Gordon Russell Sullivan (born September 25, 1937) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

, who served as the 32nd Chief of Staff of the Army and as a member of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

. Sullivan also served as acting Secretary of the Army. After retiring from the Army, Sullivan served as the president and chief executive of the Association of the United States Army for 18 years, from 1998 through June 30, 2016. He also served as the chairman of the board of trustees of Norwich University until 2016. He currently serves as chairman of the boards of The Army Historical Foundation and the Marshall Legacy Institute.

Early life and education

Sullivan was born September 25, 1937, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and grew up in nearby Quincy. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Armor and awarded a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from Norwich University in 1959. Sullivan holds a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, m ...

. His professional military education includes the

United States Army Armor School The United States Army Armor School (formerly Armored Force School) is a training school located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Its primary focus is the training of United States Army soldiers, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers, and commi ...

Basic and Advanced Courses, the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

, and the Army War College.

Military career

During his army career, Sullivan served as: Assistant Commandant,

at Fort Knox, Kentucky from November 1983 to July 1985; Deputy Commandant,

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...

, Kansas from March 1987 to June 1988; Commanding General,

1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) The 1st Infantry Division is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was off ...

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

, Kansas from June 1988 to July 1989; Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans; and

Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army The vice chief of staff of the Army (VCSA) is the principal deputy to the chief of staff of the Army, and is the second-highest-ranking officer on active duty in the Department of the Army. The vice chief of staff generally handles the day-to-d ...

from 1990 to 1991. His overseas assignments included four tours in Europe, two in Vietnam and one in Korea. Sullivan culminated his service in uniform as the 32nd

Chief of Staff of the United States Army The chief of staff of the Army (CSA) is a statutory position in the United States Army held by a general officer. As the highest-ranking officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, the chief is the principal military advisor and ...

—the senior general officer in the army—and a member of the

. As the Chief of Staff of the Army, Sullivan created the vision and led the team that transitioned the army from its Cold War posture. In August 1993, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

assigned the duties and responsibility of acting Secretary of the Army to Sullivan, who continued to serve as chief of staff. Sullivan retired from the United States Army on July 31, 1995 after more than 36 years of active service. The military march " Architect of Victory" was dedicated to him on the occasion of his retirement.

Post-army career and later life

Sullivan is the co-author, with Michael V. Harper, of ''Hope Is Not a Method'' (Random House, 1996), which chronicles the enormous challenges encountered in transforming the post-Cold War army through the lens of proven leadership principles and a commitment to shared values. Sullivan served as the chairman of the board of trustees of Norwich University, the Army Historical Foundation, and the Marshall Legacy Institute, as well as a member of the MITRE Army Advisory Board, the

MIT Lincoln Laboratory The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense federally funded research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and dev ...

Advisory Board, and a Life Trustee of the

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it ...

. He was also the President and Chief Executive Officer of the

Association of the United States Army The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is a private, non-profit organization that serves as the professional association of the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 121 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not ju ...

, headquartered in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

from February 1998 through June 2016. Sullivan is an Advisory Board Member of Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports the safety and success of Americans serving abroad and the local people and partners they seek to help. In recognition of his military career and his work with AUSA, Sullivan was awarded the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award by the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in 2003, and the AUSA General George Catlett Marshall Medal, the Association's highest honor, in October 2016."Sullivan Receives Marshall Award at AUSA 2016"
AUSA News, October 6, 2016.

Personal life

He married Lori Boyle Sullivan in November 2017. He lives in

Falmouth, MA Falmouth ( ) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,517 at the 2020 census, making Falmouth the second-largest municipality on Cape Cod after Barnstable. The terminal for the Steamship Authority ferri ...

. He has three children and three grandchildren. He is an avid reader and historian.He was married to Miriam Gay Loftus until her passing.

Awards and decorations

Medals and ribbons

In fiction

Sullivan appears in the

Lee Child James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher'' novel series. The books follow the adventures of a former America ...

book ''The Enemy,'' set in January 1990, in which protagonist

Jack Reacher Jack Reacher is the protagonist of a series of crime thriller novels by British author Lee Child. In the stories, Jack Reacher was a major in the US Army's military police. Having left the Army at age 36, Reacher roams the United States, tak ...

believes that the Army Chief of Staff is at the heart of a conspiracy that has left three people dead. Reacher goes to the Pentagon to confront the chief of staff. It is revealed that the Chief of Staff has actually been helping Reacher's investigation into the murders by making key personnel changes in Army installations in the United States and elsewhere. Sullivan is mentioned by title only, but the Chief of Staff is described in the books as having come up in the Army from the Armored Division. The Chief of Staff also discusses the challenges posed by the end of the Cold War and the resulting restructuring of the Army.

References

External links

* , NU webpage.
TESTIMONY BEFORE THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Gordon 1937 births Living people People from Boston United States Army Chiefs of Staff Norwich University alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army Vice Chiefs of Staff United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite American chief operating officers Recipients of the Medal of Military Merit (Uruguay) Military personnel from Massachusetts