Montgomery Meigs (born 1945)
Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (born January 11, 1945) is a retired United States Army General. He is named for his great-great-great-granduncle, Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, the father of Arlington National Cemetery, and for his father Lt. Col. Montgomery Meigs who was a World War 2 tank commander killed in action one month before Gen. Meigs was born.
Montgomery Cunningham Meigs | |
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![]() General Montgomery Cunningham Meigs as 31st Commander of United States Army Europe (c. 2002) | |
Born | Annapolis, Maryland | January 11, 1945
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() |
Years of service | 1967–2002 |
Rank | ![]() |
Commands held | 7th Army 1st Armored Division 3rd Infantry Division 1st Infantry Division |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War Persian Gulf War
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Awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal Bronze Star Purple Heart |
Relations | Montgomery C. Meigs (Civil War general) Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (1919–1944) World War II tank commander |
Other work | Professor at Syracuse University and Georgetown University, CEO of Business Executives for National Security |
Early life and education
He graduated from the Holderness School Holderness, New Hampshire in 1965 and went on to United States Military Academy at West Point, New York where he graduated in 1967. He served as a cavalry troop commander in the Vietnam War with the 9th Infantry Division. After study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a year at the Army's Command and General Staff College, he taught in the History Department at West Point and spent the 1981–82 academic year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Career
![](../I/m/Montgomery_Meigs_Bosnia.jpg)
He received his PhD in history from Wisconsin in 1982 before reporting to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment as its executive officer. In 1984, General Meigs commanded the 1st Squadron, 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment. Following a stint at the National War College as an Army Fellow, he worked as a strategic planner on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. for three years. Returning to Germany, he assumed command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division on September 26, 1990 and commanded it through Desert Storm. He subsequently commanded the 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwoehr and served as Chief of Staff of V Corps and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the U.S. Army, Europe, and 7th Army. General Meigs commanded the 3rd Infantry Division from July 1995 until its reflagging as the 1st Infantry Division in February 1996. In October 1996, he deployed with the 1st Infantry Division to Bosnia, serving nine months in command of NATO's Multi-National Division (North) in Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard.
He commanded the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina from October 23, 1998 to October 1999, concurrent with his command of U.S. Army Europe/7th Army. After Meigs left active military service, he was a professor at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and served as a military consultant to The Pentagon. In 2008 he returned to NBC News as a military consultant.[1][2]
In December 2007, he left his previous position as the director of the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).[1] He is currently Visiting Professor of Strategy and Military Operations at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and holds positions at Mitre Corporation,[2] International Executive Service Corps, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.[3]
From January 1, 2010 to July 25, 2013, he served as president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a nonprofit composed of senior business executives who volunteer to help address national security challenges.
Awards and decorations
His awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star with V device, and the Purple Heart.
Army Distinguished Service Medal Bronze Star with V Device Purple Heart Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2002
Author
- Meigs, Montgomery C. (1990). Slide Rules and Submarines: American Scientists and Subsurface Warfare in World War II. National Defense University Press. p. 269.
- University Press of the Pacific (2002, ISBN 978-0-89875-905-1)
References
- "General Montgomery C. Meigs Joins Faculty". Office of Communications. Georgetown University. January 18, 2008. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008.
- "Gen. Montgomery Meigs - Meet the faces of MSNBC". NBC News. MSNBC. June 30, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
- "Meigs, Montgomery". LBJ School of Public Affairs. The University of Texas at Austin. 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
External links
- Biography from nato.int
- Official U.S. Army bio
- Official Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization web site
- Meigs Family papers at Hagley Museum and Library The collection contains the personal papers of many of his predecessors.
- Appearances on C-SPAN
Military offices | ||
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Preceded by Leonard D. Holder, Jr. |
Commandants of the United States Army Command and General Staff College August 7, 1997 – October 22, 1998 |
Succeeded by William M. Steele |
Preceded by Eric K. Shinseki |
Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe November 10, 1998 to December 3, 2002 |
Succeeded by Burwell B. Bell III |