Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward
United States Navy
Deputy Commander
2008-2009

Vice Adm. Harward oversees the performance of U.S. Joint Forces Command, whose mission is to provide mission-ready, joint-capable forces and support the development and integration of joint, interagency, and multi-national capabilities to meet the present and future operational needs of the joint force.

A native of Newport, R.I., Vice Admiral Harward has held numerous assignments, beginning as a surface warfare officer aboard the destroyer USS Scott (DDG-995).  He has spent the majority of his career as an operator in the Naval Special Warfare community, holding numerous command positions. Most recently, he served as deputy commanding general, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Vice Adm. Harward’s staff tours include special warfare plans officer for commander, Amphibious Forces U.S. Seventh Fleet; aide-de-camp to commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; and deputy commander, Special Operations Command, Pacific.  Operational tours include deputy Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF) commander in Bosnia and multiple JSOTF command tours in southwest Asia.

Shortly after Sept. 11th, Vice Adm. Harward deployed to Afghanistan where he commanded  a CJSOTF (Task Force K-BAR) consisting of special operations forces from Naval Special Warfare, Army Special Forces, Air Force Special Operations Aircraft and Special Tactics personnel as well as special operations forces from Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey.  In October of 2002, he deployed as commander, Task Force 561, commanding Naval Special Warfare Task Group Central in Iraq, consisting of naval special warfare forces from the Polish Grom, the United Kingdom's Royal Marines, the Kuwaiti Navy and all assets in the U.S. Naval Special Warfare inventory.

Starting in August 2003, he served at the White House in the National Security Council as the director of strategy and defense issues.  In April 2005, he was assigned as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff representative to the Senior Interagency Strategy Team and helped to create the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C.  He was responsible for crafting the first National Implementation Plan and for integration of the Department of Defense with its interagency partners.

In addition to a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, Vice Adm. Harward has attended the College of Naval Command and Staff, the Naval Staff College, and the Armed Forces Staff College.  He holds a master’s degree in international relations and strategic security affairs and served as a Federal Executive Fellow at RAND and is an alumni of the MIT Foreign Policy Program, Seminar XXI.