Who Is General William “Kip” Ward?
Retired U.S. Army general officer, William (Kip) Ward has enjoyed a rich and highly decorated career in the armed forces. Throughout this blog, we will focus on his work as a decorated officer as well as his charitable contributions, civic work, and more, including his current position on the External Research Advisory Panel of the Division of Research and Development at Morgan State University, his alma mater. He is a native of Baltimore, Maryland where the school is located.
General William Ward served as the inaugural Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) where he established the nation’s newest and uniquely positioned interagency combatant command. This command was made up of staff representatives from State, Commerce, Treasury, Homeland Security, and other U.S. Cabinet departments and agencies.
Prior to commanding AFRICOM, General William Ward served as the Deputy Commander of the United States European Command in Germany. He has also been selected as the United States Security Coordinator for the Israel-Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv; Commander 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia; NATO Commander of Operation Joint Forge in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and many more.
General William Ward served multiple command tours with troops in Germany, Korea, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Drum, New York, and Fort Wainwright in Alaska. He was commissioned as a Distinguished Military Graduate into the army in 1971 and has commanded at every level of the army. General Ward is the fifth 4-Star Army African-American General in U.S. History.
His military awards and badges include the following:
- Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters);
- Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf cluster);
- Defense Superior Service Medal (with two Oak Leaf Clusters);
- Legion of Merit (with three Oak Leaf Clusters);
- Expert Infantryman’s Badge;
- Combat Infantryman’s Badge;
- Master Parachutist Badge.
In addition to that, General William Ward has received multiple lifetime achievement honors of which he is very proud. For the past four (4) years, General Ward has been the President and COO of SENTEL Corporation of Alexandria, Virginia. He and his wife contribute to multiple charitable organizations and are proud parents and grandparents.