Bert Mizusawa
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Bert Kameaaloha Mizusawa (born January 1957) is a retired
major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, serving in the Army from 1979 to 2015. Mizusawa also served in the United States Senate as a professional staff member and as a Senior Executive in the Pentagon, making him one of only a handful of individuals to serve at flag rank in the military as well as in both the legislative and executive branches. Mizusawa is also an attorney and is admitted to the bars of New York, the District of Columbia, Virginia and the United States Supreme Court.


Early life

Bert K. Mizusawa was born January 1957 in
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
. Mizusawa is the second of six sons born to George T. and Theodora Mizusawa. Mizusawa's father met his mother in Europe while serving in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
. Soon thereafter Mizusawa's father enlisted in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
, and Mizusawa grew up in the Netherlands, Oklahoma, Ohio, Japan, Virginia and Germany before his family settled in
Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...
.


Education

High School Mizusawa attended high school in Kaiserslautern and Frankfurt, Germany and in 1975 he graduated from
Kecoughtan High School Kecoughtan High School (pronounced "KICK-a-tan") is a public high school located in Hampton, Virginia. The current grades offered are 9–12. Kecoughtan High School is one of four high schools located in the Hampton City Public School District. ...
in
Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...
. While in high school Mizusawa participated in varsity
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
, and
track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
. West Point In 1975 Mizusawa was accepted to the
United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
. While at West Point he served in the Cadet Captain position as Brigade Athletic Officer. On June 6, 1979, Mizusawa received his bachelor's degree from then Deputy Secretary of Defense, Charles W. Duncan, Jr., and graduated as the "number one man"—first in his class. Harvard Mizusawa attended
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989. He also received a Master of Public Policy from the
John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
and was twice selected as a MacArthur Fellow in International Security. While at Harvard, he interned with the United States Attorneys' Counterdrug Task Force.


Military

Graduating as top man on the list, Mizusawa received his first choice in the USMA Corps of Cadets' branch drawings—
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
.


Captain

As a captain, Mizusawa, an
Airborne Ranger ''Airborne Ranger'' is an action game developed and published by MicroProse for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum in 1987 and the Amstrad CPC and IBM PC compatibles in 1988. Ports to the Amiga and Atari ST by Imagitec Design were released in 1989 ...
, served as a
paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...
in Italy with the 1-509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team and commanded the Army's most forward-deployed combat unit, the Joint Security Force, in the
Korean DMZ The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in hal ...
. Soviet Defector Incident
Mizusawa led the Joint Security Force in a historic firefight against North Korean forces. Mizusawa was awarded the Silver Star for “exceptional valor and gallantry in action” while serving as the Commander of the Joint Security Force (JSF) Company at Panmunjom, Korea on 22 and 23 November 1984. His citation reads “In reaction to thirty attacking North Korean soldiers in pursuit of a Soviet defector, Captain Mizusawa's outstanding leadership and aggressive actions in leading his company while under fire were instrumental in defeating the enemy. Additionally, he personally led the defector to safety while under fire and deliberately, at great risk to himself, exposed himself to the enemy in front of his own troops to ensure the success of his company's combat action. Throughout the intense firefight, Captain Mizusawa displayed a complete disregard for his own personal safety while accomplishing his mission.” Some have credited the successful firefight and rescue of the Soviet defector, which unexpectedly did not result in a Soviet demarche, for convincing President Reagan to hold firm in his negotiations with the Soviet Union, which ultimately led to the end of the Cold War.


Colonel

From 2001 to 2004, Mizusawa was assigned as the first commander of the Army Reserve's new cyber command, the Army Reserve Information Operations Command. In 2005, he commanded the first team deployed to Afghanistan from the Joint Center of Operational Analyses.


Brigadier General

As a brigadier general, Mizusawa served as the Deputy G3 (Operations) of the U.S. Army Materiel Command, as Deputy to the Commanding General, Multinational Corps-Iraq and as the Deputy Commanding General of the 335th Theater Signal Command.


Major General

On August 2, 2011 Mizusawa was promoted to
major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
and assumed the assignment of Deputy Director for Strategic Initiatives, Joint Chiefs of Staff. He later served as the reserve assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and as commander of the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-Afghanistan (CJIATF-A), which was awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for its performance during Operation Enduring Freedom.


Civilian

Mizusawa was an attorney with the Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell from 1990 to 1994, where he advised underwriters on complex debt and equity issuances. He was lead attorney for the largest debt offerings in the world at the time, the World Bank's US$2.5 billion Global Bonds, which were issued simultaneously in New York, London and Tokyo. From 2001 to 2004, Mizusawa was president of Innovative Technology Application, Inc., a technology firm with multimedia and industrial security products. In 2004, Mizusawa founded Paxcentric, Inc., a technology and security consulting firm.


Government and politics

From 1995 to 1998, Mizusawa was appointed as a Professional Staff Member on the
United States Senate Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for ''Senate Armed Services Committee'') is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defe ...
, where he assisted the chairman with oversight of national defense. In 1996, he authored the GOP national security platform for the presidential campaign. In 1998, he was appointed as a three-star level Senior Executive in
The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
. In 2010, Mizusawa unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Congress seat from Virginia. In May 2016, during the 2016 Republican presidential primary process, Mizusawa endorsed the candidacy of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and soon thereafter became a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign. He authored the Trump doctrine for foreign policy, versions of which were published by USA Today on-line and in its print edition. Mizusawa was director of national security policy for the Presidential Transition Team. In 2018, he launched a campaign for the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Senator
Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...
, but failed to collect enough signatures to make the ballot. In early 2020, Mizusawa was appointed as a senior adviser for national security technology and business integration at the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.


Articles

* ''Decentralized information age training: key to U.S. antiterrorism efforts. (Homeland Security)'' — (Sep. 2003) Colonel Mizusawa discusses the application of decentralized information age training in coping with the homeland security threat posed by terrorism in the U.S. Colonel Mizusawa also discusses the advantage of the application for city and country leadership; challenges in the deployment process; and drawbacks of Internet-based applications.


Mentions

* ''Dangerous Games: faces, incidents and casualties of the Cold War'' by James E. Wise, Jr., and Scott Baron. Naval Institute Press (2010): Annapolis, Maryland * ''
The Reagan Diaries ''The Reagan Diaries'' is an edited and published version of the diaries kept by Ronald Reagan during his presidency. The book was edited by Douglas Brinkley and was published by HarperCollins in 2007, three years after Reagan's death. It reache ...
'' edited by Douglas Brinkley. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation (2007): New York, New York (Referencing Soviet Defector Incident in
Korean DMZ The Korean Demilitarized Zone (Korean: ; Hanbando Bimujang Jidae) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in hal ...
)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizusawa, Bert 1957 births Living people People from Honolulu United States Military Academy alumni American military personnel of Japanese descent Recipients of the Silver Star Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni United States Army reservists Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Virginia Republicans Hawaii Republicans American politicians of Japanese descent Trump administration personnel People of the Central Intelligence Agency Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections Asian conservatism in the United States