New assignments for Fort Bragg generals, Fayetteville native

A Fayetteville native will return to Fort Bragg in a leadership role, and several Bragg general officers are taking on new assignments, according to the Department of Defense.

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The Pentagon announced more than two dozen assignments for Army general officers on Monday. Many impacted current or former leaders at Fort Bragg.

Among the announcements was news that Brig. Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, the son of a retired sergeant major who attended Reid Ross High School in Fayetteville, would be returning to the Army post he’s called home for much of his career.

And a two-star Fort Bragg general, Maj. Gen. James B. Linder, will relinquish command of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School to deploy to Afghanistan, where he’ll command a special operations task force.

Other assignments will move Brig. Gen. Edwin J. Deedrick Jr., the deputy commanding general of 1st Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, across post to Joint Special Operations Command, where he’ll serve as assistant commander for support. And Brig. Gen. Antonio M. Fletcher, assistant commanding general for support at 1st SFC, will move to Doral, Florida, where he’ll become director, J-5 for U.S. Southern Command.

Brunson, who is deputy commanding general for operations at the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, will return to Fort Bragg to become chief of staff of the 18th Airborne Corps.

Brunson served as assistant commanding general for 1st Special Forces Command before assuming his current job in New York.

He was commissioned as an infantry officer upon graduation from Hampton University in 1990 and has served previously in the 82nd Airborne Division, as commander of the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade and within Fort Bragg’s special operations community.

Linder, who took command of the unit tasked with training the nation’s Special Forces, civil affairs and psychological operations forces in May 2015, will take command of Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan and Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan.

He has served with the 82nd Airborne Division, 75th Ranger Regiment, 5th Special Forces Group, Joint Special Operations Command and as chief of staff of U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Before taking command of the Special Warfare Center and School, Linder led Special Operations Command-Africa, headquartered at Kelley Barracks near Stuttgart, Germany.

Fletcher also has strong ties to Fort Bragg. He was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg after graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1996. He also served with the 1st Special Warfare Training Group and held numerous positions in 7th Group, serving at Fort Bragg and in Afghanistan and Latin America. He later commanded the group after it moved to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and later, served as chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne Division and then held the same position for the 1st Special Forces Command.

Other general officers who will receive new assignments include:

Maj. Gen. Willard M. Burleson III, senior advisor to the Ministry of Defense for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, will become commanding general of the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. Previously, Burleson served with the 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg.

Maj. Gen. John S. Kem, deputy commandant of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and deputy commanding general for education at the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, will become commandant of the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Previously, Kem served in the 82nd Airborne Division’s 307th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg and during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Brig. Gen. Daniel G. Mitchell, director G-3/5/7 at Installation Management Command at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, will become deputy chief of staff for logistics and operations at U.S. Army Material Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Mitchell, who is promotable, previously served in the 18th Airborne Corps.

Brig. Gen. Robert W. Bennett Jr., deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, will become adjutant general of the U.S. Army at U.S. Army Human Resources Command, commanding general of the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency and executive director of the Military Postal Service Agency at Fort Knox. Bennett previously served with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Brig. Gen. Christopher T. Donahue, deputy commanding general for maneuver at the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, will become commandant of the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Donahue previously served within U.S. Army Special Operations Command and Joint Special Operations Command.

Brig. Gen. David J. Francis, deputy commanding general for support at the 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth Army, Republic of Korea, will become commanding general of the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center and director of Army Safety at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He previously served with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Brig. Gen. Karen H. Gibson, director CJ2 for Combined Joint Task Forces-Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait, will become director J-2 for U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. Gibson has served in the 18th Airborne Corps.

Brig. Gen. Kenneth L. Kamper, deputy commanding general for support at the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado, will become chief of staff of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait. Kamper previously served in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Brig. Gen. Viet X. Luong, chief of staff for U.S. Army Central at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, will become deputy commanding general for operations for the Eight Army in South Korea. Luong has served in the 82nd Airborne Division, deploying to Haiti in support of Operation Uphold Democracy, to Iraq and to New Orleans in support of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Brig. Gen. Brian J. Mennes, director of joint and integration in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 for the U.S. Army, will become director of force management in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 for the U.S. Army. Mennes has served with the 82nd Airborne Division, leading the 4th Brigade Combat Team on a deployment to Afghanistan, and at Joint Special Operations Command.

Brig. Gen. Stephen G. Smith, director CJ3 for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait, will become deputy commanding general for support at the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. Smith deployed to Kuwait with the 18th Airborne Corps last year and has previously been the corps chief of staff and commanded the 18th Field Artillery Brigade.

Brig. Gen. Ronald T. Stephens, deputy commanding general of Regional Health Command-Pacific at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, will become deputy chief of staff for support at U.S. Army Medical Command at Falls Church, Virginia. Stephens has previously served with the 18th Field Artillery Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps and commanded Womack Army Medical Center.