George W Casey Jr

George W. Casey Jr. was born on July 22, 1948, in Sendai, Japan, during the Allied occupation. He followed in his father’s footsteps, General George W. Casey Sr., who also had a distinguished military career. George W. Casey Jr. earned a Bachelor of Science degree in international relations from Georgetown University in 1970 and later a Master of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Denver in 1980. He was commissioned through the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in 1970.

His military career saw him serve in the Mechanized Infantry, commanding the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, and serving as Assistant Division Commander of the 1st Armored Division in Germany. He deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of Operation Joint Endeavor from 1996 to 1997. From 2001 to 2003, he held senior staff positions at the Pentagon as Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) and Director of the Joint Staff. In 2003, he became the 30th Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, serving until 2004.

From June 2004 to February 2007, General Casey served as the senior coalition commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq. In this role, he focused on training Iraqi forces and transitioning security responsibilities to them. In January 2007, he was nominated and confirmed as the 36th Chief of Staff of the Army, a position he held until 2011. During his tenure, he oversaw the transformation of the Army, focusing on adaptability for modern challenges, increasing funding for soldier and family programs, and improving leadership training. He retired in April 2011 and now serves as a Distinguished Senior Lecturer of Leadership at Cornell University and as the Rice Family Professor of Practice at the Korbel School, University of Denver. He also lectures on leadership to various organizations including Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, the National Australian Bank, Amazon, TDAmeritrade, Pentagon Federal Credit Union and General Electric.