George W. Casey, Jr.
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| George William Casey, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born July 22, 1948 | |
 General George William Casey Jr. 36th Chief of Staff of the United States Army |
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| Place of birth | Sendai, Japan |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1970 - present |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Army Chief of Staff Multinational Force Iraq 1st Armored Division Joint Warfighting Center/Director 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division |
| Battles/wars | Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Joint Endeavor (Bosnia) |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal (3) Army Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (3) Defense Meritorious Service Medal |
General George William Casey, Jr., USA (born July 22, 1948) is the 36th and current Chief of Staff of the United States Army. General Casey previously served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force - Iraq from June 2004 to February 8, 2007. He assumed his current assignment on April 10, 2007.
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[edit] Early life and education
George Casey was born in Sendai during the Allied occupation of Japan. His father, George William Casey, was a West Point graduate who rose to the rank of Major General and served in two wars (the Korean War, and the Vietnam War). His father commanded the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam and was killed on July 7, 1970 when his command helicopter crashed in South Vietnam enroute to a hospital to visit wounded U.S. soldiers.
Casey grew up south of Boston, Massachusetts and attended Boston College High School in Dorchester. After high school, he earned his Bachelor of Science in International Relations from Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and received a Master of Arts from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
[edit] Military career
Casey was commissioned through the Army ROTC in 1970 following graduation from Georgetown.
Casey served in the Mechanized Infantry during the command portion of his career. He was commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, and the Assistant Division Commander - Maneuver (later Assistant Division Commander - Support) of the 1st Armored Division in Germany. He deployed as part of Operation Joint Endeavor to Bosnia-Herzegovina from July 1996 to August 1997. He and the Rear Command Post staff were based in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. Casey took command of the 1st Armored Division in July 1999.
After relinquishing command of the division in July 2001, General Casey served in a senior staff position in the Pentagon as the Director of Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, the Joint Staff from October 2001 to January 2003. His next position was Director of the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. from January 2003 to October 2003. Following these assignments, Casey was nominated and confirmed as the 30th Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, serving in that post until June 2004.
[edit] Iraq Command Tour
Casey served as the senior coalition commander in Iraq from June 2004 to February 2007. He replaced Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez.[1] Casey's goal was to encourage the Iraqis to take ownership of their problems and responsibility for their own security. For his part as a military commander, he focused on training Iraqi forces, limiting the role of American forces, and transferring the burden for providing security to Iraqi forces. Meanwhile, U.S. diplomats would focus on building and strengthening the Iraqi government and help the Iraqis hold elections. He expressed his view that a large and intrusive American presence in Iraq would not solve the political and security problems in that country and could even fuel the insurgency.
In 2005, General Casey was hopeful that the December 2005 Iraqi elections could lead to a more unified and moderate Iraq which—in conjunction with the training of Iraqi security forces—could pave the way for U.S. troop reductions in early 2006. In August 2005, Casey used specific troop numbers in his public discussion of a possible drawdown. He said the then current troop level of 138,000 could be reduced by 30,000 in the early months of 2006 as Iraqi security forces took on a greater role. President Bush publicly called the talk "speculation" and rebuked the general. The bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, a sacred Shia religious site in Samarra, is believed to have stoked sectarian tensions and derailed coalition plans to speedily transfer significant security responsibility to the Iraqi government by the end of 2006.[2]
In January 2007, General Casey implied his opposition to a troop surge. "The longer we in the U.S. forces continue to bear the main burden of Iraq’s security, it lengthens the time that the government of Iraq has to take the hard decisions about reconciliation and dealing with the militias. And the other thing is that they can continue to blame us for all of Iraq’s problems, which are at base their problems. It’s always been my view that a heavy and sustained American military presence was not going to solve the problems in Iraq over the long term."[3]
[edit] Army Chief of Staff
In January 2007, President George W. Bush nominated Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus for promotion to General and assignment as the coalition commander in Iraq. Casey was concurrently nominated for elevation to Chief of Staff of the Army. The Senate confirmed his nomination on February 8, 2007 with a bipartisan vote of 83-14.
On February 10, 2007, Casey relinquished command in Iraq to Petraeus. Casey officially succeeded General Peter Schoomaker as Chief of Staff of the Army on April 10, 2007.
In September 2007, in testimony before the U.S. Congress, Casey said "the current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply. We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies" — underscoring in a public hearing the strain that the continuing Iraq War is placing on the U.S. military.[4]
[edit] Awards, Decorations and Badges
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Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with two bronze oak leaf clusters) |
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Army Distinguished Service Medal (with bronze oak leaf cluster) |
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Legion of Merit (with two bronze oak leaf clusters) |
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Defense Meritorious Service Medal |
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Meritorious Service Medal |
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Army Commendation Medal (with bronze oak leaf cluster) |
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Army Achievement Medal (with bronze oak leaf cluster) |
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Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with three bronze oak leaf clusters) |
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Army Superior Unit Award |
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National Defense Service Medal (with two bronze service stars) |
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Iraq Campaign Medal (with two bronze service stars) |
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Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal |
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Global War on Terrorism Service Medal |
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Armed Forces Service Medal |
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Army Service Ribbon |
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Army Overseas Service Ribbon (with award numeral "4") |
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United Nations Medal |
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NATO Medal for Yugoslavia |
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Order of National Security Merit (South-Korea) Tong-il Medal |
- Unidentified ribbon
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Bundeswehr Gold Cross of Honor |
- Unidentified ribbon
Georgia Commendation Medal - State of Georgia, USA; Presented to BG Casey by LTC Frank Williams, 3ID RTOC, Georgia Army National Guard - Croatia, 1996 (not worn)
[edit] Notes
- ^ Schmitt, Eric (July 5, 2004). "The Reach of War: Man in the News — George William Casey Jr.; A Low-Key Commander With 4 Stars to Tame the Iraqi Furies". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E7DE163BF936A35754C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
- ^ Sherwell, Philip (August 14, 2005). "Bush slaps down top general after he calls for troops to be pulled out of Iraq". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2005-11-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20051113130646/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/14/wirq14.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/08/14/ixworld.html.
- ^ Sanger, David E.; Gordon, Michael R.; and John F. Burns (January 2, 2007). "haos Overran Iraq Plan in ’06, Bush Team Says". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/washington/02war.html.
- ^ Bender, Bryan (September 27, 2007). "Army is worn too thin, says general; Calls force not ready to meet new threats". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/09/27/army_is_worn_too_thin_says_general/. Retrieved on 2008-09-10.
[edit] References
- "Biography: General George W. Casey, Jr. — Chief of Staff of the United States Army" (PDF). Leaders: Army Chief of Staff. United States Army. http://www.army.mil/institution/leaders/csa/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-05.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: George W. Casey, Jr. |
- New Job in Iraq Will Be as Top U.S. Military Leader
- SourceWatch profile of General Casey
- CNN, Friday, January 5: Gates shakes up command in Iraq
- Press Briefing by Tony Snow (05 Jan 2007) concerning change of commanders in Iraq
- Casey tells Congress Army is stretched too thin
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ricardo S. Sanchez |
Commander Multinational Force Iraq 2004-2007 |
Succeeded by David H. Petraeus |
| Preceded by Peter J. Schoomaker |
Chief of Staff of the United States Army 2007-Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by James T. Conway |
United States order of precedence as of 2008[update] |
Succeeded by Gary Roughead |
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