Michael Linnington (born 1958,

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of ...

) is the CEO of

Wounded Warrior Project Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans of the military actions following September 11, 2001. It operates as a nonprofit ...

(WWP) and a retired United States Army Lieutenant General. He has more than 35 years of military experience and was the first permanent Director of the

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense whose mission is to recover American military personnel listed as prisoners of war (POW) or missing in action (MIA) from designated past conflicts, ...

(DPAA). Throughout his 35-year military career, Linnington has served as a Military Deputy to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was the Commanding General of the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region, the Deputy Commanding General at Fort Benning, GA, Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Policy for the

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

Joint Command in Kabul, Afghanistan. Linnington graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1980 and holds master’s degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the National War College.

Early life and education

Linnington was born in

The United States Army , Military District of Washington
/ref> and grew up in the Villas section of the

Lower Township, New Jersey Lower Township is a township in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which covers the entire county for statistical purposes. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's ...

. He grew up with five brothers and went to military high school and military college. He attended the former St. Raymond's Roman Catholic School while working in a local restaurant and nearby Citgo gas station. He then graduated from

Valley Forge Military Academy Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional military school format with army traditions. Though military in ...

in 1976. In 1980, he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he met his wife Brenda, who also graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1981. He has master's degrees in Applied Mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and in National Security Strategy from the National War College.

Military career

Michael Linnington is a military veteran with a 35-year career in the

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 ...

. Linnington is airborne, air assault, and ranger qualified. Throughout his career, he held a variety of command and staff positions in various locations around the world. He was Deputy Commanding General in command of 75,000 troops at

Fort Benning, Georgia 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 ...

from 2007-2008. In 2007, he was promoted to

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

and began a new role as commandant of Cadets at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in May 2008. In 2009, Linnington testified to a U.S. Senate subcommittee on military suicides and prevention efforts at West Point. Linnington fought in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, he commanded the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, also known as the Rakkasans. Linnington led 1,500 vehicles in his convoy, and about 5,000 troops in the brigade. In 2009, he returned to Kabul, Afghanistan as Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Policy for the

Joint Command. Linnington fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and served directly under Gen.

David H. Petraeus David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. Linnington served as Commanding General of the

Military District of Washington The United States Army Military District of Washington (MDW) is one of nineteen major commands of the United States Army. Its headquarters are located at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. The missions of the units in the Military Distri ...

/ Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region from 2011-2013. Defense

During his time as Commanding General, Linnington made a number of appearances in Washington, D.C. He walked with US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to the

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-prof ...

to commemorate

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than d ...

on November 11, 2011. On November 12, 2011, Linnington hosted the ceremony for the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln's Grand Review at

Fort McNair Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of Greenleaf Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To the peninsula's west is the Washington Chan ...

Parade Field, Washington, DC. In 2013, Linnington headed the task force for President Obama's second inauguration. Linnington served as Military Deputy to the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) from 2013 to 2015.

Awards

* Expert Infantryman's Badge * Combat Infantryman's Badge * Bronze Star Medal * Legion of Merit * Distinguished Service Medal

Post-military career

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)

In 2014, two organizations, the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office and the

Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (often referred to as JPAC) was a joint task force within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) whose mission was to account for Americans who are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), or Missing in Act ...

were merged into the

(DPAA). Its mission was to account for missing personnel to their families and provide accurate and timely details of their story. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Michael S. Linnington was its first permanent director. When Linnington took over, his priorities were to continue the mission during reorganization without disrupting field operations, finish reorganization of conflict accounting, streamline and modernize operations and communications, improve communications to stakeholders, and expand partnerships. During his time as director, the agency nearly doubled identification of missing service members.

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)

On July 18, 2016, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Michael S. Linnington was appointed Chief Executive Officer of

, a nonprofit veteran service organization that provides programs for veterans injured in service on or after 9/11. He told a reporter he felt compelled to lead WWP after he observed the organization began suffering due to a media scandal in 2016. The allegations of the scandal were later disproved by several audits and investigations held by third parties, including the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. Media coverage resulted in a severe drop in donations and revenue. As a result, Linnington's first actions were focused on reducing costs while maximizing impact from veteran programs, including a pay cut from the previous WWP CEO salary. On March 9, 2017, Linnington testified to Congress about veteran healthcare needs highlighting four major areas: # Collaboration between government and nonprofits # Improving care for veterans with

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic br ...

(TBI) # Improving health insurance for severely injured veterans # Extending

In Vitro Fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) f ...

benefits provided by the VA On February 5, 2019, Linnington announced to

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

owned First Coast News that WWP has "turned the corner" and is doing more with less resources. "We are serving more warriors today than ever before in impactful ways that change their lives." In April 2022, Linnington lobbied for H.R.3967 - Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, a bill to provide healthcare and resources to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during military service. In March 2023, Linnington was named the Grand Marshal of the New York Veterans Day Parade. As the Grand Marshal, Linnington will lead over 20,000 people up Fifth Avenue on November 11, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linnington, Michael 1958 births Living people Lieutenant generals People from Lower Township, New Jersey Valley Forge Military Academy and College alumni