Person

Townsend, Stephen J.

1959

United States Army four-star general. He commands U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. He commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps from May 2015 until January 2018.[2] Townsend served with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 7th Infantry Division, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 78th Infantry Division, and the 10th Mountain Division. He fought in Operation Urgent Fury, Operation Just Cause, and Operation Uphold Democracy. With the 10th Mountain Division, he served in the War in Afghanistan, leading a task force in Operation Anaconda. Townsend became commander of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, leading it in the Battle of Baqubah in the Iraq War. Townsend became commander of the 10th Mountain Division in the War in Afghanistan. In May 2015 he became commander of XVIII Airborne Corps, and in late August 2016 took command of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, until III Corps commander Lieutenant General Paul E. Funk II took over command of the operation.