Career Robert W. Cone

1 career

1.1 commanding general, national training center
1.2 commanding general, combined security transition command - afghanistan
1.3 commanding general, iii corps , fort hood

career

cone served in variety of command, staff, , operational assignments in united states, germany, , southwest asia. first duty assignment 2nd armored division @ fort hood, texas, served platoon leader , troop executive officer in 2nd squadron, 1st cavalry regiment (2-1 cav).

in october 1981 cone became aide-de-camp assistant division commander, 2nd armored division. served battalion maintenance officer, combat service support company commander, , tank company commander in 1st battalion, 67th armored regiment (1-67 ar).

cone attended infantry advanced course in 1985 followed graduate school @ university of texas @ austin. next, cone served instructor , assistant professor in department of behavioral sciences , leadership @ united states military academy @ west point, new york. after selection , completion of u.s. army command , general staff college @ fort leavenworth, kansas, cone reported 11th armored cavalry regiment (blackhorse regiment) in fulda, germany.

cone served 2nd squadron operations officer (s-3) during operation desert storm, became regimental operations officer (s-3) in november 1991, regimental executive officer in march 1993. left 11th armored cavalry regiment in spring of 1994.

in next assignment, cone moved fort bliss, texas, , became regimental executive officer of 3rd armored cavalry regiment (brave rifles). assumed command of 1st squadron, 3rd armored cavalry regiment in october 1994. after squadron command, served special assistant commanding general, fort carson, colorado, reported naval war college in newport, rhode island in 1997.

cone became division operations officer (g-3) of 4th infantry division (mechanized), fort hood, texas, in july 1998. assumed command of 2d brigade, 4th infantry division, following year. brigade deployed south korea part of exercise foal eagle. led brigade in army s division capstone exercise in april 2001 culminating event in development of heavy digital force.

following brigade command, cone served director of joint advanced warfighting program, institute defense analyses located in alexandria, virginia, responsible developing joint force concepts , experiments. participated in operation iraqi freedom in 2003 director of u.s. joint forces command (jfcom) joint lessons learned collection team. cone tasked capture, document, , report real time lessons learned combat operations in iraq , afghanistan. work led establishment of joint center operational analysis @ jfcom. after returning middle east, cone served director of jfcom joint center operational analysis in suffolk, virginia.

commanding general, national training center

in september 2004, cone became commanding general of u.s. army s national training center (ntc) @ fort irwin, california. during 33-month command, cone implemented broad array of changes reorienting training on counterinsurgency operations. in conjunction joint ied defeat organization (jieddo), cone established joint center of operational excellence in training defeat of improvised explosive devices (ied) @ ntc.

commanding general, combined security transition command - afghanistan

cone deployed afghanistan in june 2007 part of operation enduring freedom , assumed command of combined security transition command - afghanistan. 18-month command focused on developing afghan national army , police. during tenure, afghan national army expanded 50,000 troops close 80,000 , broad array of reforms implemented address corruption , training in afghan national police.

after returning afghanistan, served special assistant army chief of staff became special assistant commanding general of army s united states army training , doctrine command responsible officer , enlisted soldier initial entry training.

commanding general, iii corps , fort hood

in september 2009, cone assumed command of iii corps , fort hood, texas. in march 2010, lieutenant general cone deployed iraq iii corps headquarters , became deputy commanding general operations, second highest-ranking military officer in united states forces – iraq until 8 february 2011. had responsibility operations throughout entire country including development , training of fielded iraqi security forces. oversaw transition operation iraqi freedom , counterinsurgency operations operation new dawn , stability operations. transition included drawdown of servicemembers 100,000 less 50,000 , transfer of more 120 bases, largest single movement of military personnel , equipment since world war ii. general cone returned ft. hood on 9 february 2011. promoted four-star rank of general , took command of u.s. army training , doctrine command in april 2011.