Carter Ham
Carter Ham | |
---|---|
United States Army Europe 1st Infantry Division | |
Battles/wars | Gulf War
First Libyan Civil War
|
Awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal (2) Defense Superior Service Medal (4) Legion of Merit (2) Bronze Star Medal |
Carter Frederick Ham[2] (born February 16, 1952) is a retired United States Army General Officer who served as the second commander of United States Africa Command.[3] As commander of Africa Command, he led Operation Odyssey Dawn, the initial United States role in the 2011 military intervention in Libya.
Ham served as the commanding general of the
Post-retirement, Ham served as president and
Early life and education
Ham was born on February 16, 1952, in Portland, Oregon. He attended high school at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He received the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth in 1965. Ham is a 1976 Distinguished Military Graduate of John Carroll University in the Cleveland suburb of University Heights, Ohio. During his military career, he achieved a Masters of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, in Newport, Rhode Island.[5] In 2012, his final full year as a U.S. Army officer, the Boy Scouts of America bestowed upon him the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.
Military career
Ham enlisted in the
Ham's early assignments included service at
From 1984 until 1989, Ham served as Assistant
Ham served a tour as an advisor with a Saudi Arabian National Guard Brigade in Riyadh as part of OPM-SANG then returned to Fort Benning, where he was the executive officer for the Infantry School. Ham commanded the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry in Vilseck, Germany including a six-month tour with the United Nations Protection Forces in the Republic of Macedonia. Following battalion command, he was the Senior Observer/Controller of the Timberwolf Team at the Combat Maneuver Training Center, Hohenfels, Germany.
Ham graduated from the Air War College in 1997 then returned to Germany, where he served as Operations Officer (G-3), then Chief of Staff, 1st Infantry Division. From 1999 to 2001 he commanded the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, then served as Deputy Director for Resources and Analysis (J-8) for
Returning from Iraq, Ham served as the deputy director for regional operations, J-3, on The Joint Staff. Ham assumed command of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, in August 2006 and served as the commanding general until July 2007, returning to The Joint Staff as director for operations, J-3. On August 28, 2008, Ham became the 34th Commanding General of the
The United States Senate, confirmed Ham's nomination to become the next Commanding General of United States Africa Command, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, in November 2010.[8] He assumed the post on March 8, 2011.
Ham was in command of United States forces enforcing the
Ham was in overall command of military forces when the September 11, 2012, terrorist attacks were launched on the American consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya. According to his June 2013 Congressional testimony, Ham chose not to deploy close air support during the attack, based on a lack of situational awareness about the circumstances on the ground. He denied the allegation by some Republicans that President Barack Obama or others in Obama's administration had ordered him to "stand down" a planned rescue mission that was ready to deploy.
After a 24-month tour of duty[11] as Commander Africa Command, Ham was succeeded by General David M. Rodriguez.[12] General Ham retired in June 2013.[7]
Views
Ham was quoted in an online Washington Post article by Greg Miller and
While speaking in December 2012 at Chatham House, Ham said while he would not characterize the U.S.-China relationship in Africa as adversarial, the two countries had taken different approaches to the continent. The United States focused on investment in human capital while China focused on infrastructure development.[14]
Post-retirement
In 2015, Ham was elected chairman of the National Commission on the Future of the Army, an eight-member panel tasked with making recommendations on the size, force structure and capabilities of the Army. The committee was disbanded soon after publishing its findings on January 28, 2016.[15][16]
Ham became an executive vice president of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) in February 2016. He succeeded Gordon R. Sullivan as President and CEO of AUSA on July 1, 2016.[17][18] He relinquished the presidency to Robert Brooks Brown on September 30, 2021.[19][20]
Dates of rank
Second lieutenant (O-1)* | First lieutenant (O-2)* | Captain (O-3)* | Major (O-4)* | Lieutenant colonel (O-5)* |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 2, 1976 | June 2, 1978 | August 1, 1980 | June 1, 1987 | September 1, 1992 |
Colonel (O-6)* | Brigadier general (O-7)* | Major general (O-8)* | Lieutenant general (O-9*) | General (O-10)* |
---|---|---|---|---|
April 1, 1998 | October 1, 2003 | February 1, 2005 | August 1, 2007 | August 1, 2008 |
Note:
* The O-1, etc. designates the
Major duty assignments
Training officer, II Reserve Officer Training Corps Region, 4th Basic Combat Training Brigade | 1976 |
Section leader, Combat Support Company, 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne Combat Team) | 1977–1978 |
S-1 (Personnel), 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
|
1978–1979 |
Commander, C Company, 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry, 8th Infantry Division | 1979–1981 |
Student, Armor Officer Advanced Course | 1981–1982 |
Lima area commander, Columbus District Recruiting Command | 1982–1984 |
Detachment commander, Forward Military Support Element, 1984 Summer Olympics | 1984 |
Assistant inspector general, National Training Center
|
1984–1986 |
S-3 (Air), 6th Battalion (Mechanized), 31st Infantry | 1986–1987 |
Executive officer, 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 52d Infantry | 1987–1989 |
