General James N. Mattis, Commander

Gen. James N. Mattis serves as commander, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), located in Tampa, FL.

Gen. Mattis has commanded at multiple levels. As a lieutenant, he served as a rifle and weapons platoon commander in the 3rd Marine Division. As a captain, he commanded a rifle company and a weapons company in the 1st Marine Brigade.

As a major, he commanded Recruiting Station Portland. As a lieutenant colonel, he commanded 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, one of Task Force Ripper's assault battalions in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. As a colonel, he commanded 7th Marines (Reinforced).

Upon becoming a brigadier general, he commanded first the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade and then Task Force 58, during Operation Enduring Freedom in southern Afghanistan. As a major general, he commanded the 1st Marine Division during the initial attack and subsequent stability operations in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In his first tour as a lieutenant general, he commanded the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and served as the deputy commandant for combat development. He also commanded the I Marine Expeditionary Force and served as the commander of U.S. Marine Forces Central Command.  Previous to this assignment, he served as both NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation from 2007-2009 and as commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command from 2007-2010. 

Gen. Mattis, a native of the Pacific Northwest, graduated from Central Washington State University in 1972. He is also a graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the National War College.

Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward

VADM Harward serves as deputy commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), located in Tampa, FL.

VADM Harward qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard the destroyer USS Scott (DDG 995) and then transferred to the Naval Special Warfare community.  He was the “Honor Man” of Basic Underwater Demolition (BUD)/Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) class 128, and has served in both east and west coast SEAL teams.  Tours in the Naval Special

Warfare community include:  commander, SEAL Team Three; Assault Team leader and operations officer at Naval Special Warfare Development Group; SEAL plans officer for Commander, Amphibious Force U.S. 7th Fleet; executive officer, Naval Special Warfare Unit One; aide-de-camp to Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF) deputy commander in Bosnia; deputy commander Special Operations Command, Pacific; commander, Naval Special Warfare Group ONE, and deputy commanding general, Joint Special Operations Command. 

Assignments outside of his community include a tour in the executive office of the President at the White House where he served on the National Security Council as the director of Strategy and Policy for the office of Combating Terrorism.  His first flag assignment was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff representative to the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), as a member of the Senior Interagency Strategy Team.  Following that tour, he served as deputy commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command.  Previous to this assignment, he served as commander of Combined Joint Interagency Task Force (CJIATF) 435 from 2009 to 2011 in Afghanistan.  Harward commanded troops in Afghanistan and Iraq over six years since Sept. 11, 2001.

Harward was born in Newport, R.I., grew up in a Navy family and graduated from the Tehran American High School in Iran.  After enlisting in the Navy, he was awarded a fleet appointment to the United States Naval Academy where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1979. Harward attended the College of Naval Command and Staff, the Naval Staff College and the Armed Forces Staff College. He holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Strategic Security Affairs, served as a federal executive fellow at RAND, and is an alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for International Studies.

Major General Karl R. Horst 

Maj. Gen Karl R. Horst assumed duties as Chief of Staff, U.S. Central Command in July 2011 following a successful tour as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington and Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region.

Maj. Gen Horst received his bachelor’s degree and commission in the Infantry from the United States Military Academy in 1978, after enlisting in the Army June 22, 1973 and attending the United States Military Academy Preparatory School at Ft. Belvoir, VA.

Maj. Gen. Horst started his career in Germany with the 3d Infantry Division, where he served as a platoon leader.  He went on to command a company in the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, WA; and later commanded both a battalion and a brigade in the 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, NC.   He returned to the 3d Infantry Division as an Assistant Division Commander, serving at Fort Stewart, GA and in Baghdad.  Returning to Fort Bragg, he assumed the duties as the Deputy Commanding General, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg.

