Joseph Dunford | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2015 | |
| Nickname(s) | "Fighting Joe"[1] |
| Born | (1955-12-23)23 December 1955 (age 69) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1977–2019 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | Iraq War War in Afghanistan |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Defense Superior Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit withValor |
Dunford testifies before theSenate Armed Services Committee on cooperation with Russia with regard to Syria Recorded 30 June 2017 | |
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. (born 23 December 1955) is a retiredUnited States Marine Corpsgeneral who served as the 19thchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019. He was the 36thcommandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the firstMarine Corps officer to serve in four differentfour-star positions; the others include commander of theInternational Security Assistance Force and United States Forces –Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014,[2] and as the thirty-secondassistant commandant of the Marine Corps from 23 October 2010 to 15 December 2012. He has commanded several units, including the5th Marine Regiment during the2003 invasion of Iraq.
Dunford was born inBoston on 23 December 1955,[3] and raised inQuincy, Massachusetts. His father served as an enlisted Marine in theKorean War. He is anIrish Catholic[4] andRed Sox fan.[5]
He graduated fromBoston College High School in 1973, and fromSaint Michael's College in June 1977. He earned hiscommission the month of his college graduation. He is a graduate of theUnited States Army War College,Ranger School,United States Army Airborne School, and theAmphibious Warfare School.[6] He holds amaster of arts degree in government fromGeorgetown University and a second master of arts degree ininternational relations fromthe Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy atTufts University.
In 1978, Dunford served in the1st Marine Division as aplatoon andcompany commander in3rd Battalion 1st Marines and a company commander in1st Battalion 9th Marines until 1981. He served as theaide to the commanding general ofIII Marine Expeditionary Force,Stephen G. Olmstead, for a year, then transferred to the Officer Assignment Branch atHeadquarters Marine Corps inWashington, D.C. He reported to the2nd Marine Division in June 1985 and commanded L Company of3rd Battalion 6th Marines. In 1987, he was reassigned to2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company as the Operations, Plans, and Training Officer.[7]
From 1988 to 1991, Dunford was assigned as the Marine Officer Instructor at theCollege of the Holy Cross andOfficer Candidates School atMarine Corps Base Quantico. In 1992, he was assigned to HQMC as a member of theCommandant'sstaff group and subsequently as the Senior Aide to theCommandant of the Marine Corps. In 1995, he joined the6th Marine Regiment as theexecutive officer, then went on to command2nd Battalion 6th Marines from 1996 until 1998.
In 1999, Dunford was theExecutive Assistant to theVice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (under both GeneralsJoseph Ralston andRichard Myers) and as Chief, Global and Multilateral Affairs Division (J-5) until 2001. He next served in the1st Marine Division where he was assigned to command the5th Marine Regiment, then as the division'schief of staff and assistant commander.[8] During this time, he served 22 months inIraq.[9] During his command of RCT-5 in the2003 invasion of Iraq, he earned the nickname "Fighting Joe" underJames Mattis.[10]
From 2005 to 2007, Dunford returned to Headquarters Marine Corps to serve as the director of the Operations Division of the Plans, Policies and Operations staff, and eventually became the Vice Director for Operations (J-3) at theJoint Staff in 2008.[6] In December 2007, Dunford was nominated for promotion to the rank ofmajor general.[11] Two months later,Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates announced that PresidentGeorge W. Bush had nominated Dunford for promotion tolieutenant general and appointment as Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, to succeed Lieutenant GeneralRichard F. Natonski.[11] In April 2008, his appointment to the permanent rank of major general was confirmed by theUnited States Senate, and he was simultaneously appointed to the grade of lieutenant general for his new assignment.
