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Deputy commander tapped for Afghanistan slot
One of U.S. Joint Forces Command's senior leaders will soon become a commander in Afghanistan.
By USJFCOM Public Affairs
(NORFOLK, Va. - Oct. 8, 2009) -- One of U.S. Joint Forces Command's senior leaders will soon become a commander in Afghanistan.
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced yesterday that the President has nominated Navy Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward Jr. for reappointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as commander, Joint Task Force 435, Afghanistan.
Harward, a Navy SEAL, currently is serving as the deputy commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command.
A native of Newport, R.I., Vice Admiral Harward has served in myriad assignments, beginning as a surface warfare officer aboard the destroyer USS Scott (DDG-995). He spent the majority of his career in the Naval Special Warfare community, holding several command positions. Before arriving at Joint Forces Command, 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.
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.
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