John W. Foss

General John William Foss is a retired United States Army four-star general, and former commander of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Military career
Foss was born in Hutchinson, Minnesota on February 13, 1933. He began his military career when he enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard's 136th Infantry Regiment in April, 1950. He transferred to active duty as an infantryman in 1951, and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy, and was commissioned in the infantry in 1956.

He has held a variety of command and staff positions. His overseas tours include four in Europe and four in Asia. Foss served as a platoon leader in the 504th and 187th Infantry Regiments in both Germany and Lebanon and commanded a rifle company in the 3rd Battalion, 32nd Infantry in Korea. He served two combat tours in Vietnam with the 4th Infantry Division as the Operations Officer, 2nd Brigade and as the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry.

His commands include the 3d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; the United States Army Infantry School and Fort Benning; the 82nd Airborne Division; the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg; and Commanding General, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).

He has also served as an instructor at the United States Military Academy; the first exchange instructor at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; the G-3 of III Corps; Chief of the Joint Military Advisory Group, Manila, Philippines; Commanding General, Seventh Army Training Command in Germany; the U.S. Army Chief of Infantry; and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Department of the Army.

In addition to a Bachelor of Science degree, he holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg State College. His awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star with Oak Leaf Clusters, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and many other U.S. and allied awards. He has also earned the Ranger Tab, Expert Infantryman Badge, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge with over 300 jumps, and the Army Staff Identification and Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badges. He has been awarded parachute badges from the United Kingdom, Philippines, Honduras, and Egypt. Foss was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in 1995.


 * Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg Army Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
 * Air Force Distinguished Service ribbon.svg Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
 * SilverStar.gif Silver Star with one oak leaf cluster
 * US Defense Superior Service Medal ribbon.svg Defense Superior Service Medal
 * Legion of Merit ribbon.svg Legion of Merit  with one oak leaf cluster
 * Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon.svg Distinguished Flying Cross

Post military
He retired from the Army on September 1, 1991 and lives in Williamsburg, Virginia. In retirement Foss has been Chairman of the Commission on the U.S. Army Reserve Command, served as a consultant to various defense industries, been on the Board of Advisors to both the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and the National Infantry Foundation, Senior Mentor to Senior Joint Warfighting Course, Armed Forces Staff College and is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of Land Warfare of the Association of the United States Army.In September 2009, Foss was awarded the Doughboy Award by the National Infantry Association.

Personal
Currently he resides with his wife, Gloria; and cat (Ginger). He has three grown children: John W. Foss, Jr., (wife Theresa), Houston, TX currently flying MEDEVAC in Afghanistan with the Texas National Guard; Kevin M. Foss (wife Cristina), Portsmouth, VA, currently teaching Biology, Chemistry and Marine Science at Chesapeake Bay Academy, Virginia Beach, VA and Julia Dunn (husband Jimmy) of Virginia Beach, VA. Through Julia the Foss' have three grandchildren: Bryana, Kyla and Brady.