Stephen J. Townsend

Stephen J. Townsend as General, 2018

Stephen J. Townsend (* 1959 in Scheinfeld ) is a general in the US Army . He commanded the 18th Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg and commanded the US forces in Iraq and Syria in Operation Inherent Resolve before taking command of TRADOC in March 2018 .

Early years

Townsend was born in Scheinfeld as the son of an Afghan medical student and a German art student. He was adopted by a US military family in Germany . His father was a staff sergeant in a tank unit.

Stephen grew up in Griffin, Georgia and graduated from high school in 1978. He studied at North Georgia College until graduating in psychology in 1982 . Townsend has a bachelor's degree in psychology and two master's degrees.

Military career

Townsend became a US Army officer in 1982 and began his career as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg . In 1983 he was used in the US invasion of Grenada .

This was followed by uses in the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord and the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning . Townsend became battalion commander of the 10th Mountain Division and took part in the fight against the Taliban during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan in 2002 .

He later served again in Afghanistan and led a Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Iraq. This was followed by an employment with the US Central Command in Florida and the assignment as deputy commander of the 101st Airborne Division .

In May 2015, Townsend took command of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg from Joseph Anderson as Lieutenant General .

On August 21, 2016, Townsend also took command of Operation Inherent Resolve from Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland , thereby coordinating the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria.

Townsend was appointed general in late 2017. On March 2, 2018, Townsend took command of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command . In April 2019, he was traded as a possible successor to the post of Commander in Chief of the United States Africa Command .