Thomas david Waldhauser

Thomas David tom waldhauser (born December 16 1953) is a united States Marine corps general who is the commander of the united States Africa command.. He previously served as director for joint force development ( j7) on the joint chief's of staff commanding General (marine expeditionary force and commanding General united States Marine corps forces central command.. Waldhauser is an alumnus of bemidji state universityGeneral Waldhauser was born in South St. Paul, Minnesota , and is a graduate of Bemidji State University [2] . He was commissioned in 1976 as an infantry officer through Platoon Leaders Class program via Officer Candidates School . His company grade assignments included platoon and company commander billets with both the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions; Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment aboard the USS Long Beach (CGN-9); and staff of the Commander of Amphibious Squadron Seven .

As a field grade officer, General Waldhauser was a

Battalion Landing Team Operations Officer and served on the faculty of the Amphibious Warfare School . During the Amphibious Warfare School tour, he deployed to the staff of the Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Central Command (Forward) during

Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm .

General Waldhauser also served on the II Marine Expeditionary Force staff. He was the Battalion Landing Team Commander of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. He also had duty at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, and the Pentagon with the Joint Staff Combating Terrorism Directorate (J-34).

As a Colonel, General Waldhauser assumed command of the 15th MEU (SOC) in 2000. During this tour, the 15th MEU (SOC) participated in combat operations in Southern Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom .

Appointed to the rank of Brigadier General in 2003, his initial assignments as a General Officer were Commanding General, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, and Deputy Commander, Marine Corps Combat Development Command . From 2006-2007, he served as Chief of Staff, US Special Operations Command , in Tampa, Florida.

As a Major General, he commanded the First Marine Division from September 2007 until July 2009.

Promoted to Lieutenant General in 2009, General Waldhauser served as the Deputy Commandant for Plans Policies, and Operations during 2009-2010. From October 2010 through September 2012, he served as the Commanding General...