Topic: Martin Dempsey

General Martin E. Dempsey, USA (born March 14, 1952) is the 37th and current Chief of Staff of the Army. On May 30, 2011, General Dempsey was selected by President Barack Obama to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is expected to succeed Admiral Mullen when his term ends on September 30, 2011. He previously served as Commanding General, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command from December 8, 2008 to April 11, 2011. Prior to that, he served as Acting Commander, U.S. Central Command from March 24, 2008 to October 30, 2008 and Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command from August 2007 to Mar 23, 2008 and as Commanding General, Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I) from August 2005 to August 2007. He assumed his current assignment on April 11, 2011.

Dempsey attended John S. Burke Catholic High School in Goshen, New York and received a commission as an Armor officer upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1974. He went on to be the Executive Officer of the 3rd Brigade 3rd Armored Division during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. He then commanded the 4TH BATTALION of the 67TH ARMORED REGIMENT "BANDITS" from 1992-1995 in the 1st ARMORED DIVISION in Friedberg, Germany (Hessen).

In June 2003, then Brigadier General Dempsey assumed command of 1st Armored Division. He succeeded Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez who was promoted to command V Corps. Dempsey commanded 1st Armored Division until July 2005 including 13 months in Iraq from June 2003 to July 2004. While in Iraq, 1st Armored Division, in addition to its own brigades, had operational command over the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division; the command, called "Task Force Iron" in recognition of the Division's nickname, "Old Ironsides", was the largest division-level command in the history of the United States Army.