Maj. Gen. Horst's staff assignments include an assignment on the Army staff as aide-de-camp to the Army Chief of Staff, and a joint and NATO assignment as special assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.  Maj. Gen. Horst served as the Chief of Staff, 82d Airborne Division; then as the Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg.  At the Combatant Command level, he served as the Director for Operations, Plans, Logistics and Engineering (J3/J4), United States Joint Forces Command, Norfolk, VA.

Maj. Gen. Horst's military education includes the Armed Forces Staff College and the Army War College.  His civilian study includes a master's degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School Executive Development Course.

Maj. Gen. Horst's awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), the Legion of Merit (4 Oak Leaf Clusters), and the Bronze Star Medal (2 Oak Leaf Clusters).  He has earned the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Combat Action Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, and the Army Ranger Tab.

Maj. Gen. Horst is married to the former Nancy Pribyla of Tarzan, Texas.  They have three children: Kaitlin, 26, graduated from the University of North Carolina, is an Army wife and a graduate student at Gonzaga University; she lives in Vicenza Italy with her husband, Mason; son Paul, 23, graduated from NC State University and is a graduate student at Embry-Riddle University; and daughter Megan, 21, is a senior at NC State University, studying elementary education; she will spend the coming summer with the Teach for America program.

Command Sergeant Major Frank A. Grippe

Command Sergeant Major Frank Grippe entered the United States Army on 29 April 1981 at Syracuse, New York. He trained as a light infantryman and graduated from Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Command Sergeant Major Grippe has served in the following duty positions and organizations: Rifleman, Machine-gunner and Team Leader in 1-509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy; Team Leader, Rifle Squad Leader and Reconnaissance Squad Leader in 2-325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Rifle Squad Leader, Rifle Platoon Sergeant, Battalion Operations Sergeant and Company First Sergeant with 2-75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Washington; ROTC Senior Military Instructor at San Diego State University, San Diego, California; Command Sergeant Major for 1-87th Infantry Regiment, Fort Drum, New York, CSM of Task Force Summit (OEF Afghanistan, September 2001 -  April 2002); Command Sergeant Major for 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division (LI), Fort Drum, New York, CSM of Combined Joint Task Force Warrior (OEF Afghanistan, July 2003 – May 2004); Post and Division Command Sergeant Major of the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, CSM of Task Force Band of Brothers; Multi-National Division North (OIF, September 2005 - September 2006.) From August 2007-December 11, he was assigned as the Command Sergeant Major of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington and recently served as the Multi-National Corps-Iraq Command Sergeant Major from March 2009 to March 2010.  CSM Grippe is presently the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for the United States Central Command located at MacDill AFB, Florida.

Command Sergeant Major Grippe has attended all levels of the Noncommissioned Officers Education System, culminating with the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. He is a graduate of the Battle Staff Course, the First Sergeants Course and the Keystone Course, as well as numerous infantry and special operations-related schools. CSM Grippe has earned an Associate’s Degree from Pierce College in Tacoma, Washington.

His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (1oak leaf cluster), the Bronze Star for Valor (3d oak leaf cluster for service), the Purple Heart Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (3d oak leaf cluster); the Army Commendation Medal (3d oak leaf cluster); the National Defense Service Medal; the Army Good Conduct Medal (9th award); the Army Achievement Medal (4th oak leaf cluster); the NCO Professional Development Ribbon (with numeral 4); Humanitarian Service Medal; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with assault arrowhead and star); The Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with 2 service stars); The Iraq Campaign Medal (with three service stars); The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (with assault arrowhead) The Global War on Terrorism Medal; the Multi-National Force and Observers Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; and the Army Service Ribbon; the Army Superior Unit Award; The Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal (with oak leaf cluster); The Valorous Unit Award; the Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with oak leaf cluster); both the Expert Infantryman badge and Combat Infantryman Badges (2nd award); Master Parachutist Badge (with bronze combat jump star); Pathfinder Badge; Ranger Tab; the French Armed Forces Commando Badge; and the British and Royal Thailand Army Parachutist badges.

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