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Lloyd Austin

Also Known As Lloyd James Austin III, Austin

Education

  • Graduated : Bachelor of Science degree - United States Military Academy at West Point
  • Master of Arts degree - Auburn University's College of Education
  • Master of Business Administration - Webster University
  • Graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses - Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College

Overview

Lloyd James Austin III is a retired United States Army four-star general who, since his appointment on January 22, 2021, has served as the 28th United States Secretary of Defense. He is the first African American to serve as the United States Secretary of Defense. Austin previously served as the 12th commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) from 2013 to 2016.

Austin was the 33rd vice chief of staff of the Army from January 2012 to March 2013, and the last commanding general of United States Forces – Iraq Operation New Dawn, which ended in December 2011. In 2013, Austin was appointed as the first Black commander of CENTCOM by President Barack Obama. He retired from the armed services in 2016 and joined the boards of Raytheon Technologies, Nucor, Tenet Healthcare, and Auburn University. On December 7, 2020, he was nominated for defense secretary by then-President-elect Joe Biden. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 22, 2021, by a vote of 93–2.

Austin was commissioned as a second lieutenant after his graduation from West Point. His initial assignment was to the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Germany.

Following this assignment and attendance at the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he commanded the Combat Support Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry and served as the Assistant S-3 (Operations) for 1st Brigade.

In 1981, Austin was assigned to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was the operations officer for the Army Indianapolis District Recruiting Command, and where he later commanded a company in the Army Recruiting Battalion. Upon conclusion of this assignment, he attended Auburn University, where he completed studies for a Master's in education. He then returned to the West Point as a company tactical officer for E-1.

After completion of the Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, New York, where he served as the S-3 (Operations) and later executive officer for the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry. He subsequently served as Executive Officer for 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain, and later Director of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security for Fort Drum.

Austin in a meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Lieutenant General David Barno, and U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2003

In 1993, Austin returned to the 82nd Airborne Division where he commanded the 2d Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry. He later served as G-3 for the 82nd.

Following graduation from Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he returned to the 82nd Airborne Division for a third tour of duty there to command 3rd Brigade.

Shortly after brigade command, he served as Chief, Joint Operations Division, J-3, on the Joint Staff at The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. His next assignment was as Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver (ADC-M), 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Stewart, Georgia. As the ADC-M, he helped lead the division's invasion of Iraq in March 2003.[8] Austin was awarded a Silver Star for his actions as commander during the invasion.

Austin served from September 2003 until August 2005 as Commanding General of 10th Mountain Division, as Commander, Combined Joint Task Force 180, during the War in Afghanistan. Subsequently, he was promoted to Chief of Staff of US Central Command at MacDill AFB, in Tampa, Florida, from September 2005 until October 2006.

General Lloyd Austin, commander of United States Forces-Iraq with General James Mattis, commander of United States Central Command, during the United States Forces-Iraq end of mission ceremony on December 15, 2011. Both would later serve as Secretaries of Defense.

On December 8, 2006, Austin was promoted to Lieutenant General and assumed command of XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In February 2008, Austin became the second highest ranking commander in Iraq, taking command of the Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I). As commander of MNC-I, he directed the operations of approximately 152,000 joint and coalition forces in all sectors of Iraq.

Austin handed over command of XVIII Corps to become Director of the Joint Staff in August 2009. This promotion came at the direction of Admiral Michael Mullen, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While Director, Austin was told by Mullen to increase the diversity of the Joint Staff. Austin credited the appointment as having jumpstarted his later career, saying: "People who might not have known Lloyd Austin began to know him."

Early Life

Austin was born on August 8, 1953, in Mobile, Alabama; he was raised in Thomasville, Georgia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975, where he was commander of G-1 (G Company, 1st Regiment). He later earned a Master of Arts degree in counselor education from Auburn University's College of Education in 1986, and a Master of Business Administration in business management from Webster University in 1989. He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College                                 

Austin was raised by a devoutly Catholic mother and remains practicing himself. He has been described as an "intensely private" man who loathed talking to the news media when he was in Iraq and has a habit of "referring to himself in the third person".

Austin and his wife, Charlene Denise Banner Austin, have been married for over forty years. Charlene worked as a non-profit administrator and served on the board of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University. He has two stepsons

Career

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Reference

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