Student, College of Naval Command and Staff, U.S. Naval War College | 1989–1990 |
Executive officer, United States Army Infantry School | 1990–1993 |
Commander, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division
|
1993–1995 |
Senior task force observer/controller, Operations Group, Combat Maneuver Training Center
|
1995–1996 |
Student, United States Air Force Air War College
|
1996–1997 |
Chief of staff, 1st Infantry Division | 1997–1999 |
Commander, Infantry Training Support Brigade, 29th Infantry Regiment | 1999–2001 |
Deputy director, J-8, United States Central Command | 2001–2003 |
Deputy commanding general for training and readiness, U.S. I Corps | 2003–2004 |
Commander, MNB North (Task Force Olympia) (Mosul, Iraq) | 2004–2005 |
Deputy director for regional operations, J-3, The Joint Staff | 2005–2006 |
Commander, 1st Infantry Division | 2006–2007 |
Director for operations (J-3), The Joint Staff
|
2007–2008 |
Commanding general, United States Army Europe and Seventh Army | 2008–2011 |
Commander, United States Africa Command | 2011–2013 |
Decorations and badges
Army Distinguished Service Medal (with one bronze oak leaf cluster) | |
Defense Superior Service Medal (with three oak leaf clusters) | |
Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster) | |
Bronze Star Medal | |
Meritorious Service Medal (with silver oak leaf cluster) | |
Joint Service Commendation Medal
| |
Army Commendation Medal (with two oak leaf clusters)
| |
Army Achievement Medal (with two oak leaf clusters)
| |
Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with two oak leaf clusters) | |
Meritorious Unit Commendation | |
Superior Unit Award (with oak leaf cluster) | |
National Defense Service Medal (with two bronze service stars) | |
Southwest Asia Service Medal (with service star) | |
Iraq Campaign Medal (with two service stars) | |
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal | |
Armed Forces Service Medal | |
Army Service Ribbon | |
award numeral 3)
| |
United Nations Medal | |
NATO Medal for the former Yugoslavia | |
Polish Army Medal in Gold[21] | |
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) | |
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) |
Combat Action Badge | |
Expert Infantryman Badge | |
Basic Parachutist Badge (United States) | |
Ranger Tab
| |
Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
| |
United States Africa Command Badge | |
I Corps Combat Service Identification Badge | |
Distinctive Unit Insignia
| |
4 Overseas Service Bars. |
References
- ^ "S.Hrg 111-896 Nominations before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Second Session, 111th Congress" (PDF). November 18, 2010.
- ^ "Commencement". John Carroll University. May 30, 1976. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
- ^ Seasoned combat leader takes over Africa Command Archived February 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "AUSA - Executive Leadership". Association of the United States Army. December 16, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ 2018 Air and Missile Hot Topic Speaker Bios
- ^ Brook, Tom Vanden (November 25, 2008). "General's story puts focus on stress stemming from combat". USA Today. Gannett Co., Inc. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ^ a b "General (Retired) Carter F. Ham". Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (RSP), United States Department of Defense. November 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
- ^ "General Carter F. Ham: Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe (biography)" (PDF). U.S. Army Europe. February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 6, 2012.
- ^ a b Bumiller, Elisabeth, and Kareem Fahim, "U.S.-Led Assault Nears Goal in Libya", The New York Times, March 21, 2011 (March 22, 2011 p. A1 NY ed.). Earlier web version titled: "Qaddafi Forces Hold Strategic Town as Allied Attacks Continue." Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ MacAskill, Ewen, and Nick Hopkins, “Libyan operation hampered by confusion and dispute: Lack of resolution over who will take control of military operation tests patience of US”, The Guardian 21 March 2011 18.59 GMT. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ Scarborough, Rowan (November 7, 2012). "Head of Africa Command not forced out". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012.
- ^ "General Carter F. Ham, Former Commander (March 2011 – April 2013)". U.S. Africa Command. July 24, 2013. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
- ^ Miller, Greg; Whitlock, Craig (October 1, 2012). "White House secret meetings examine al-Qaeda threat in North Africa". The Washington Post.
- ^ "General Ham at the Chatham House, London". Africom. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.
- ^ Sfc. Jacob Boyer (October 8, 2015). "National Commission on the Future of the Army visits Meade to discuss reserve component issue". U.S. Army Reserve. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ "National Commission on the Future of the Army (NCFA): Background and Issues for Congress". February 5, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ "RETIRED ARMY GENERAL CARTER F. HAM JOINS ASSOCIATION OF THE U.S. ARMY STAFF". Association of the United States Army. February 26, 2016.
- ^ "HAM WILL SUCCEED SULLIVAN AS AUSA PRESIDENT AND CEO". Association of the United States Army. April 1, 2016.
- ^ "BROWN TO SUCCEED HAM AS AUSA PRESIDENT AND CEO". Association of the United States Army. June 22, 2021.
- ^ "HAM RETIRES AFTER 5 YEARS AS AUSA PRESIDENT AND CEO". Association of the United States Army. October 1, 2021.
- ^ Generał Carter F. Ham w Polsce Archived June 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (photo) Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine – wp.mil.pl
External links
- "General Carter F. Ham, Commander, United States Africa Command". Archived from the original on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
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