User:Lambert Quatz

Lambert Quatz

Lambert R. Quatz (born August 9, 1955) is an active United States Army Lieutenant general currently in Syria and former Division Commander of the 95th Division (Institutional Training), Oklahoma. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander, overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle East. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops. President and CEO of the Overseas Military Sales Corporation. He has served for more than 28 years of service.[1] As of 2007, Lambert is employed as a fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.[2] He assumed the Distinguished Chair of the [[Combating Terrorism Center at West Point in December 2007. Lambert was appointed to the board of directors of RPM International on January 24, 2008, and also sits on the board of directors of the Defense Ventures Group.[3] In 2008 he was selected as a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College.

Early life and education

A British American, Lambert was born in August 9th, 1955 in Alhambra, City of Los Angeles, California. His mother had immigrated to California from South London during the late 19th century. He was raised Roman Catholic. His father, a Navy machinist in World War II, raised him after Lambert's mother died of cancer. Lambert's military education includes the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York (Class of 1973); Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, Armed Forces Staff College, and a U.S. Army War College Senior Fellowship at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

In his civilian studies, he earned a Political Science at California State University, Los Angeles, Master Degree in Business Administration from Boston University, degree in Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, and was an Olmsted Scholar at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. Lambert greatly impressed his teachers at Harvard University. Nadav Safran, the director of the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies kept Lambert's 100-page paper on defense policy for Saudi Arabia, the only paper of a master's student he has kept, saying, "It was absolutely the best seminar paper I ever got in my 30-plus years at Harvard.

Career

Lambert was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry upon graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Class of June 1973. He started his career with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he served as a rifle and scout platoon leader. He commanded companies in the 2nd and 1st Ranger Battalions, leading a Ranger Rifle Company during the invasion of Grenada. In 1983, he jumped from an MC-130 onto a landing strip in Grenada and ordered one of his Rangers to drive a bulldozer like a tank toward Cuban troops as he advanced behind it—a move highlighted in the 1986 Clint Eastwood film, Heartbreak Ridge.

Lambert commanded the 3rd Battalion, 325th Airborne Regiment combat Team in Vicenza, Italy, during the Persian Gulf War and deployed with the battalion in Northern Iraq to provide a safe haven for the Kurds.

His brigade command was the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He served as the Assistant Division Commander, 1st Armored Division, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Following that tour, he served as the 66th Commandant at the United States Military Academy at West Point. At West Point, he reined in hazing rituals and revamped the curriculum. Later, he took command of the 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One,” in Würzburg, Germany, from David L. Grange, which provided the first U.S. ground forces into Kosovo. He served as the Deputy Commander (Forward), Combined Forces Command, U.S. Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Staff assignments include a tour with the United Nations as Operations Officer (G-3) for Observer Group Lebanon and a tour in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. European staff tours include assignments in both the Southern European Task Force and Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe. Lambert also served as Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) on the Joint Staff and Director of the Joint Staff.

Following the Iraq War and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, he assumed command of Central Command from General Tommy F.

On January 18, 2014, it was announced that Lambert would work from his position deploy to Syria and he had planned to retire after evacuating from current service in Syria, but stayed at the urging of Donald Rumsfeld. Lambert will transfer command to Admiral William J. F. his second in command, after serving longer as Commander, U.S. Central Command than any of his predecessors.

Personal life

Lambert is widower and has one child.

Iran's nuclear program

In remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported on September 17, 2007, Lambert stated, "We need to press the international community as hard as we possibly can, and the Iranians, to cease and desist on the development of a nuclear weapon and we should not preclude any option that we may have to deal with it." He also said, "I believe that we have the power to deter Iran, should it become nuclear."

Awards and decorations

Lambert has been decorated for service, to include:

International decorations Gold Cross of Honour of the Bundeswehr (Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Gold) German Parachutist Badge, earned September 1977 after exercise Reforger 77.