James T. Conway

Gene. James T. Conway, 2006.

James Terry Conway (born December 26, 1947 in Walnut Ridge , Arkansas ) is a retired general in the US Marine Corps . He was from 2006 to 2010 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps and in this position a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces ( Joint Chiefs of Staff ). Conway was best known for his service as commanding general of the I. Marine Expeditionary Force from 2002 to 2004. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and Operation Vigilant Resolve in Fallujah also took place during this period .

Military career

Conway graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1969. A year later, in 1970, he was appointed as infantry - officer sworn. His first assignment was as platoon commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton . He also served as the first officer in the Marines aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk .

After graduating with honors from Officers School, Conway commanded two companies in the Operations and Security Division of the 2nd Marine Regiment. He then commanded two companies again, this time at the Marine Basic School. He was then transferred as an Operations Officer (S3) to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in the western Pacific and also conducted operations near Beirut in Lebanon .

LtGen. James T. Conway, 2005.

Back in the States, Conway was reassigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as senior advisor to the chairman for two years . After completing his staff officer training with honors, he took command of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marine Regiment and commanded the Battalion Landing Team during an eight-month assignment within Operation Desert Storm .

For Colonel promoted, he commanded the Marine Basic School later. In December 1995 he was promoted to Brigadier General and reassigned to the Joint Chiefs. After his promotion to major general , he took command of the US 1st Marine Division and became Deputy Commanding General of the Marine Forces Central of the US Central Command . Promoted to Lieutenant General , he took over command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) on November 16, 2002. He had this command during two combat missions in Iraq . Under his command were up to 60,000 soldiers, composed of soldiers from the US Army , sailors from the US Navy and British armed forces . In 2004, Conway was transferred to the Joint Staff in Washington, DC , where he became Director of Operations (J-3).

In a video conference with journalists on May 30, 2003, Conway commented on the fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which had been the official justification of the US for the war:

"It was a surprise to me then, it remains a surprise to me now, that we have not uncovered weapons ... It's not for lack of trying. We've been to virtually every ammunition supply point between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad, but they're simply not there .... What the regime was intending to do in terms of its use of the weapons, we thought we understood – or we certainly had our best guess, our most dangerous, our most likely courses of action that the intelligence folks were giving us. We were simply wrong. But whether or not we're wrong at the national level, I think, still very much remains to be seen. "

It was a surprise to me, then as now, that we did not find any weapons. It wasn't because we didn't look. We searched almost every ammunition depot between the Kuwaiti border and Baghdad , but there was simply nothing there. [...]

Conway is led by Gen. Pace sworn in.

On June 13, 2006, US President George W. Bush nominated Conway for the post of 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC). The US Senate confirmed Conway's nomination. On November 13, he finally succeeded General Hagee to the post of CMC and was also promoted to general.

On October 22, 2010, he passed the post to General James F. Amos , who had previously served as his deputy .

Conway is married and has three children.

Awards

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

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal (3 ×)
• Navy Distinguished Service Medal
• Legion of Merit
• Defense Meritorious Service Medal
• Meritorious Service Medal (3 ×)
• Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal
• Navy Unit Commendation (2 ×)
• National Defense Service Medal (3 ×)
• Southwest Asia Service Medal (4 ×)
• Iraq Campaign Medal (3 ×)
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Commander of the French Legion of Honor

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-05-30-iraq-wmd_x.htm
2. ^ Article by the Marine Corps Times ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  
3. ↑ Contribution of the Marine Corps Times ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  

Web links

Commons : James T. Conway  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Summary of an interview on 30 May 2006 (English)
• Harris, Ron: Preparing for war with Iraq . In: St. Louis Post-Dispatch of February 9, 2003 with a short biography ( complete ( memento of March 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )) (English).
• Biography on defense.gov (English)
• Who's Who in Marine Corps History States, United Marine Corps History Division (English)