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Jack Keane

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This article is about the U.S. Army general. For others named John or Jack Keane, see John Keane (disambiguation).
Jack Keane
General Jack Keane in 1999
Born (1943-02-01) February 1, 1943 (age 81)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Allegiance United States
Service / branch United States Army
Years of service1966–2003
RankGeneral
CommandsXVIII Airborne Corps
101st Airborne Division
1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division
Battles / warsVietnam War
AwardsDefense Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Army Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Silver Star
Legion of Merit (5)
Bronze Star

John M. "Jack" Keane (born February 1, 1943) is a retired American four-star general and former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He is a noted national security analyst, primarily on Fox News, and serves as chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and as chairman of AM General.

Personal life

Keane was born in 1943 in Manhattan, New York,[1][2] the son of Elizabeth (Davis) and John Keane. He has a brother, Ronald. Keane married Theresa Doyle in 1965 and has two sons.[3] His wife died in 2016 after having Parkinson's disease for 14 years.[4]

Education

Keane attended Fordham University, where he participated in The National Society of Pershing Rifles, graduating with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1966. He then attended Western Kentucky University, graduating with a master's degree in philosophy. He later attended the Command and General Staff College and the Army War College.[3]

Career

Military service

Keane (left) meeting with an army colonel

Keane served in the Vietnam War as a paratrooper.[5] He later served in U.S. engagements in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. His commands include the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, 101st Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps.[3]

In 1991 Keane saved the life of David Petraeus during a live-fire exercise. According to Keane, Petraeus was shot "accidentally, standing right next to me, and I had to fight to save his life. He had a hole about the size of a quarter in his back and is gushing with blood, and we stopped the bleeding and got him on a helicopter and got him to a surgeon and so we were sort of bonded ever since that time."[6]

Keane retired from military service in 2003.

Post military service

Following his retirement, he has served as an informal advisor to presidents and other senior officials. He served an advisory role in the management of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, as a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee. In January 2007, Keane and scholar Frederick W. Kagan released a policy paper titled "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq,"[7] through the American Enterprise Institute that called for bringing security by putting 30,000 additional American troops there for a period of at least 18 months. In part convinced by this paper, President George W. Bush ordered on January 10, 2007, the deployment of 21,500 additional troops to Iraq, most of whom would be deployed to Baghdad. This deployment has been nicknamed the 2007 "surge."[8][9]

Of his initial meeting with President Bush regarding the surge, Keane said he made a phone call to Newt Gingrich to ask his advice prior to the meeting. As Keane said in 2014,

Gingrich gave me some good advice. He said, "Look, Jack. Most people go in the Oval Office, even people who go in there a lot, have a tendency in front of the President of the United States to always leave something on the table." He said, "Don't leave anything on the table." He said, "You're going to get about 15 minutes at best and put it all out there. And when you walk out of that room, feel good that you got it all out there." So that was sound advice, and I did put it all out there.[10]

Keane was asked by then-Vice President Cheney to go back on active duty and lead the surge in the field. When Keane declined, Cheney pressed him to come work in the White House and oversee both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; Keane again declined. Keane ended up briefly working at the White House and then later traveled to Iraq several times to advise General Petraeus.[11]

Current activities

Keane is a regular contributor to Fox News, and is involved in a variety of business, think tank and charitable activities. He serves as chairman of AM General, the firm that produces the Humvee.[12][13]. In June 2016, Keane co-founded IP3 International (IP3), a nuclear energy consulting firm.

Keane is an advisor to the Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports the safety and success of Americans serving abroad and the local people and partners they seek to help.[14] He formerly served as a strategic advisor for Academi and is a former director of defense giant General Dynamics.

He is considered an influential voice to leaders from both major political parties, including President Trump, particularly on foreign policy issues related to the Middle East.[15]

IP3

According to a staff report to the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and subsequently, Trump aides such as Jared Kushner and others have been engaged in promoting IP3's plan to transfer nuclear technology from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia. According to the report, IP3 founders and others have been seeking to broker a deal with Riyadh without the "gold standard," a provision -- tied to section 123 of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act which establishes conditions for nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and its allies -- that seeks to limit weaponizing of nuclear energy.[16][17] In July 2019, the committee chairman released a second staff report that detailed various activities and contacts between IP3 and the Trump administration.[16] [18]

Awards and decorations

Military awards Keane has received include two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Army Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star, five Legion of Merits, the Bronze Star Medal, three Meritorious Service Medals, one Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Chiefs Service Badge, the Humanitarian Service Medal,[3] Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, and Air Assault Badge.

His civilian awards include the Fordham University Distinguished Alumni Award, the USO 2002 Man of the Year award, and the Association of the United States Army 2001 Man of the Year award.

Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star

References

  1. ^ Matthew Kaminski, Wall Street Journal, "Why the Surge Worked", September 20, 2008
  2. ^ http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=731
  3. ^ a b c d "General Jack Keane (bio)". Principles of War Seminar Series. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
  4. ^ "Army Gen. Jack Keane declines Trump's secretary of defense offer".
  5. ^ Fred Kaplan, The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War, Simon & Schuster, 2013, p. 225.
  6. ^ Keane, Jack. "Jack Keane". Conversations with Bill Kristol. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  7. ^ Kagan, Frederick W. (January 5, 2007). "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq: Phase I Report". American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Archived from the original on January 17, 2007. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  8. ^ Kerley, David (January 9, 2007). "The Architect of Bush's New Iraq Strategy". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  9. ^ Hastings, Hirsh, and Wolffe (January 8, 2007). "'Surge' Strategy". Newsweek National News. MSNBC. p. 2. Archived from the original on January 14, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/jack-keane/
  11. ^ "GEN. JACK KEANE TRANSCRIPT". Conversations with Bill Kristol. The Foundation for Constitutional Government. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  12. ^ "From the Pentagon to the private sector: In large numbers, and with few rules, retiring generals are taking lucrative defense-firm jobs", Boston.com, December 26, 2010
  13. ^ [1], AM General, October 26, 2016
  14. ^ https://spiritofamerica.org/staff/general-retired-jack-keane
  15. ^ Johnson, Eliana (July 2, 2019). "The Fox News general who 'spooked' Trump out of attacking Iran: President Donald Trump may have tired of the men he once called 'my generals,' but one retired military leader still has his ear on key foreign policy matters". Politico.
  16. ^ a b "Corporate and Foreign Interests Behind White House Push to Transfer U.S. Nuclear Technology to Saudi Arabia Prepared for Chairman Elijah E. Cummings Second Interim Staff Report Committee on Oversight and Reform U.S. House of Representatives July 2019" (PDF). oversight.house.gov. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  17. ^ Arms Control Association fact sheet, retrieved August 27, 2019
  18. ^ "Appendix A – Documents" (PDF). oversight.house.gov. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
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Military offices
Preceded by Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army
1999–2003 		Succeeded by
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