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\nGen. Stephen Townsend is pictured in Wyvern, Mosul, Iraq. (Photo\/ETHAN HUTCHINSON\/U.S. ARMY handout)<\/p>\n
\nGen. Stephen Townsend is pictured in Wyvern, Mosul, Iraq. (Photo\/ETHAN HUTCHINSON\/U.S. ARMY handout)<\/p>\n
Poetrooper sends us a couple articles on General Townsend as he takes the helm at AFRICOM, where he’ll oversee U.S. military relations with African nations and coordinate security missions with regional partners. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that we ask a lot of this team ladies and gentlemen is an understatement,\u201d stated Richard V. Spencer, U.S. Secretary of the Navy. \u201cIf disenfranchisement, insecurity, and extremism flourish here, we can expect a very very dangerous tomorrow \u2014 not only in Africa, but also in America and Europe and across this world.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Townsend has an interesting background as well. Born in Scheinfeld, Bavaria in 1959 to a German art student mother and an Afghan medical student father, he was soon adopted by an American military family. His adoptive father, James Townsend, was a staff sergeant in an armored unit.<\/p>\n
He graduated from North Georgia College in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and was commissioned into the Infantry from the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. No ring knocker here.<\/p>\n
His campaign record includes Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Just Cause, Operation Uphold Democracy, Operation Anaconda, and Operation Enduring Freedom. He led Task Force Arrowhead during the Iraq War. Townsend led the brigade in the Battle of Baqubah in June 2007. Townsend became commander of Combined Joint Task Force \u2013 Operation Inherent Resolve. He commanded US forces as they engaged in an air war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. <\/p>\n
Under Townsend, the CJTF-OIR coalition together with allies from the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Iraqi Security Forces, and the Libyan Government of National Accord launched simultaneous successful offensives against ISIL’s capitals in Syria, Iraq, and Libya respectively: the Raqqa campaign, the Battle of Mosul, and the Battle of Sirte.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Clearly, this man has seen the elephant, and has earned the awards and decorations that go with it. <\/p>\n
Thanks for the links, Poe. More about General Townsend may be viewed here: Wiki<\/a> and here: One America News Network<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"