Gen. Ray Odierno
Commanding General
Multi-National Force - Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq 

General Raymond T. Odierno assumed command of Multi-National Force - Iraq September 16th, 2008, following his assignment as the Commanding General, U.S. Army III Corps, from May 2006 to September 2008.

General Odierno returned to Iraq to assume command of MNF-I less than seven months after completing a 15-month deployment with III Corps from December 2006 to February 2008, during which he served as the Commanding General, Multi-National Corps - Iraq.  As the day-to-day commander of Coalition Forces in Iraq, General Odierno was the operational architect of the Surge and was responsible for implementing the counterinsurgency strategy that led to the dramatic decrease in violence in Iraq in 2007 and 2008.  He is noted for being one of few Army generals in history to command a division, corps and entire theater in the same conflict.

A native of northern New Jersey, General Odierno attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1976 with a commission in Field Artillery. During more than 33 years of service, General Odierno has commanded units at every echelon, from platoon to theater, with duty in Germany, Albania, Kuwait, Iraq, and the United States. After his first assignment with U.S. Army Europe, General Odierno was assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery at Fort Bragg, N.C., where he commanded two batteries and served as a battalion operations officer.

Following advanced civilian and military schooling, General Odierno returned to U.S. Army Europe and the 7th Army, serving as a battalion executive officer, division artillery executive officer, and brigade executive officer, deploying in that capacity for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He later commanded 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery, 7th Infantry Division, and the Division Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division. From October 2001 to June 2004, General Odierno commanded the 4th Infantry Division, leading the division throughout the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom from April 2003 to March 2004. The unit was headquartered in the restive Sunni triangle north of Baghdad, and in a significant accomplishment late in the deployment, Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division captured former President Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit in December 2003.

His other significant assignments include Arms Control Officer, Office of the Secretary of Defense; Chief of Staff, V Corps; Assistant Division Commander (Support), 1st Armored Division; Deputy Commanding General, Task Force Hawk, Albania; Director of Force Management, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans; and Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., where he was the primary military advisor to Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.  During this time, he accompanied the Secretary of State on all diplomatic journeys and state visits, traveling over 335,000 miles and visiting over 65 countries, while attending international events ranging from NATO and APEC Summits to Pakistan earthquake relief efforts.

General Odierno has a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from West Point and master’s degrees in Nuclear Effects Engineering and National Security and Strategy from North Carolina State University and the Naval War College, respectively. He is also a graduate of the Army War College.

Awards and decorations earned by General Odierno include two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, six awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, four awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Badge.  He received the highest award in the State Department, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, and recently the Romanian President awarded General Odierno the Romanian Order of Military Merit.  General Odierno is the 2009 recipient of the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award for his strategic leadership and insight.

General Odierno has published articles on counterinsurgency operations in journals such as Joint Forces Quarterly and Military Review and has been featured numerous times in print media such as Time Magazine, US News and World Report, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.  He has also engaged with several news media outlets, to include NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN and BBC. Over the last few years, he has spoken with audiences and at locations as diverse as New York University’s Stern School of Business, the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, the Union League Club of New York, where he received an achievement award for his lifetime of service to the nation, the Links Club, and, most recently, the Colbert Nation.