Willard Burleson

Burleson next served as aide-de-camp to the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, with duty in the Combined Joint Task Force 180 and Multi-National Corps Iraq. Following that tour of duty, Burleson commanded the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, which included a tour with Multi-National Division, Baghdad, Iraq.

After attending the United States Army War College, Burleson returned to the 10th Mountain Division as commander of the 1st Brigade, which included a deployment to Regional Command-North, Afghanistan. Upon completion of brigade command, he served as the commander of the Joint Readiness Training Center’s Operations Group at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Burleson graduated from the United States Military Academy and was commissioned into the Infantry in May 1988. Burleson's first assignment was in the 7th Infantry Division (Light), Fort Ord, California, which included service in the Multi-National Force and Observers, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, and the invasion of Panama. He also served in 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Savannah, Georgia. He later commanded airborne companies in Vicenza, Italy, which included service as part of the initial entry force for operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

After competing duties in Italy, Burleson returned to the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia, and then served as aide-de-camp to the commander of United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. Burleson later served in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with deployments to Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Willard McKenzie Burleson III (born October 9, 1965) is a United States Army lieutenant general who serves as the Commanding General of the Eighth United States Army and the Chief of Staff of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command.