Michael Douglas Barbero (born September 14, 1953) is a retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

and consultant.

Early life and education

Born in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1953, Barbero was commissioned in the infantry upon graduation from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point with a B.S. degree in 1976. He holds a master's degree in national security and strategic studies from the

National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...

, Washington, D.C. Barbero is also a graduate of the U.S. Army's

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

and the

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Program.

Military career

Lieutenant General Michael D. Barbero served as Director, Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization ( JIEDDO) from March 2011 until May 2013. In this post, he was responsible for leading the Defense Department's actions to rapidly provide counter-IED capabilities in support of combatant commanders, military services and other federal agencies to enable the defeat of the IED as a weapon of strategic influence. Following his commissioning as an infantry officer in 1976, Lieutenant General Barbero served in a variety of tactical assignments in mechanized, light and air assault infantry units. He served in the 1st Cavalry Division,

2d Infantry Division The 2nd Infantry Division (2ID, 2nd ID) ("Indianhead") is a formation of the United States Army. Since the 1960s, its primary mission has been the pre-emptive defense of South Korea in the event of an invasion from North Korea. Approximately 17 ...

, two tours in the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

, the 7th Infantry Division, the

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division (military), division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in ...

and the 4th Infantry Division. In addition to infantry assignments at the tactical level, he commanded at every grade, from lieutenant colonel to lieutenant general. He commanded the 3d Battalion, 187th Infantry Battalion in the

and the 2d Brigade,

. As a brigadier general, he commanded one of the Army's combat training centers, the Joint Readiness Training Center and

Fort Polk Fort Polk, formerly Fort Johnson, is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. Named after New Yo ...

, Louisiana. As a major general, he commanded the

United States Army Infantry Center The United States Army Infantry School is a school located at Fort Benning, Georgia that is dedicated to training infantrymen for service in the United States Army. Organization The school is made up of the following components: * 197th Infan ...

and

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

, Georgia. Immediately prior to joining JIEDDO, he commanded the Multi-National Security Transition Command–Iraq and NATO Training Mission–Iraq. Other staff assignments included service as the executive assistant to the commander of

Joint Forces Command The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services. History Background In August 2010 the then Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, ask ...

Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) was one of two supreme commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the other being the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The SACLANT led Allied Command Atlantic was based ...

, the Deputy Director for Regional Operations on the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense, ...

and the Chief of Staff,

III Corps III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * I ...

and

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

, Texas, Austin. Lieutenant General Barbero served nearly four years in Iraq over three separate tours. During the first year of

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

, from 2003 to 2004, he served as the assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division. He next served in Iraq as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Operations at

Multi-National Force – Iraq The Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF–I), often referred to as the Coalition forces, was a U.S.-led military command during the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009. The vast majority of MNF-I was made up of United States Army forces. However it also ...

during "the surge" in 2007 and 2008. Finally, during his most recent deployment, from 2009 to January 2011, he was responsible for the training, equipping and development of all Iraqi security forces and building the ministerial capabilities of both the Ministries of Interior and Defense, while serving simultaneously as the Commander of

Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq Multinational may refer to: * Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries * Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries * Multinational state, a sovereign state that comprises two or more na ...

and the Commander of the NATO Training Mission - Iraq. He also deployed to Panama and participated in

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

in December 1989.

Consulting

Barbero has worked as a consultant for Ironhand Security, Intelligent Decisions Systems and Jones Group International. He has worked as a paid advisor to the Saudi, Kuwaiti and Libyan governments.

Awards and decorations

References

External links