Montgomery Meigs (born 1945)

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (born January 11, 1945) is a retired United States Army General. He is named for his great-great-great-granduncle, Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs, the father of Arlington National Cemetery, and for his father Lt. Col. Montgomery Meigs who was a World War 2 tank commander killed in action one month before Gen. Meigs was born.

Early life and education
He graduated from the Holderness School Holderness, New Hampshire in 1965 and went on to United States Military Academy at West Point, New York where he graduated in 1967. He served as a cavalry troop commander in the Vietnam War with the 9th Infantry Division. After study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a year at the Army's Command and General Staff College, he taught in the History Department at West Point and spent the 1981–82 academic year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Career


He received his PhD in history from Wisconsin in 1982 before reporting to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment as its executive officer. In 1984, General Meigs commanded the 1st Squadron, 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment. Following a stint at the National War College as an Army Fellow, he worked as a strategic planner on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. for three years. Returning to Germany, he assumed command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division on September 26, 1990 and commanded it through Desert Storm. He subsequently commanded the 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwoehr and served as Chief of Staff of V Corps and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the U.S. Army, Europe, and 7th Army. General Meigs commanded the 3rd Infantry Division from July 1995 until its reflagging as the 1st Infantry Division in February 1996. In October 1996, he deployed with the 1st Infantry Division to Bosnia, serving nine months in command of NATO's Multi-National Division (North) in Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard.

He commanded the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina from October 23, 1998 to October 1999, concurrent with his command of U.S. Army Europe/7th Army. After Meigs left active military service, he was a professor at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and served as a military consultant to The Pentagon.

He is currently Visiting Professor of Strategy and Military Operations at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. In December 2007, he left his previous position as the director of the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO).

Starting January 1, 2010, he is the president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a national security public interest group.

Awards and decorations
His awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star with V device, and the Purple Heart.


 * Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg Army Distinguished Service Medal
 * Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star with V Device
 * Purple Heart BAR.svg Purple Heart
 * Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2002