Defense Advisory Board - ARES Security

Lt. General Guy Swan

U.S. Army

Lieutenant General Guy C. Swan III assumed command of United States Army North (Fifth Army) on 15 December 2009, following his assignment as the Chief of Staff and Director of Operations, CJ3 for Multi-National Force - Iraq.

USARNORTH is responsible for homeland defense, providing military support to civil authorities, and conducting military-to-military engagement with the armies of Mexico and Canada.

Lieutenant General Swan was commissioned as an Armor Officer from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in June 1976. His early assignments were in tank and cavalry units in Korea, Texas, and Washington State.

Lieutenant General Swan served as the Chief of Plans for the 1st Armored Division in Ansbach, Germany, and later as the division's Deputy Operations Officer in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After the Gulf War, he returned to the cavalry, joining the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse) in Fulda, Germany, as the Executive Officer of the regiment's 1st Squadron in Kuwait during Operation Positive Force and later as the Regimental Executive Officer.

He commanded the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank unit, at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and then served as a National Security Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Lieutenant General Swan later assumed command of the 2,500-Soldier 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse), serving as the 57th Colonel of the Regiment at the U.S. Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.

Lieutenant General Swan also served at the Pentagon as the Assistant Deputy Director for Strategy and Policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff before returning to Germany as the Commanding General of the 7th Army Training Command at Grafenwoehr. He was responsible for supporting the training readiness of all U.S. Army Soldiers based in Europe and deployed to Operations Joint Guardian and Joint Forge in the Balkans.

From 2002 to 2005, Lieutenant General Swan served as the Chief of Legislative Liaison, the Army's principal representative to the United States Congress. Following this assignment, he was the Commanding General of the Joint Force Headquarters - National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington from 2005 to 2007, where he commanded all Army troops within the National Capital Region, served as the Joint Force commander for various response missions in the greater Washington, D.C. area, and was Mrs. Betty Ford's official escort during the state funeral for President Gerald R. Ford in January 2006.

Lieutenant General Swan also served as the Director of Operations, J3, for United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), coordinating all operational matters in the areas of Homeland Defense and Defense Support to Civil Authorities.

Lieutenant General Swan holds a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences degree from the School of Advanced Military Studies. He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), board-certified in security management.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Korean Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge, Army Staff Identification Badge, and the U.S. Armor Association's Order of St. George.