On 1 May 2009,the Pentagon announced that PresidentBarack Obama had appointed Dunford to serve as the commanding general ofI Marine Expeditionary Force andMarine Forces Central Command.[12]
Less than a year into that assignment, Dunford was nominated bySecretary of DefenseRobert Gates to succeedJames F. Amos asAssistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, who had been nominated to succeedJames Conway asCommandant.[13][14] President Obama approved his promotion and Dunford assumed the duties and new rank on October 23, 2010.[15]
On 10 October 2012, Dunford was nominated by President Obama to lead U.S. andNATO forces inAfghanistan.[16] Dunford assumed command of theInternational Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from General John Allen on February 10, 2013.[17]
On 5 June 2014, Dunford was nominated by President Obama to be the 36thCommandant of the Marine Corps. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on 23 July 2014, and he became Commandant on 17 October 2014.[18] On 23 January 2015, Dunford released the 36th Commandant's Planning Guidance.[19]
During his tenure, Dunford worked to keepsex-based job assignment policies in place to keep women out of ground combat armsmilitary occupational specialties.[20] On 3 December 2015, Dunford was overruled by Secretary of DefenseAsh Carter who announced that beginning in January 2016, all military occupations and positions will be open to women, without exception.[21]
President Barack Obama nominated Dunford to be the nextchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 5 May 2015.[22] He was confirmed by theU.S. Senate, and took over from Army GeneralMartin Dempsey on 25 September 2015, and officially took office on 1 October 2015.[23][24] He served with GeneralPaul Selva,USAF, former Commander ofU.S. Transportation Command, asVice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[25] Dunford and Selva served together as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, from 2015 to 2019. Dunford is the only Marine to have served asAssistant Commandant of the Marine Corps,Commandant of the Marine Corps, andChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was nominated for a second term as chairman by PresidentDonald Trump on 16 May 2017.[26][27] His renomination was approved by the Senate on 27 September 2017.[28]
During an event in December 2018, Joseph Dunford criticizedGoogle for its "inexplicable" continued investing in autocratic,communist-led China while simultaneously not renewing further research and development collaborations withthe Pentagon. "I'm not sure that people at Google will enjoy a world order that is informed by the norms and standards of Russia or China," Dunford said. Dunford has urged that Google should work directly with the U.S. government instead of making controversial inroads into China.[29][30]
Dunford stepped down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 30 September 2019, declining interviews and praising his successor, GeneralMark A. Milley. Dunford and Secretary of DefenseJim Mattis had favored Air Force chief of staff GeneralDavid L. Goldfein as Dunford's successor, but Milley was selected by President Donald Trump instead.[31][32][33][34] Dunford officially retired on 1 November 2019.
| Insignia | Rank | Date |
|---|---|---|
 | Second Lieutenant | 8 June 1977 |
 | First Lieutenant | 8 June 1979 |
 | Captain | 1 February 1982 |
 | Major | 1 July 1989 |
 | Lieutenant Colonel | 1 September 1994 |
 | Colonel | 1 October 1999 |
 | Brigadier General | 1 January 2005 |
 | Major General | 8 August 2008* |
 | Lieutenant General | 8 August 2008* |
 | General | 23 October 2010 |
* Appointed to Lieutenant General and confirmed by theUnited States Senate in April 2008. Simultaneously, he was appointedDeputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, skipping the rank of Major General. For administrative purposes, his promotion to permanent major general and lieutenant general are on the same date.
Dunford is the recipient of the following awards:
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He also earned the U.S. ArmyRanger tab.
On 6 April 2016, Dunford was honored with theTragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) "Honor Guard Gala Military Award", which he received "on Behalf of America's Armed Forces".[46] On 8 September 2016, Dunford received the Heroes Award from nonprofit organizationTuesday's Children at their annual Roots of Resilience Gala. He accepted it on behalf of the men and women of the Armed Forces.[47] On 23 July 2018, Dunford received the coveted "Dwight D. Eisenhower" award during a ceremony from the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). On 10 May 2019, he received the same award from the National Defense Industrial Association.[48] On 7 December 2018, Dunford received the Andrew J. Goodpaster award from the George C. Marshall Foundation.[49]
Dunford was awarded the title of Honorary Officer of theOrder of Australia (AO) in the Military Division in 2018.[50] He also received Canada'sMeritorious Service Cross (MSC) in the Military Division that same year, and accepted the award at theHalifax International Security Forum. In 2020 he was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most ExcellentOrder of the British Empire (KBE) in the Military Division.[51] While, as an honorary knight, he may not use the title ofSir, he retains the right to use post-nominals for any Commonwealth awards.
A street inQuincy Center in Dunford's childhood hometown ofQuincy, Massachusetts, was named "General Joseph F. Dunford Drive" in his honor in 2021.[52] Seven general officers from Quincy, including Dunford, were honored with the construction of a public park in Quincy Center, as well as a bridge connecting Quincy Center to the Thomas E. Burgin Parkway. The Generals Park was dedicated in September 2021, and the Generals Bridge opened to traffic in January 2022.[53]
As of 10 February 2020, Dunford joined the board of directors atLockheed Martin, serving on the Classified Business and Security Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.[54] He is also on the board of a New York private equity firm,[55] following a path taken by other prominent retired 4-star officers, such asDavid Petraeus (who went to work for the global investment firmKKR[56]) andRay Odierno (who became a senior advisor atJPMorgan Chase).[57] In May 2022, he joined the board of directors atSatellogic, an Argentine satellite company.[58] Dunford is a member of the board of directors of Georgetown University.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromOfficial Biography: Lieutenant General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations.United States Marine Corps.
fighting joe dunford.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations of theUnited States Marine Corps 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commanding General of theI Marine Expeditionary Force 2009–2010 | |
| Commander of theUnited States Marine Forces Central Command 2009–2010 | ||
| Preceded by | Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps 2010–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander of theInternational Security Assistance Force 2013–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commandant of the Marine Corps 2014–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 2015–2019 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas formerchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2011–2015) | Order of precedence of the United States as former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2015–2019) | Succeeded byas formerchairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2019–2023) |
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