Richard D Clarke
Commander, US Special Operations CommanD
General Richard D Clarke currently serves as the 12th Commander of US
Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquartered at MacDill Air
Force Base, FL.
Prior to assuming command of USSOCOM, General Clarke served as Director for
Strategic Plans and Policy (J5), Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, DC.
General Clarke’s other assignments as a general officer include: Deputy
Commanding General for Operations, 10th Mountain Division from 2011 to 2013;
the 74th Commandant of Cadets, United States Military Academy at West Point
from 2013 to 2014; and the Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division.
His formative and key, Army and special operations, assignments include:
Director of Operations, Joint Special Operations Command from 2009 to 2011.
Eight years in the 75th Ranger Regiment first as a company commander, then
as a battalion commander, and finally as the regimental commander. He also
served as commander of 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd
Airborne Division.
General Clarke has led Soldiers at all levels in Airborne, Ranger, Mechanized and
Light Infantry units in five different divisions, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and the
75th Ranger Regiment in the United States, Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan. His
deployments while serving in the aforementioned positions include OPERATIONS
DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM, OPERATION JOINT GUARDIAN
in Macedonia, three deployments in support of OPERATION ENDURING
FREEDOM, four deployments in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM,
and one deployment as the commander of the Combined Joint Forces Land
Component Command – OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE.
General Clarke was born in Germany and raised in an Army family. He is a
graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and was
commissioned into the Infantry in 1984. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree
from West Point and a Master of Business Administration from Benedictine
College. He is a distinguished graduate of the National War College earning a
master’s degree in Security and Strategic Studies.
General
18 ARMY 245: Call to Duty