Stephen J. Townsend

He was transferred to the 7th Infantry Division (Light) at Fort Ord as the 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry S3.

Townsend was born in Scheinfeld, Bavaria, West Germany, in 1959 to a German art student mother and a Pashtun Afghan medical student father, the result of a love affair.

He was adopted soon after birth by an American military family in Germany.

His adoptive father, James Townsend, was a staff sergeant in an armored unit.

He became commander of the battalion's Company A. After being transferred to Fort Benning, Townsend became S3 (Air) and assistant S3 at 75th Ranger Regiment headquarters.

He participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama and later became commander of Company C, 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

Townsend graduated from the Command and General Staff College and returned to Fort Benning, where he was Senior Liaison Office for the 75th Ranger Regiment headquarters and the S3 of the 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

He participated in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.

Townsend was transferred to United States Pacific Command in Hawaii as J-5 Action Officer.

He later became Special Assistant to the Combatant Commander.

Townsend grew up in Griffin, Georgia, graduating from Griffin High School in 1978.

Townsend has served with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 7th Infantry Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 78th Division (Training Support), and the 10th Mountain Division.

He fought in Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Just Cause, and Operation Uphold Democracy.

Townsend graduated from North Georgia College in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

He was commissioned into the Infantry from the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps thereafter.

Townsend also earned a Master of Military Arts and Sciences (MMAS) degree at the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and a Master of Strategic Studies (MSS) degree at the Army War College.

After receiving his commission as a second lieutenant in 1982, Townsend served as platoon leader, executive officer and assistant plans, operations, and training officer (assistant S3) in 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 505th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division.

He participated in Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada.

Townsend was sent to Fort Drum in New York, becoming S3 of the 2d Brigade, 78th Division (Training Support) in 1999.

In 2000, he became commander of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry in the 10th Mountain Division (Light).

Townsend became commander of Task Force Polar Bear, deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2002.

Townsend graduated from the United States Army War College and became Division G3 of the 10th Mountain Division (Light) in 2003.

From 2004, he was Director of Operations, C/J3 for Combined Joint Task Force 180 during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Townsend was appointed commander of the 3d Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division at Fort Lewis.

He led Task Force Arrowhead during the Iraq War.

Townsend led the brigade in the Battle of Baqubah in June 2007.

Townsend became executive officer for the United States Central Command commander at Tampa, Florida.

He then became senior commander at Fort Campbell and then was Deputy Commanding General (Operations) for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from 2009.

Townsend served in the same position for Combined Joint Task Force 101 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

He became Director of the Pakistan/Afghanistan Coordination Cell at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

With the 10th Mountain Division, he served in the War in Afghanistan, leading a task force in Operation Anaconda.

Townsend commanded the 3d Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division leading it in the Battle of Baqubah in the Iraq War, and later served in command of the 10th Mountain Division in the War in Afghanistan.

On 4 December 2012, Townsend became commander of the 10th Mountain Division.

He also led Combined Joint Task Force 10 and Regional Command East at Bagram.

He became commander of XVIII Airborne Corps in May 2015 and, in late August 2016, took command of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, until III Corps commander Lieutenant General Paul E. Funk II took over command of the operation in 2017.

On 4 May 2015, Townsend became commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

He was promoted to lieutenant general shortly before.

Townsend became commander of Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) – Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) on 21 August 2016, replacing Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland.

He previously commanded the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command from March 2018 until June 2019 and XVIII Airborne Corps from May 2015 until January 2018.

Stephen J. Townsend (born 1959) is a retired United States Army four-star general who served as Commander United States Africa Command from 26 July 2019 to 8 August 2022.