Stephen R. Lyons is a retired four-star

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 ...

in the

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 ...

who last served as the 13th commander of the

United States Transportation Command The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is located at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and was established in 1987. The USTRANSCO ...

from August 2018 to October 2021. He previously served as the commanding general of

United States Army Combined Arms Support Command The U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), a major subordinate command of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), is located at Fort Lee, Virginia. Under the CASCOM command is the Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE). Missi ...

Sustainment Center of Excellence The U.S. Army Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE) ronounced sko or sko-eis a subordinate organization under the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) at Fort Lee, Virginia. SCoE definition SCoE is way of describing CASCOM Headquarters ...

as well as the senior mission commander for

Fort Lee, Virginia Fort Lee, in Prince George County, Virginia, United States, is a United States Army post and headquarters of the United States Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM)/ Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE), the U.S. Army Quartermaster Scho ...

, from 2014 to 2015.

Early life

Lyons is a 1979 graduate of the

La Salle Institute La Salle Institute is an independent, private, Catholic college preparatory school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Troy, New York, United States serving boys and girls in grades six through twelve. It was establi ...

, an all-male private Catholic college preparatory school in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. He later earned an

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

from

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other pa ...

. In 1983, he graduated from the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

and commissioned through

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the Ordnance Corps.

Military education

Lyons received a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in

logistics management Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

from the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

in 1993 and a Master of Science in national resource strategy from the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

in 2005.

Military career

Lyons served as battalion executive officer for the Division Support Command and also as the executive officer and Division Materiel Management Center Chief in the 1st Armored Division in Germany. Lyons was the Plans Officer for the J-4

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

. His battalion command was with the 703rd Main Support Battalion and he later served as the G-4 of the 3rd Infantry Division. He commanded the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

Support Command and later commanded the

82nd Sustainment Brigade The 82nd Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade is a sustainment brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It provides logistical support to and is part of 82nd Airborne Division. Formed out of the Division Suppor ...

. He served as the executive officer to the Commander,

United States Army Materiel Command U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army. The Command's mission includes the management of installations, as well as maintenance and parts distribution. It was established on 8 May 1962 and wa ...

. He has served with the

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

(ISAF) as C/J-4. He was the Director, Logistics Operations, Readiness, Force Integration and Strategy at Headquarters, Department of the Army G-4. Lyons commanded of the

8th Theater Sustainment Command The 8th Theater Sustainment Command (8th TSC), as the senior Army logistics command in the United States Pacific Command's Area of Responsibility (AOR), provides command and control of all assigned and attached and units under its operational co ...

(TSC) at

Schofield Barracks, Hawaii 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, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the t ...

from 2012 to 2014. The 8th TSC is responsible for logistics and sustainment of the army in the Pacific. The command spans 9,000 miles and controls units providing supplies, maintenance, transport, engineer, personnel, and military police from Alaska to Korea. From August 22, 2014 to August 7, 2015, Lyons commanded the

Combined Arms Support Command The U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), a major subordinate command of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), is located at Fort Lee, Virginia. Under the CASCOM command is the Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE). Missio ...

Lyons deployed for two tours to Iraq (2003, 2006–2008) in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and later to Afghanistan (2009–2011) in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. He was involved in

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

Relief Operations in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

in 2005. He served in 1996 in Bosnia-Herzegovina during

Operation Joint Endeavor The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...

as part of the

Implementation Force The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background NATO ...

(IFOR) and deployed in 1989 for

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

in Panama. After serving as the Deputy Commanding General for

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

, Illinois, Lyons was assigned as the Director for Logistics (J4) on the Joint Staff. In April 2018, Lyons was nominated for promotion to

and assignment as commander of United States Transportation Command. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and took command of United States Transportation Command on August 24, 2018. Lyons is the first ever non-

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

officer to lead Transportation Command. His retirement ceremony was held on October 15, 2021, with the retirement effective November 30, 2021.

Post-military career

On May 27, 2022, the White House and the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

announced that Retired General Lyons, would be the new Port and Supply Chain Envoy to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, taking over the role from

John Porcari John Davis Porcari (born December 14, 1958) is an American government official who served as United States deputy secretary of transportation and is currently serving as the Port Envoy to the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. He was ...

. In this role, Lyons is responsible for working with ports, rail, trucking and other private companies across the transportation logistics supply chain to address bottlenecks, speed up the movement of goods, and help lower costs.

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Stephen R. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Rochester Institute of Technology alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army generals