Lloyd Austin

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the Australian Romance scholar and literary scholar of the same name, see Lloyd James Austin (1915–1994).

Lloyd J. Austin

Lloyd James Austin III. (* 8. August 1953 in Mobile , Alabama ) is an American military, retired General of the US Army and the 28th  of Defense of the United States . From 2013 to 2016 he was the commander of the US Central Command . Austin was nominated by President Biden as Secretary of Defense and was confirmed in office by the Senate as the first member of the Biden cabinet on January 22, 2021 . Austin is the first to be African American Secretary of Defense in US History.

Life

Austin is a graduate of the US Military Academy and the US Army War College . He also attended the Universities of Webster and Auburn .

Austin served as the commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division from 2003 to 2005 . In 2006 Austin was promoted to Lieutenant General. From 2006 to 2009 he was Commanding General of the XVIII. US Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg Base in North Carolina . From 2008 to 2009 he and his corps also provided the Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNC-I), reporting directly to the commander of the coalition forces in Iraq ( Multi-National Force Iraq ) , General Raymond T. Odierno . Austin was responsible for the operations of about 150,000 soldiers there.

On July 9, 2009, he was nominated for the post of Director of the Joint Staff . In September 2009 he handed over the command of the XVIII. US Airborne Corps to Lieutenant General Frank G. Helmick and took over the post of Director of the Joint Staff . In October 2010 Austin took over the post of Commander of the United States Forces Iraq from General Raymond T. Odierno , and in January 2012 he was appointed General Vice Chief of Staff of the Army . As of March 22, 2013, Austin commanded US Central Command . He held the post until March 2016.

Austin retired on April 5, 2016.

Austin joined the Nucor Board on September 18, 2017 . He also served on the boards of Guest Services , United Technologies Corporation and Carnegie Corporation in 2017 . Austin joined Tenet Healthcare Corporation on May 29, 2018 .

Following the 2020 presidential election in the United States , Austin was named Secretary of Defense in December 2020 in the new administration of newly elected President Joe Biden , who took office on January 20, 2021. Austin himself was confirmed by the US Senate on January 22, 2021 , and he has been Secretary of Defense of the United States since then. He is the first African American to hold this post. Lloyd Austin is a member of the Roman Catholic Church .

honors and awards

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

• Defense Distinguished Service Medal (4 ×)
• Army Distinguished Service Medal (3 ×)
• Silver star
• Defense Superior Service Medal (2 ×)
• Legion of Merit (2 ×)
• Defense Meritorious Service Medal
• Meritorious Service Medal (5 ×)
• Joint Service Commendation Medal
• Army Commendation Medal (6 ×)
• Army Achievement Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Afghanistan Campaign Medal
• Iraq Campaign Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Humanitarian Service Medal

Web links

Commons : Lloyd Austin  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Official biography ( memento of October 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ General Officer Announcements. In: Defense.gov . May 18, 2010. (English).
2. ↑ Gen. Lloyd J. Austin nominated to be Army vice chief of staff ( Memento of November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Sebastian Fischer: Obama's Anti-Terror General. In: spiegel.de . October 17, 2014, accessed October 17, 2014.
5. ^ Lloyd James Austin III (1953–). In: blackpast.org . 2021, accessed on January 23, 2021.
6. ↑ Lloyd Austin: retired army general nominated as Biden defense secretary. In: theguardian.com. December 9, 2020, accessed January 23, 2021 . 
7. ↑ Biden pledges: "Democracy has prevailed". In: orf.at. January 20, 2021, accessed January 23, 2021 . 
8. ↑ Lloyd Austin confirmed as Secretary of Defense. In: Wiener Zeitung . Retrieved January 23, 2021 . 
9. ^ Daniel Friedrich Sturm: Biden nominated first black defense minister. In: Welt.de . December 8, 2020, accessed January 23, 2021.
10. ↑ Christopher White: Joe Biden's very Catholic Cabinet. In: ncronline.org . January 19, 2021, accessed January 23, 2021.