Gen. William Ward
U.S. Army General William E. Ward was born on June 3, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Morgan State University and graduated with his B.A. degree in Political Science in 1971. While there, he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and as a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant in 1971. In 1979, Ward received his M.A. degree in Political Science from the Pennsylvania State University. He then went on to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.
Ward’s military service has included overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel, two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. His command and troop assignments include: Commander of 5th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 2nd Brigade at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Commander of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York and during Operation Restore Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia; Assistant Division Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Commanding General 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army in Hawaii at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii; Commander of the Stabilization Force during Operation Joint Forge in Sarajevo, Bosnia; and Deputy Commander U.S. European Command. His staff assignments include: Executive Officer to the Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C.; Deputy Director for Operations of the National Military Command Center in Washington, D.C.; Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation with Egypt in the American Embassy in Egypt; and Vice Director for Operations of the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C.
In 2005, Ward served as the Deputy Commanding General and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, Europe and the Seventh Army. While in this capacity, he was selected by the Secretary of State to serve as the United States Security Coordinator, Israel-Palestinian Authority where he served from March of 2005 through December of 2005. Ward served as the inaugural Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany from October 1, 2007 to March 8, 2011. Ward is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the 100 Black Men of America, and the National Society of Pershing Rifles. He is also an honorary member of the Sergeant Audie Murphy club and was awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Morgan State University and Virginia State University.
Ward’s military honors include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Defense Superior Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Legion of Merit with Three Oak Leaf Clusters), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (with Six Oak Leaf Clusters), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (with three Oak Leaf Clusters); the Army Achievement Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Expert Infantryman's Badge, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and the Master Parachutist Badge.
Ward currently serves as the President and COO of SENTEL Corporation.
U.S. Army General William E. Ward was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 25, 2013.
A2013.180
Male
7/25/2013
Ward
E.
Morgan State University
Pennsylvania State University
Army Command and General Staff College
U.S. Army War College
William
Baltimore
WAR16
Spring
Maryland
None
Improve The Foxhole.

Virginia
6/3/1949
Alexandria
United States
Peanut Butter
General Gen. William Ward (1949 - ) Commander of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division during Operation Restore Hope in Mogadishu, Somalia, Commander 25th Infantry Division, Commander of the Stabilization Force during Operation Joint Forge in Sarajevo, Bosnia, US Security Coordinator in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the inaugural Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany from 2007 to 2011. He currently serves as the President of SENTEL Corp.
United States Army
Stabilization Force, Operation Joint Forge
25th Infantry Division
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Gen. William Ward's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward describes his mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward talks about his maternal grandfather's upbringing in Baltimore, Maryland
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward talks about his mother's upbringing in Baltimore, Maryland
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward talks about his mother's education and her employment at the Social Security Administration
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward describes his father's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward talks about his father's employment and aspirations
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Gen. William Ward talks about his father's service as a combat engineer in World War II
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Gen. William Ward describes how his parents met
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Gen. William Ward describes his parents' personalities and who he takes after
Tape: 1 Story: 12 - Gen. William Ward talks about his sister, Christina Ward Young
Tape: 1 Story: 13 - Gen. William Ward talks about his childhood household
Tape: 1 Story: 14 - Gen. William Ward describes his earliest childhood memory
Tape: 1 Story: 15 - Gen. William Ward describes the neighborhood where he grew up in Baltimore, Maryland
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward talks about his father building their family's home in Baltimore County, Maryland, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward talks about his father building their family's home in Baltimore County, Maryland, pt. 2
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, pt. 2
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward talks about the community's interest in sports in Baltimore, Maryland
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward talks about the community's interest in doo wop music
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience in the first grade in Baltimore County, Maryland
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience in an integrated school system in the 1950s, and his family instilling self-confidence in him
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward talks about his interests in elementary school as well as the schools he attended
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward talks about his exposure to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward talks about his experience in elementary school in Towson, Maryland
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward talks about his interests while growing up
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward reflects about his non-military oriented childhood
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward talks about attending junior high school in the early 1960s, and meeting his wife in college
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward talks about his interest in political science, playing football, and running track in high school
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward talks about being employed in high school
