John R. Allen

John Allen (2011)

John R. Allen (born December 15, 1953 in Fort Belvoir , Virginia ) is an American general in the United States Marine Corps . From July 18, 2011 to February 10, 2013, he was the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Between September 2014 and October 2015, Allen served as the United States' Special Envoy for the International Alliance against the Islamic State (IS) .

Allen has been President of the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC since October 2017 .

education

Allen attended the Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia and graduated from the US Naval Academy , where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Analysis in 1976 . Allen also earned a Masters of Arts in National Security Studies from Georgetown University , a Masters of Science in Strategic Intelligence from Defense Intelligence College , and another Masters degree in National Security Strategy from National War College .

Commander of ISAF in Afghanistan

From July 18, 2011, Allen commanded the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as the successor to General David Petraeus . He was nominated to take on the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) at NATO in early 2013 ; the decision on this occupation is made regularly by the US Senate . On November 13, 2012, about a week after Barack Obama's election victory , US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the appointment of SACEUR was being postponed. Media reported that the Pentagon was investigating Allen's communication with a woman who was friends with Allen's predecessor, David Petraeus. Petraeus had resigned from his post as CIA chief four days earlier . Everyone is said to have sent “inappropriate” emails . Pentagon spokesman George Little announced on January 22, 2013 that the investigation had not found any immoral behavior. Almost a month later, in mid-February 2013, Allen withdrew his candidacy for the SACEUR post. He wants to end his military career and take care of health problems in his family.

At the beginning of 2013, according to the media, Allen recommended to the US government that if the US armed forces were to withdraw after 2014, they should leave around 6,000 to 15,000 soldiers to secure the country in Afghanistan.

Although originally intended for the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) , Allen was retired on February 19, 2013 at his own request.

Special envoy for the international alliance against IS

In September 2014, US President Barack Obama appointed Allen as special envoy for the US-led International Alliance against the Islamic State (IS) . He resigned from this office in October 2015, and his previous deputy, Brett H. McGurk , was appointed as his successor . Allen retired in November 2015.

From June 11th to 14th, 2015 he took part in the 63rd Bilderberg Conference in Telfs-Buchen , Austria .

Trans Atlantic Task Force

Since 2019 he has been a member of the Transatlantic Task Force of the German Marshall Fund and the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation .

Awards

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal (3 ×)
• Defense Superior Service Medal
• Legion of Merit (4 ×)
• Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2 ×)
• Meritorious Service Medal
• Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal (4 ×)
• Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2 ×)
• Navy Unit Commendation (3 ×)
• National Defense Service Medal (3 ×)
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal (2 ×)
• Iraq Campaign Medal (2 ×)
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Armed Forces Service Medal
• Humanitarian Service Medal
• NATO Meritorious Service Medal
• NATO medal for use in Yugoslavia
• Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland

Web links

Commons : John R. Allen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official CV
• Matthias Rüb: The general embodies continuity. Portrait: John Allen. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . July 18, 2011, accessed July 19, 2011 (Portrait of John R. Allen on the occasion of the ISAF assumption of command). 
• Simone Meyer: "Withdrawal of the troops is our peace strategy". Afghanistan mission. In: The world . November 21, 2011, accessed on November 21, 2011 (Interview with John R. Allen on the war in Afghanistan since 2001 and the planned withdrawal of troops). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ General John R. Allen Assumes Command of ISAF. In: isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/index.php. ISAF Headquarters Public Affairs, archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; Retrieved July 18, 2011 . 
2. ^ John R. Allen named next Brookings Institution president. In: Brookings. October 4, 2017, Retrieved September 18, 2019 (American English). 
3. ^ BBC News
4. ^ Top US commander in Afghanistan under investigation, scandal widens Reuters September 13, 2012; Caught in the thicket of the scandal (spiegel.de November 14, 2012)
5. ↑ Tagesschau: Chronology of the Petraeus Affair ( Memento from November 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ US General Allen exonerated in e-mail affair
7. ↑ Petraeus Affair: General Allen withdraws his candidacy as NATO commander in chief at Spiegel Online , February 19, 2013 (accessed on February 19, 2013).
8. ↑ Tagesschau: Complete US print after 2014?
9. ↑ The Washington Post: Gen. John Allen intends to retire, decline military's top post in Europe (last accessed June 21, 2013)
10. ↑ Garamone, Jim : Hagel Says Anti-ISIL Coalition Continues to Grow. defense.gov of September 18, 2014 (last accessed October 9, 2014).
11. ↑ Obama names Brett McGurk as envoy to coalition fighting Islamic State. Reuters , October 23, 2015, accessed February 8, 2016
12. ↑ Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation and German Marshall Fund establish “Transatlantic Task Force”. Accessed April 27, 2020 (German). 

predecessor	Office	successor
David Petraeus	Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and United States Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) 2011–2013	Joseph F. Dunford