J. H. Binford Peay III

James Henry Binford "Binnie" Peay III (born May 10, 1940) is a retired four-star general of the United States Army. He served as the 14th superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute from 2003-2020,^[1] and as chairman of the Allied Defense Group from 2001-03. He has also served on various corporate and nonprofit boards.

Early life

Peay attained the rank of

After serving with the Army Military Personnel Center in Washington, D.C., as a Field Artillery branch assignments officer, Peay was sent to Hawaii in 1975 to command the 2d Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Following completion of the Army War College, he returned to Washington, D.C., as Senior Aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and later as Chief of the Army Initiatives Group in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operation and Plans. He then moved to Fort Lewis, Washington, to serve as the I Corps' Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3/Director of Plans and Training, and later became the Division Artillery (DIVARTY) Commander, of the 9th Infantry Division. In 1985, he returned to Washington, D.C., as Executive to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He first became a "Screaming Eagle" in July 1987, when he became the Assistant Division Commander (Operations), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Beginning in July 1988, he served a one-year assignment as Deputy Commandant, Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

On August 3, 1989, Peay returned to Fort Campbell to assume command of the 101st Airborne Division and led the division through Operations

, Florida, from August 5, 1994 until August 13, 1997.

Peay's awards and decorations include the

Army General Staff Identification Badge

.

Career after retirement

After retirement from the Army, Peay became a director at United Defense Industries (UDI) in 1997. In 2005 BAE Systems purchased UDI and appointed Peay to the board of its North American subsidiary, BAE Systems Inc. He joined Allied Research Corporation in March 2000 as member of its board of directors. In January 2001, he was made chairman, president and CEO. In 2003, the company was renamed Allied Defense Group.

Virginia Military Institute

Peay resigned in June 2003 to assume the position of Superintendent of his alma mater, Virginia Military Institute (VMI). He was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa as an alumnus at VMI in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Peay resigned as Superintendent of VMI on 26 October 2020 after being told that state leaders had lost confidence in his leadership amid claims of ongoing structural racism at VMI. He left the institute on 28 October 2020.^[6]

In 2022, Peay was honored by VMI with the New Market Medal, VMI’s highest honor.^[7]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to J. H. Binford Peay III.

Air Assault in the Gulf: An Interview with M.G. J.H. Binford Peay. United States Army Center of Military History.

• VMI Profile^{[dead link]}
• Allied Defense Group web site Archived July 29, 2005, at the Wayback Machine

Military offices
Preceded by Dennis Reimer	Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1993–1994	Succeeded by John H. Tilelli, Jr.
Preceded by Joseph P. Hoar	Commander-in-Chief of United States Central Command 1994–1997	Succeeded by Anthony Zinni
Academic offices
Preceded by Josiah Bunting III	Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute 2003–2020	Succeeded by Cedric T. Wins