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Gen. William Ward talks about his social experience in high school
Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Gen. William Ward talks about the poor career counseling that he received in high school, and his decision to attend Morgan State University
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward describes his decision to attend Morgan State University
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward describes his graduation from Towson Senior High School
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward talks about his desire to become a lawyer while studying at Morgan State University, pt 1
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward talks about the influence of his teachers, Maxwell and Sandye Jean McIntyre, at Morgan State University
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward talks about his desire to become a lawyer while studying at Morgan State University, pt 2
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward talks about the reaction in Baltimore, Maryland, to Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward talks about being employed in college, and his experience in the political science department at Morgan State University
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience in the ROTC program at Morgan State University
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Gen. William Ward talks about historian Benjamin Quarles and the Vietnam War
Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Gen. William Ward talks about getting married and being commissioned into active duty in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army in 1971
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward talks about General Daniel "Chappie" James and General Benjamin Oliver Davis
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience on his first commission to the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, where he became a platoon leader
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward discusses disciplinary challenges within the U.S. Army during the 1970s
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward discusses his assignment to the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea in 1974
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as a lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward talks about becoming a captain, going to graduate school, and teaching at the United States Military Academy at West Point
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward talks about his experience in the advanced infantry career course
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward talks about the Korean axe murder incident in 1976
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward describes his decision to attend graduate school at Penn State University, and to teach at the United States Military Academy
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as an assistant professor of social sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward describes how he became Commander of the 5th Battalion, 9th Infantry
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as Commander of the 5th Battalion, 9th Infantry in Fort Wainwright, Alaska
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward talks about being selected for colonel, and becoming the brigade commander of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division in 1992
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience with the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division during relief efforts after Hurricane Andrew in 1992
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as part of the U.N. relief mission in Somalia in 1992
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward discusses the Battle of Mogadishu and Somali Civil War, pt. 1
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward discusses the Battle of Mogadishu and Somali Civil War, pt. 2
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward talks about his experience as the Executive Officer to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward talks about his experience as the Deputy Director for Operations in the National Military Command Center
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward describes the ceremony where he was promoted to become a brigadier general in 1996
Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as Assistant Division Commander for Support at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation in Cairo, Egypt
Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward talks about his assignment as the commander of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii
Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward talks about his assignment as the Vice Director for Operations on the Joint Staff and after the 9/11 attack
Tape: 8 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward talks about his principle of "improving the foxhole," and his experience at the Pentagon after 9/11
Tape: 8 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as Commander of the NATO Force in Bosnia
Tape: 8 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience as United States Security Coordinator between the Israeli and Palestinian authority
Tape: 8 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward talks about his service as the deputy commander of EUCOM and as the inaugural commander of AFRICOM
Tape: 8 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward talks about the formation of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Tape: 8 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward talks about the goals for the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Tape: 9 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward discusses the initial apprehension towards the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Tape: 9 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward discusses the initial reactions to his appointment as commander of AFRICON
Tape: 9 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward describes his experience in Africa as the commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Tape: 9 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward describes the highlights of his service as the inaugural commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)
Tape: 9 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward talks about his engineering leadership experience in the U.S. Army, and receiving the Black Engineer of the Year Award in 2010
Tape: 10 Story: 1 - Gen. William Ward discusses his retirement from the U.S. Army
Tape: 10 Story: 2 - Gen. William Ward talks about his life after retirement
Tape: 10 Story: 3 - Gen. William Ward reflects upon his life and career
Tape: 10 Story: 4 - Gen. William Ward talks about his family
Tape: 10 Story: 5 - Gen. William Ward describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 10 Story: 6 - Gen. William Ward reflects upon his legacy
Tape: 10 Story: 7 - Gen. William Ward talks about a lesson of accountability from his service in Korea
Tape: 10 Story: 8 - Gen. William Ward talks about his team philosophy
Tape: 10 Story: 9 - Gen. William Ward narrates his photographs
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