MAJOR GENERAL KEVIN R. WENDEL
Major General Wendel graduated from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., in 1979 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He later received a Master of Public Administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a Master in Strategic Studies and Theory –Strategy from the U.S. Army War College. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College.
Commissioned in the Infantry in 1979, he has served in a variety of command and staff positions in the U.S., South America, Europe and Southwest Asia. After completing the Infantry Advance Course in 1983, MG Wendel went on to command Company D, 4th Battalion, 187th IN, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Brigade at Fort Campbell, Ky. After command, he served as S-3 (Operations), 5th Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at Fort Campbell until leaving for CGSC at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
After completing Command and General Staff College in June 1991, MG Wendel was assigned as a Training Program Officer, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, U.S. Army Southern Command, Fort Clayton, Panama; and later served as S-3 (Operations) and Executive Officer, 5th Battalion, 87th Infantry, 193d Infantry Brigade (Light), Fort Davis, Panama. In May 1994, he was reassigned as a Senior Maneuver Observer/Controller, Operations Group, Joint Readiness Training Center, at Fort Polk, La. In June 1996, he assumed command of 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell; and as Commander, U.S. Battalion, Multi-National Force and Observers, Sinai, Egypt, until he was assigned as the ACOS, G-5, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell in June 1998.
After the Army War College, in July 2000, he was assigned as the Special Assistant to the Commanding General, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. He commanded 3d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division there from November 2000 to June 2003. In August 2003, MG Wendel was assigned to the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., as the Chief, Strategy Division, J-5, and in June 2004 became the Assistant Deputy Director for Strategy and Policy, J-5. From August 2005 to July 2008 he served as the Commanding General, 20th Support Command (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield Explosive), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. From July 2008, he served as the Director of Operational Maneuver, Third Army/U.S. Army Central, Kuwait. From August 2009 to February 2011, he served as the Deputy Director, Operations, U.S. Africa Command. He took command of First Army Division East at Fort Meade Md., on 1 March, 2011.
MG Wendel's awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (with five oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal. He has also earned the Expert Infantryman's Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge, and the Ranger Tab.
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