Lynn A. Collyar

Major General Lynn A. Collyar is a retired general officer in the United States Army and served as the Commanding General, U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command between from 2012 to 2014. Prior to this assignment, he served as the 35th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland and Fort Lee, Virginia.

Military education
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, he was commissioned in the Ordnance Corps upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1979. His military schools include, Ordnance Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He also holds a Master's degree in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

Military career
Collyar was initially assigned to the 619th Ordnance Company, 72nd Ordnance Battalion, 59th Ordnance Brigade at Kriegsfeld, Germany. His positions included platoon leader, shop and tech supply officer, operations officer, and executive officer. In 1983, he was assigned as intelligence and operations officer with the 68th Transportation Battalion, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), followed by command of the 50th Ordnance Company (Special Ammo), Fort Carson, Colorado.

In October 1986, he returned to Europe to serve as division ammunition officer, Division Support Command support operations officer, and assistant division materiel management officer with the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. Following Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, he was assigned to the Office of Resource Management for the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics at the Pentagon.

In June 1993, he joined the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, where he served as the 725th Main Support Battalion executive officer, Division G4 Plans and Operations Officer, and then Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. He served as the deputy logistics officer, Joint Task Force 180, during the Division's deployment to Haiti as part of OPERATION RESTORE DEMOCRACY.

Collyar was re-assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in July 1996. He served as executive officer and deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division Support Command. In July 1997, he assumed command of the 189th Corps Support Battalion, 1st Corps Support Command, XVIII Airborne Corps. During his tenure, the battalion deployed to Central America where he served as Joint Logistics Task Force Commander in support of Operation STRONG SUPPORT. In July 1999, he returned to the Resource Management Office, Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, at the Pentagon. He spent the following year at the National Defense University attending the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He returned to the Pentagon in June 2001 as Chief, Initiatives Group, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8.

Collyar took command of the 29th Area Support Group, 21st Theater Support Command in July 2002. While in command, elements of the unit deployed to various locations throughout European and Central Command areas of operation in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. In July 2004, he returned to the Pentagon as the Chief, Focused Logistics Division, Force Development, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G-8. In August 2006, he assumed command of the Defense Distribution Center in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, a primary level field activity of the Defense Logistics Agency.

Collyar became the 35th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the Ordnance Center and Schools at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland in 2008. During his tenure, he led the relocation and consolidation of the Ordnance Branch from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland and Redstone Arsenal, Alabama to its new home at Fort Lee, Virginia. In 2009, he transferred the flag of the Chief of Ordnance to Fort Lee, Virginia.

In June 2010, he was assigned as the Director of Logistics Operations for the Defense Logistics Agency. On June 1, 2012, he assumed command of the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. He retired in September 2014.

Awards and decorations
His personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with silver oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the Army Parachutist Badge.