William 'Bill' Green Jr. is a

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 ...

major general serves as the 26th and current

Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army The chief of chaplains of the United States Army (CCH) is the chief supervising officer of the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps. (Chaplains do not hold commanding authority.) From 1775 to 1920, chaplains were attached to separate units. The Office of t ...

. He is the third African-American to hold the position.

Biography

Born in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

to William Green Sr. and Mary Green, Green grew up in

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), a ...

. He has a brother, Calvin, who is a retired colonel; and three sisters, Rosalind, Samantha, and Brenda. After graduating from high school, Green enlisted in the army as a cannon crewman and radio repairman. Green married his wife Robin in 1984; they have three adult children. A member of the National Baptist Convention, Green left active duty in 1986 to become an ordained minister. He originally served as the pastor of a small congregation in

Garden City, Georgia Garden City is a city in Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located just northwest of Savannah, Georgia, Savannah. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population o ...

. In 1989 he received a BS in Criminal Justice from

Savannah State University Savannah State University (SSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is the oldest historically black public university in the state. Th ...

and in 1992 he received a Master of Divinity degree from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

. He became an army chaplain in 1994. Green has served as I Corps Command Chaplain at

Joint Base Lewis McChord A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

; Division Chaplain for the 1st Armored Division in Germany and deployed as part 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 ...

; chaplain of the

28th Combat Support Hospital The 28th Combat Support Hospital (28th CSH) was a Combat Support Hospital of the United States Army. It was first constituted in 1943 and served in China during World War II. During the Gulf War in 1990, it was the first Army hospital unit establ ...

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, during which he deployed as part of

Operation Joint Forge The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian War. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It was replaced by EUFOR Alth ...

; chaplain for the 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery,

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: * Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado ** Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States ** Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort L ...

, Washington; chaplain for the 702nd Main Support Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Casey, Korea; and as chaplain for the 14th Field Artillery,

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

, Oklahoma. From October 2016 to July 2019, Green was the command chaplain at

Fort Shafter Fort Shafter is a census-designated place Page 4/ref> located in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai‘i. It is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific, which commands most Army forces in the Asia-Pacific region with the exceptio ...

for the

United States Army Pacific The United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) is an Army Service Component Command which serves as the Army service component for United States Indo-Pacific Command. It may also serve as a Joint Task Force headquarters. The command has forces in Alas ...

First female Muslim Chaplain Candidate in the Army

Green was named deputy chief of chaplains and promoted to brigadier general in August 2019. In December 2023, he was promoted to major general. He was formally promoted in a ceremony in March 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, William United States Army generals Chiefs of Chaplains of the United States Army Deputy chiefs of Chaplains of the United States Army Year of birth missing (living people) Living people