefenseLink.mil, September 9, 2008; English)
  4. ↑ Defense Department Activates US Forces-Afghanistan (DefenseLink.mil of October 6, 2008; English)
  5. ^ Transcript of the press conference ; Top Commander in Afghanistan Expected to Resign , Washington Post.com, May 11, 2009, (English)
  6. ↑ Q + A: US removes Afghanistan commander (uk.Reuters.com of May 12, 2009; English)
  7. ^ President outlines new strategy in Afghanistan, Pakistan ("I've already ordered the deployment of 17,000 troops that had been requested by General McKiernan for many months.")
  8. ↑ Michael Hastings: “The Runaway General - Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House” - The Rolling Stone profile of Stanley McChrystal that changed history (translated as "The Apostate General"), Rolling Stone June 22, 2010, accessed June 3, 2013.
predecessor Office successor
Paul T. Mikolashek Commanding General of the 3rd US Army
2002–2004 		R. Steven Whitcomb
Burwell B. Bell Commanding General of the 7th US Army / US Army Europe
2005–2008 		Gary D. Speer
Dan K. McNeill Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
2008–2009 		Stanley A. McChrystal
personal data
SURNAME McKiernan, David D.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McKiernan, David Deglan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American general in the US Army
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Atlanta , Georgia