George Alfred Joulwan (born November 16, 1939,

Pottsville, Pennsylvania Pottsville is the county seat of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,346 at the 2020 census, and is the principal city of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city lies along the west bank of th ...

) 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 for 36 years. He finished his military career as the Commander-in-Chief of the

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russi ...

and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR) in 1997. As the Supreme Allied Commander, he conducted over 20 operations in the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. When the United States sent forces into Bosnia in the 1990s, General Joulwan played the leading role in troop deployment, earning praise by President Clinton upon Joulwan's retirement. As SACEUR, General Joulwan created a strategic policy for the United States military engagement in Africa, which was the first time in U.S. history that such a policy had been crafted.

Military career

West Point

George Joulwan earned his college degree at 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 ...

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 ...

. At West Point, he played football and basketball, earning two varsity letters as a football lineman. Later in his career, General Joulwan earned a master's degree from Loyola University (Chicago) in political science.

Vietnam

General Joulwan served from June 1966 to November 1967 and from June 1971 to January 1972 in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. He attended the Army War College, and served on the Staff and Faculty until 1979. He commanded the 2nd Brigade,

3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) The 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) (nicknamed Rock of the Marne) is a combined arms division of the United States Army based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. It is a direct subordinate unit of the XVIII Airborne Corps and U.S. Army Forces Command. Its cu ...

, from June 1979 to September 1981, when he became Chief of Staff, 3rd Infantry Division.

White House

Joulwan served as special assistant to General

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these ...

while still a Major within the U.S. Army, when Haig was serving as White House Chief of Staff from May 4, 1973 – September 21, 1974.

National leadership

He served in various functions at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

from 1982 until June 1986, when he became the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, United States Army Europe and U.S. Seventh Army, Germany. In March 1988 he was given command of the 3rd Armored Division and in 1989 he became Commanding General,

U.S. V Corps V Corps (), formerly known as the Fifth Corps, is a regular corps of the United States Army at Fort Knox. It was previously active during World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Kosovo War, and the War on Terrorism. Shoulder sleeve ins ...

. From November 1990 until October 1993 he was Commander in Chief of

United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in 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 contingency planning, o ...

International leadership

He served as the

Supreme Allied Commander, Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

(SACEUR) from 1993 to 1997, when he was succeeded by General

Wesley Clark Wesley Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired United States Army officer. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he obtained a degree ...

. He retired from command after serving in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Post-military career

General Joulwan sits on the board of directors of

Emergent BioSolutions Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is an American multinational specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It develops vaccines and antibody therapeutics for infectious diseases and opioid overdoses, and it provides m ...

, a biotechnology company, after a referral to the post by Allen Shofe, an executive at Emergent. His other post-military positions have included: * President of Team One, a consulting firm * Senior Advisor of Global USA Inc, a government relations and consulting firm * Board member for

General Dynamics Corporation General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the U ...

* Professor at the

United States Military Academy 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 ...

* Member of the Board of Trustees for the United States Military Academy He has also served as a military analyst for Fox News Channel. Notably, he appeared on ''

Fox News Sunday ''Fox News Sunday'' is a Sunday morning talk show that has aired on the broadcast Fox network since 1996, as a presentation of Fox News Channel. It is the only regularly scheduled Fox News program carried on the main Fox broadcast network. Ho ...

'' a few weeks after September 11, 2001, with White House Chief of Staff

Andrew Card Andrew Hill Card Jr. (born May 10, 1947) is an American politician and academic administrator who was White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, as well as head of Bush's White House Iraq Group. Card served as ...

and Senate Armed Forces chairman Carl Levin to discuss his experience in war planning and the American military's planning with regards to Afghanistan.

Citizenship and philanthropy

General Joulwan has also served the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as the Chair Emeritus of the Gourmet Gala Committee. A public park in

was named in his honor.

Personal life

General Joulwan had a twin brother, James Joseph Joulwan, who died in 2013. General Joulwan is of Lebanese heritage. He is married and has eight grandchildren. George comes from a distinguished military family. His father fought with the US Navy in WWI, and his cousin fought with the US ARMY in WWII and was captured twice.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Biography
at

George Joulwan
historical news archives at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
Profile
at

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

* Th
General George Joulwan East Side Park
in

"The New NATO: Building Stability, Democracy, and Peace Through Cooperation"
article by General Joulwan at th
Center for Strategic Decision Research
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joulwan, George Atlantic Council 1939 births Living people People from Pottsville, Pennsylvania American people of Lebanese descent United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army generals General Dynamics Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany NATO Supreme Allied Commanders Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Order of the White Lion United States Army War College alumni Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Military personnel from Pennsylvania