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Albert Bryant Jr.

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Brigadier General Albert Bryant, Jr.
Nickname(s)Al
Born (1952-02-22) February 22, 1952 (age 72)
Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Army
Years of service1974 - 2008
RankBrigadier General
CommandsCommander, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 67th Armor, 2nd Armored Division
Commander, 4th Battalion, 67th Armor "Bandits," 1st Armored Division
Commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division
Director, Center for Army Tactics, Army Command and General Staff College
Battles / warsIraq War
*Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq)
Operation Joint Endeavor (Bosnia)
AwardsDefense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (2 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (7 Oak Leaf Clusters)
Defense Distinguished Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
National Defense Service Medal (2 Stars)
NATO Non-Article 5 Medal
German Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr (Gold)
Bronze Star
Combat Action Badge
Parachutist Badge

Brigadier General Albert Bryant, Jr. (born February 22, 1952) is a retired American Army General, best known for service as the Chief of Western Hemisphere Operations during and in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack and as Assistant Division Commander of the 4th Infantry Division at the time of the division's detection and capture of fugitive deposed Iraqi dictator Sadaam Hussein. Bryant also served as the Deputy Commander of Fort Knox, Kentucky, and the U.S. Army Armor School. As Chief of Staff of NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), Bryant was the highest ranking American officer on the KFOR leadership team, supervising an international staff of more than 450 from 39 nations. He has frequently appeared in military and civilian media (in various interviews, as well as educational and safety spots), and has been a regular speaker on military history, leadership, and diversity issues at military, civilian, and academic events.

Army Career

Bryant entered the Army from Newark, California and was commissioned Armor from the United States Military Academy in 1974. (West Point Class of 1974 classmates include incoming CIA director and former Iraq Multi-National Force Commander David Petraeus, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, retired Major General and Iraq-war objector John Batiste and astronaut Michael Clifford.) After graduation, he attended the Armor Officer Basic Course and then assigned to 3d Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment, Amberg, Germany as platoon leader and troop executive officer. Following the Armor Officer’s Advanced Course, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 67th Armor, 2nd Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas, as S3 (Air) and then as Commander, Company A.

Bryant then attended graduate school at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (where, among others, he was instructed by future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice), receiving his Masters of Science Degree in Operations Research and Systems Analysis in 1983.

In 1986, Bryant attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies receiving a Masters of Military Arts and Sciences. Subsequently he was assigned as Chief, Plans and Exercises G3, 5th Infantry Division, Fort Polk, Louisiana, and then as Executive Officer, 1st Battalion 70th Armor, and then as S3 for the 1st Raider Brigade.

In 1991, Bryant joined the Army Staff and the Directorate of Program Analysis and Evaluation as a Combat Systems Analyst. In 1993, he assumed command of the 4th Battalion, 67th Armor “Bandits”, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Hesse Germany (the current designation of former soldier Elvis Presley's unit).

Upon completion of command he was reassigned as Chief of Plans, G3, V Corps and served as Chief Planner for Operation Joint Endeavor, IFOR operations in Bosnia. Interviews with Bryant and a description of his planning efforts in support of Operation Joint Endeavor are featured in the 2005 book Armed Peacekeepers in Bosnia.[1]

In 1996, Bryant returned from deployment attending the Army War College’s Operational Warfighting Fellowship at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In April 1998 he assumed command of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Riley, Kansas. Departing the “Bulldog Brigade” in 2000 he assumed duties as Chief, Western Hemisphere Operations, J3, the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., serving as Chief of Western Hemisphere Operations during and in the aftermath of the 9/11 events.

Bryant was then assigned to the United States Army Command and General Staff College as the Director, Center for Army Tactics and selected for promotion to Brigadier General[2] in March 2003. In June 2003, Bryant was assigned as Assistant Division Commander (Support), 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized) and Task Force Ironhorse conducting combat operations as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was during this time that the 4th ID played the primary role in the location and capture of fugitive deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

BG Bryant addresses soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division at a ceremony in Fort Hood, Texas in 2004.

In April 2004, the Division redeployed to Fort Hood, Texas to refit in preparation for future operations, and Bryant reported to duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky, to serve as the Deputy Commanding General, US Army Armor Center and Fort Knox, and head the Unit of Action Maneuver Battle Lab, or UAMBL.

