Stephen R. Lyons is a retired four-star

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

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 ...

who last served as the 13th commander of the

United States Transportation Command The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is one of the eleven Unified combatant command, unified commands of the United States Department of Defense. In both times of peace and war, USTRANSCOM's role is to provide the Department of ...

from August 2018 to October 2021. He previously served as the commanding general of United States Army Combined Arms Support Command/ Sustainment Center of Excellence as well as the senior mission commander for Fort Lee, Virginia, from 2014 to 2015.

Early life

Lyons is a 1979 graduate of the La Salle Institute, an all-male private Catholic college preparatory school in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. He later earned an

associate's degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

from Hudson Valley Community College. In 1983, he graduated from the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

and commissioned through

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

as a second lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps.

Military education

Lyons received a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in

logistics management Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logi ...

from the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

in 1993 and a Master of Science in national resource strategy from the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University (Washington, D.C.), National Defens ...

in 2005.

Military career

Lyons served as battalion executive officer for the Division Support Command and also as the executive officer and Division Materiel Management Center Chief in the 1st Armored Division in Germany. Lyons was the Plans Officer for the J-4

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

. His battalion command was with the 703rd Main Support Battalion and he later served as the G-4 of the 3rd Infantry Division. He commanded the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

Support Command and later commanded the 82nd Sustainment Brigade. He served as the executive officer to the Commander,

United States Army Materiel Command The U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army. The command's mission includes the management of installations, as well as maintenance and parts distribution. AMC operates depots; arsenals; am ...

. He has served with the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) as C/J-4. He was the Director, Logistics Operations, Readiness, Force Integration and Strategy at Headquarters, Department of the Army G-4. Lyons commanded of the 8th Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii from 2012 to 2014. The 8th TSC is responsible for logistics and sustainment of the army in the Pacific. The command spans 9,000 miles and controls units providing supplies, maintenance, transport, engineer, personnel, and military police from Alaska to Korea. From August 22, 2014, to August 7, 2015, Lyons commanded the Combined Arms Support Command/ Sustainment Center of Excellence at Fort Lee, Virginia. Lyons becoming CG of TRANSCOM

Lyons deployed for two tours to Iraq (2003, 2006–2008) in support 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 ...

and later to Afghanistan (2009–2011) in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

. He was involved in

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

Relief Operations in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in 2005. He served in 1996 in Bosnia-Herzegovina during

Operation Joint Endeavor The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''. Background In ...

as part of the Implementation Force (IFOR) and deployed in 1989 for

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 Panama. After serving as the Deputy Commanding General for

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Originally Scott Field, it was one of 32 Air Service training camps established af ...

, Illinois, Lyons was assigned as the Director for Logistics (J4) on the Joint Staff. In April 2018, Lyons was nominated for promotion to

and assignment as commander of United States Transportation Command. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and took command of United States Transportation Command on August 24, 2018. Lyons is the first ever non-

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

officer to lead Transportation Command. His retirement ceremony was held on October 15, 2021, with the retirement effective November 30, 2021.

Post-military career

On May 27, 2022, the White House and the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

announced that Retired General Lyons, would be the new Port and Supply Chain Envoy to the Biden-Harris Administration's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, taking over the role from John Porcari. In this role, Lyons is responsible for working with ports, rail, trucking and other private companies across the transportation logistics supply chain to address bottlenecks, speed up the movement of goods, and help lower costs.

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Stephen R. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Rochester Institute of Technology alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army generals