David M. Rodriguez

David M. Rodriguez (born May 23, 1954 in Overbrook , Pennsylvania ) is a former general in the United States Army ; from April 5, 2013 to July 18, 2016 he commanded the United States Africa Command in Stuttgart . Before that, he was deputy commander of the United States Forces Afghanistan from July to October 2009 , and from October 12, 2009 he commanded the newly established ISAF Joint Command (IJC) below the commander of the ISAF.

Military career

Training and first uses

Rodriguez graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1976 and received his officer license as a second lieutenant . His first use in the 1st Battalion , 61st Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), where he served as platoon commander of a platoon and later as executive officer (XO) of a company was used.

Service as a staff officer

In the late 1980s, Rodriguez served in the 82nd Airborne Division . Here he served as XO of the 1st Battalion, 505th US Paratrooper Regiment, and was with the regiment in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm on foreign assignments. After further uses, he returned in 1997 to the 82nd Airborne Division and took over command of the 325th US Airborne Regiment.

Service in the rank of general

After additional assignments, Brigadier General Rodriguez served as Deputy Director of Regional Operations ( J-33 ) on the Joint Staff until 2005 . He gave this post in February 2005 to Brigadier General Carter F. Ham , who had just returned from an overseas mission in Iraq, where he had commanded the Multi-National Brigade Northwest. Rodriguez, in turn, was promoted to major general and in February 2005 took over the newly created post of commander of the Multi-National Division Northwest in Iraq under the command of General George W. Casey, Jr.

He held this command for a year. After returning from Iraq, he finally took over command of the 82nd US Airborne Division in Fort Bragg , North Carolina on April 7, 2006 and led it until July 21, 2008. During this time he was again on foreign missions with the division , this time in Afghanistan , where he also served as Regional Commander East (RC-E) of ISAF .

In August 2008, he was appointed Lieutenant General, taking over the post of Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense , making him the first military advisor to US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates .

General David M. Rodriguez with Bundeswehr General Egon Ramms at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan (Oct. 2009)

In July 2009, Rodriguez finally took over the post of Deputy Commander of the US Forces Afghanistan under the command of General Stanley A. McChrystal . In addition, he should set up and command a subordinate headquarters under the ISAF headquarters within the NATO command structure. It should be a headquarters of the corps level and deal with the "day-to-day business" of the ISAF. This intermediate level in the chain of command, which the US armed forces have already established in a similar way with the Multi-National Force Iraq , is intended to relieve the ISAF commander, also General McChrystal, so that he can concentrate on the strategic level. This includes the formation and maintenance of relationships and coordination with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, non-governmental organizations and the training of the Afghan security forces. As part of structural changes at ISAF, Rodriguez was then on October 12, 2009 commander of that new command, the ISAF Joint Command (IJC). In the spring of 2010, Rodriguez also took over the post of Deputy Commander of the US Forces Afghanistan .

On March 29, 2011 Rodriguez was nominated for the post of commander of the US Army Forces Command , he held this command until his appointment as commander of the US Africa command.

Awards

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

Defense Distinguished Service Medal (2 ×)
Army Distinguished Service Medal (2 ×)
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (5 ×)
Bronze Star (2 ×)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (4 ×)
Joint Service Commendation Medal
Army Commendation Medal (3 ×)
Joint Service Achievement Medal
National Defense Service Medal (2 ×)
Southwest Asia Service Medal (3 ×)
Afghanistan Campaign Medal (3 ×)
Iraq Campaign Medal (2 ×)
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Médaille de la Defense National

Promotions


Badge of rank	rank	Date of carriage
	Second lieutenant	June 2nd 1976
	First lieutenant	June 2nd 1978
	Captain	August 1, 1980
	major	September 1, 1987
	Lieutenant Colonel	April 1, 1993
	Colonel	August 1, 1997
	Brigadier General	March 1, 2002
	Major General	July 15, 2005
	Lieutenant General	July 1, 2008
	general	September 12, 2012