The following year, Bryant was selected to represent the United States as Chief of Staff of NATO's internationally-staffed Kosovo Force, KFOR, and relocated to Kosovo. He assumed his position at a NATO installation ceremony on June 27, 2005,[3]becoming the senior American official on the KFOR HQ command leadership team. As Chief of Staff, Bryant supervised an international staff of more than 450 personal from 39 nations.

Bryant's final assignment was as the Director of Integration, Headquarters, Department of the Army, G8, at the Pentagon, where he supervised the planning and direction of equipment systems world wide for the US Army, synchronizing equipment deliveries with manning and training requirements. During this time, Bryant served as chairman of the Army Reset Task Force. Since retiring from active duty service, Bryant has served as a civilian consultant on military, diversity, and executive management matters, based primarily in the Washington, DC area.

Education

Bryant holds an undergraduate degree in General Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a master's degree in Operations Analysis from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

He holds an additional graduate degree from the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), in addition to various military and professional certificates.

Heritage and family connections

Bryant is of African-American, Chinese-American, and Irish-Scottish Celtic ethnicity, and is the son of African-American Army Reserve Brigadier General Albert Bryant, Sr., one of the original Montford Point Marines (the elder Bryant transferred branches prior to returning to service as a commissioned officer). He has been married since 1975 to the former Renée Saxton (daughter of retired Army and Illinois National Guardsman Brigadier General Richard Saxton), a recipient of the Order of St. Joan D'Arc Medallion, member of the Honorable Order of Molly Pitcher, and recipient of two of the Department of the Army's highest Civilian Honors, the Outstanding Civilian Service Award and Commander's Award for Public Service.

The Bryants have four biological children (including Army CPT Albert-Francis "Paco" Bryant, a Bronze Star Medal with 'V' Device and ARCOM with 'V' Device awardee and veteran of multiple OIF/OEF tours); and are grandparents to three, one son by CPT Bryant and two sons by daughter Gillian Bryant Toellner, an Air Force spouse. The Bryants also have a foster-parent like relationship with Stephanie Davis Price, who resided with the family for a number of years, and who has, at times, been referred to as "daughter" by both Bryants, in various official speeches, and written programs/biographies.

Bryant is the brother of Emmy-winning writer and novelist Lori Bryant-Woolridge and defense contracting executive Gregory Bryant, and is the father of Paul R. Ellis Award-winning broadcaster and writer Benjamin Bryant (best known in military circles as the lead editor of the 2010 DoD reports recommending the repeal of the 1993 Don't Ask, Don't Tell law for Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) and managing editor of the official DoD report on the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. In 2012, youngest daughter, Veronica Bryant, received an appointment to the United States Military Academy cadet class of 2016, becoming the first of Bryant's children to follow him in the West Point tradition.

Key campaigns

BG Bryant in Pristina, Kosovo, at his 2006 installation as KFOR Chief of Staff.
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom, assigned as Assistant Division Commander (Support), 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), and Task Force Ironhorse, based in Tikrit, Iraq; 2003–2004

Publications

Bryant has authored three monographs on military-related matters, including

  • Meeting the U.S. Army's Service Component Command (ASCC) Requirements for Peace Enforcement Operations, published 1997.[4]
  • Agility. A Key to the Operational Art, published 1988.[5]
  • Blind man's bluff? A look at the tactical reconnaissance capabilities of the U.S. Army's Light Infantry Division, published 1987.[6]

Awards and decorations

Bryant’s awards and decorations include:

Bryant is also a 1998 recipient of the Draper Armor Leadership Award for Excellence in Leadership from the Draper Combat Leadership Trust Fund Council, in addition to various community and professional recognitions and honors.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albert Bryant, Jr..

References

  1. ^ Armed Peacekeepers in Bosnia Robert F. Baumann, George W. Gawrych, and Walter E. Kretchik (Authors)
  2. ^ DoD General Officer Announcements March 2003
  3. ^ DoD General Officer Assignments May 2006
  4. ^ Combined Arms Research Library. Meeting the U.S. Army's Service Component Command (ASCC) Requirements for Peace Enforcement Operations Albert Bryant, Jr. (Author)
  5. ^ Combined Arms Research Library. Agility. A Key to the Operational Art Albert Bryant, Jr. (Author)
  6. ^ Combined Arms Research Library. Blind Man's Bluff? A Look at the Tactical Reconnaissance Capabilities of the U.S. Army's Light Infantry Division Albert Bryant, Jr. (Author)
  7. ^ KFOR CHRONICLE 07



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