Keith Dayton

Lieutenant General Keith W. Dayton, (b. 1949) United States Army, is the director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Dayton completed his term as the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel-Palestinian Authority in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2010. He has also served as the Director of the Iraq Survey Group, as a senior member of the Joint Staff, and as U.S. Defense Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia.

Career Summary
After graduating from the College of William & Mary in 1970, Lt. Gen. Dayton was immediately commissioned as an artillery officer through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Prior to his current assignment, he spent 37 years in a variety of command and staff assignments, most recently serving as the director of the Iraq Survey Group during Operation Iraqi Freedom and as Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3, United States Army, before his current assignment as U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Other key assignments include deputy director for Politico-Military Affairs, Joint Staff; United States Defense Attaché, Moscow, Russia; senior Army fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations, New York; commander, Division Artillery, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Germany; and commander, 4th Battalion, 29th Field Artillery; 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized), Germany.

He has written many technical articles over the course of his career, as well as was one of the co-authors of The Future of NATO: Facing an Unreliable Enemy in an Uncertain Environment, a study on the future of NATO published in 1991.

Lt. Gen. Dayton served five years as the United States Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. His leadership of the USSC team included overseeing the training of Palestinian Authority forces. He left Israel in October 2010 and retired from the military in December 2010.

Dates of Rank

 * Second Lieutenant (3 June 1970)
 * First Lieutenant (3 June 1971)
 * Captain (3 June 1974)
 * Major (6 May 1981)
 * Lieutenant Colonel (1 September 1987)
 * Colonel (1 June 1992)
 * Brigadier General (1 June 1998)
 * Major General (1 October 2001)
 * Lieutenant General (10 December 2005)

Medals & Decorations

 * Defense Distinguished Service ribbon.svg Defense Distinguished Service Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters
 * Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg Army Distinguished Service Medal
 * US Defense Superior Service Medal ribbon.svg Defense Superior Service Medal
 * Legion of Merit ribbon.svg Legion of Merit with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster
 * Meritorious Service ribbon.svg Meritorious Service Medal
 * Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg Army Commendation Medal
 * Basic Parachutist Badge
 * Ranger Tab
 * Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
 * Army Staff Identification Badge

Formal Education

 * College of William & Mary - B.S. - History (1970)
 * Cambridge University - M.A. - History
 * University of Southern California - M.A. - International Relations

Military Education

 * Field Artillery Officer Basic Course - Ft. Sill, Oklahoma
 * Infantry Officer Advanced Course - Ft. Benning, Georgia (June 1977 - December 1977)
 * U.S. Army Command & General Staff College - Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas (August 1981 - June 1982)
 * Senior Service College Fellowship - Harvard University - Cambridge, Massachusetts (August 1989 - June 1990)
 * Foreign area officer Course - Ft. Bragg, North Carolina (January 1978 - June 1978)
 * Basic Russian Language Course - Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, California (June 1978 - June 1979)
 * Soviet Union Foreign Area Officer Overseas Training Program - U.S. Army Russian Institute, Germany (June 1979 - July 1981)