Ronald S. Mangum

Brigadier General Ronald Mangum became active in the Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jerusalem (OSMTJ) and was later elected Master of the OSMTJ by nineteen of twenty-four Grand Priors on January 2, 2020. Subsequently, General Mangum’s branch of Templarism has grown to forty-one Grand Priories stretching from North America to China.

He helped establish the brotherhood of Tadzrelebi (Templars) in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia in 2008 and served as Preceptor of that group from 2009. He has also been active in the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (Grand Croix) (Grand Commander of the Grand Priory of Carpathia), the Order of the Eagle of Georgia and the Seamless Tunic of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Grand Croix), the Order of St. Constantine Magnus (Knight) and Companion of the Order of the Red Branch (Ireland). He has been President of the American Hearing Research Foundation, Trustee of the Evanston (Illinois) Art Center, President of the Parkinson Research Corporation, Life member of the Art Institute of Chicago, and member of the Evanston (Illinois) Preservation Commission.

On December 5, 2008, Prince Krzysytof Konstanty Radziwill invested General Mangum as a hereditary noble knight of the Polish-Lithuanian Princely House of Radziwill and granted to him and all of his descendants, the right in perpetuity to incorporate into his arms the Arms of the Radziwill Family, described as "Argent three bugle horns in triangle the mouthpieces conjoined in fess point sable garnished, virolled and corded."

His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters, and the Order of Cheong Su (Republic of Korea), among others. His military qualifications include the Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist badges (U.S. and Republic of Korea), Pathfinder Badge, Special Operations Diver badge, Aircrew Badge and Canadian Parachutist badge. General Mangum's military education included the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, Special Forces Qualification Course, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Civil Affairs Officer Advanced Course, Engineer Officer Advanced Course, the United States Army Command and General Staff Course, the United States Army War College, Capstone and the Joint General Officer/Flag Officer Warfighters Course. Following his retirement from military service, he became a consultant to the United States Department of Defense and was contracted as a senior advisor to the Georgian Ministry of Defense from 2005 to 2011.

Mangum served as a full Professor of National Security Studies from 2005 to 2011 at American Military University and briefly served as Program Director of the National Security Studies Program in 2006. He developed and taught courses in Research Methods in National Security Studies, Concepts of National Security, U.S. National Security, International Security, Diplomacy and National Security and Institutions of National Security.

In 2005, for service rendered the head of the family of Rhedey von Kis-Rhede line of the Saros Country of the Genus Aba of the former Kingdom of Hungary granted perpetual use of one of the coats of arms granted to the Rhedey family in 1578 by King Rudolf of Hungary and Austria at Pressburg, Austria. The arms have been registered with the American College of Heraldry (2007) and the Russian College of Heraldry (2008), and are described as:

Mangum retired from the United States Army in November 2004 after 35 years of enlisted and officer service. His last command consisted of three elements: Commanding General, Special Operations Command Korea; Commanding General, United Nations Special Operations Component; and Deputy Commanding General, Combined Unconventional Warfare Task Force. He served in Korea from September 2000 to August 2003.

Mangum was active in many charitable organizations, especially the modern Knights Templar organization known as the Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani (OSMTH) in which he attained the rank of Grand Croix and served as international Grand Chancellor General from 1996 to 2003 and Grand Prior of Austria from 2011.

Mangum has been featured in several editions of Who's Who including Who's Who in the Midwest (1980–81; 1982–83; 1984–1985); Who's Who in American Law, 1st and 2nd Editions; and Who's Who in America 2012 (66th Edition), as well as in Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Pre-eminent Lawyers (1999).

As a practising lawyer, Mangum was admitted to practice before the Supreme Courts of Illinois (1968) and Wisconsin (1985), the United States Tax Court, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Courts (Northern, Central and Southern Districts of Illinois) and the Federal Trial Bar. Mangum practiced law in Chicago for over 30 years, founding the firm of Mangum, Smietanka & Johnson, L.L.C. He served in several leadership positions in the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. In the ISBA he was an assembly delegate (1973–1979) and Chair several committees including State Taxation Section Council (1974–1977); Chair, Standing Committee on Long Range Planning (1983–1985); and Chair, Standing Committee on Legislation (1986–1989). In addition, he was founder and chairman of the Health Care Law section (1983–1988). In the Chicago Bar Association he served at Chairman of the Judicial Evaluation and Reform Committee (1976–1977). He retired from the active practice of law upon re-entering active duty with the United States Army in 2000, but returned to the legal profession in 2011 as the Country Director of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in Armenia in 2011, where he has been admitted to the Armenian Chamber of Advocates as a licensed foreign attorney.

Mangum was born in Chicago, Illinois to Roy Oliver and Marjorie Wilma Mangum. He grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois and attended Maine Township High School. Subsequently, he attended Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, from which he graduated in three years with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History (1965), and Northwestern University School of Law, from which he graduated with a degree of Juris Doctor (1968). He subsequently attended Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, where he received Master of Arts degree in diplomacy and military science in 2004, and attended Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia where he received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in International Relations, cum laude (2020).

Brigadier General Ronald S. Mangum, PhD, JD (born November 14, 1944) is a retired United States Army general officer, author, professor, and lawyer.

Previous command assignments included Deputy Division Commander; Assistant Division Commander (Logistics); Commander, 1st Brigade (Battle Command Staff Training); Commander, 4th Brigade (Field Exercise Training); Commander, Battle Projection Group (Battle Command Staff Training); Commander, 1st Battalion, 340th Regiment (Instructor); all in the 85th Division (Training Support). He also served as the Operations Officer (S-3) of the 314th Army Security Agency Battalion, Group Intelligence Officer (S-2) and Commander, Operational Detachment A, 1st Battalion, 12th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Arlington Heights, Illinois.