Ricky Lynn Waddell (born 31 October 1959) is a retired

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

who last served as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2018 to 2021. He served as a

Deputy National Security Advisor The United States Deputy National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and the United States National Security Council, serving under the President's National Security Advisor. Among other res ...

to President

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 P ...

from 2017 to 2018. His promotion to

was authorized by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on 26 September 2019. He retired on 1 October 2021.

Early life

Waddell attended the

United States Military Academy 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 ...

, graduating in 1982 with a degree of

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

Military career

Waddell became an Engineer Officer with 15th Engineer Battalion, then the 9th Infantry Division as a Platoon Leader and Battalion Maintenance Officer. With Joint Task Force Bravo at Soto Cano (Palmerola) Air Base, Comayagua, Honduras, he served as the JTF Engineer. In the 35th Engineer Battalion, he served as the Commander C Company. He returned to the United States Military Academy as an instructor in the Department of Social Sciences. He subsequently served as Director for European Security Affairs on the National Security Council. Waddell has been an Active Reserve officer, filling the following roles: * Special Assistant at the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army; * Deputy Commander for Mobilization and Reserve Affairs,

United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, o ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

* Energy Sector Strategic Analyst,

United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Ta ...

* Special Advisor, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault),

Tikrit, Iraq Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. , it had ...

* Joint Strategic Planner, Headquarters

Multi-National Force – Iraq The Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF–I), often referred to as the Coalition forces, was a military command during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and much of the ensuing Iraq War, led by the United States of America ( Operation Iraqi Freedom), Unite ...

; * Director of Oil, J9,

United States Forces – Iraq United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) was an American military sub-unified command, part of U.S. Central Command. It was stationed in Iraq as agreed with the Government of Iraq under the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. USF–I repla ...

* J4 (operational support – wartime),

United States Forces Korea United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a ...

* Director, Combined Joint Interagency Task Force – Shafafiyat ("transparency"),

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Afghanistan (following

H. R. McMaster Herbert Raymond McMaster (born July 24, 1962) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Endurin ...

) * Commander, 76th Operational Response Command,

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

(

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 ...

; assumed command, 17 October 2015) A special retirement review was held for Waddell at Conmy Hall, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall on 13 August 2021. He is set to vacate his role as assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the end of September 2021, with his retirement effective on 1 October 2021.

Civilian career

Waddell spent 17 years working in South America. His roles included

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

for South America,

BG Group BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory and ...

(oil and gas) and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

, Anglo Ferrous Metals in Brazil. During this period, he lived for 12 years in

Sao Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

. Waddell ran the Keystone,

Capstone CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a lunar orbiter that will test and verify the calculated orbital stability planned for the Lunar Gateway space station. The spacecraft is a 12- ...

, and Pinnacle programs as a civilian employee of the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

at the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Deputy National Security Advisor

In early May 2017, Waddell was reportedly named as the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, following

K. T. McFarland Kathleen Troia McFarland (born Kathleen M. Troia; July 22, 1951) is an American political candidate, former government official, and political commentator. She served as Deputy National Security Advisor under Michael Flynn for the first four mon ...

, to serve under Lieutenant General

, National Security Advisor.Army Reserve major general named deputy national security adviser
Charlsy Panzino, ArmyTimes.com, 10 May 2017. Waddell's appointment was blocked, initially, by White House Chief of Staff,

Reince Priebus Reinhold Richard Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician who served as White House Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, until July 31, 2017. He also served as the chairman of the Republ ...

.Washington Loves General McMaster, But Trump Doesn't – The national security adviser has lost sway. The White House says everything's fine.
Eli Lake,

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

, 9 May 2017, accessed 11 May 2017. The announcement was made official on 19 May 2017. On 12 April 2018, the White House announced that Waddell would leave in the coming weeks. His departure happened shortly after

John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...

's appointment as National Security Advisor. Waddell was one of several officials who left at Bolton's request.

Decorations and awards

Education

Waddell has received the following degrees: *

in Engineering –

* Master of Public Administration –

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate program ...

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in History and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

–

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

as a Rhodes ScholarOn Trump’s Latin America team
LAGG, 25 March 2017 (updated 8 May 2017), accessed 11 May 2017. *

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

–

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Publications

Waddell has written four historical military books, dealing with his Latin America and Army experiences: * ''Wars Then & Now'' * ''In War's Shadow: Waging Peace in Central America'' * ''The Army and Low Intensity Conflict'' * ''In War's Shadow – At the Edge of the Cold War'' Waddell has also published various journal articles, including: * R. D. Hooker Jr. and Ricky L. Waddell, ''The Future of Conventional Deterrence'', ''

Naval War College Review The ''Naval War College Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the United States Navy's Naval War College. It covers public policy matters of interest to the maritime services and was established in 1948. History Dur ...

'', Summer 1992.

References

External links

Official biography
– Joint Chiefs of Staff
Official biography
– US Army Reserve {{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell, Ricky L. 1959 births Living people People from Bentonville, Arkansas Military personnel from Arkansas Writers from Arkansas United States Military Academy alumni American Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Webster University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni American male writers United States Army generals Trump administration personnel United States Deputy National Security Advisors