General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

James Thomas Hill (born October 8, 1946) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

four-star general who served as commander of

United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida, Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingen ...

from 2002 to 2004. Hill also served as the Commanding General,

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

and Fort Lewis.

Military career

Hill is from

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, and was commissioned into the Infantry following graduation from Trinity University in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, in 1968. A graduate of 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

National War College The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National War Colle ...

, he also holds a master's degree in Personnel Management from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

. After completion of the Infantry Officers Basic,

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, and Airborne Courses, and an initial assignment at

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

, Texas, Hill served with the 2–502nd Infantry, part of the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

(Airmobile), in the Republic of Vietnam as a rifle platoon leader, recon platoon leader, company executive officer, and company commander. Hill's other key assignments include Company Commander, 3d Ranger Company,

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

and Commander, Company A, 2d Squadron, 7th Cavalry, Fort Hood; Battalion Operations Officer and Battalion Commander, 1–35th Infantry,

Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Oahu, Hawaii, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adj ...

; Staff Officer, Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, HQDA; Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Staff of the Army, and Special Project Officer for the Chief of Staff of the Army. General Hill commanded the "Always First" Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from August 1989 through July 1991, to include service in Southwest Asia during

Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. General Hill served as Chief of Staff of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from August 1991 through October 1992. General Hill then served as the Assistant Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs on the Joint Staff from October 1992 to July 1994. In July 1994, he assumed duties as the Assistant Division Commander (Support), 25th Infantry Division (Light) to include service in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

as the Deputy Commanding General, Multinational Force and Deputy Commander, United States Forces, Haiti, United Nations Mission, Haiti. He served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations,

United States Army Forces Command United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest United States Army command. It provides expeditionary, regionally engaged, campaign-capable land forces to combatant commanders. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, FORSCOM con ...

, from June 1995 to June 1997. He became Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division (Light) in June 1997, and served in that position until he was named Commanding General, I Corps and Fort Lewis, in September 1999. From 2002 until his retirement, Hill was the Commanding General of the United States Southern Command OUTHCOM overseeing all US military forces in Central and South America. In that role he was responsible for requesting maximally permissive "enhanced interrogation" policies that led to torture in the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

Awards and decorations

Post-military

Hill joined the Board of Trustees for Fraunhofer USA, a bio-technology firm, in 2006.Retired four-star General joins Fraunhofer board
/ref> He is also the founder of the J.T. Hill Group, a consulting firm in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

.The J.T. Hill Group bio
/ref> In addition, he an advisor to and on the board of The Protective Group, a Texas-based security firm, and a consultant to

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

and the Center for Molecular Biology and Enterprise Technology Partners. He remains involved in Latin American affairs, writing a regular column for the Colombian magazine PODER, and serving on the board of United for Colombia, a non-profit organization for providing medical treatment to landmine victims in Colombia. In Coral Gables he serves on the city's Emergency Management Committee, and he is a national advisor to The Military Child Education Coalition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, James T. 1946 births Living people United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the Gulf War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Trinity University (Texas) alumni Central Michigan University alumni People from El Paso, Texas United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Military personnel from Dayton, Ohio National War College alumni Military personnel from Texas