John W. Nicholson Jr.

John William Nicholson Jr. (born May 8, 1957) is a retired United States Army four-star general who last commanded U.S. Forces - Afghanistan (USFOR-A) and the 41-nation NATO-led Resolute Support Mission from March 30, 2016 to September 2, 2018, succeeding General John F. Campbell.[2] He was the longest-serving commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, having been the senior officer in theatre for more than 2 years, 5 months.[3] He was previously commanding general, Allied Land Command from October 2014[4] and commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. Nicholson is the son of John W. Nicholson, also a former general officer in the United States Army, distantly related to British Brigadier John Nicholson (1822–1857).[5]

John W. Nicholson Jr.
General John W. Nicholson
Born (1957-05-08) May 8, 1957[1]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service1982–2018
Rank General
Commands heldResolute Support Mission / U.S. Forces Afghanistan
Allied Land Command
82nd Airborne Division
1st Battalion 23rd Infantry Regiment
AwardsDefense Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal (5)
Legion of Merit (3)

Career
Nicholson greets U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Kabul, 12 July 2016
Nicholson speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2018

John W. Nicholson Jr. graduated from West Point in 1982 and was commissioned into the infantry.[6] He earned a Bronze Star with "V" device as a paratroop lieutenant during the invasion of Grenada in 1983.

He was a strategist for Eric Shinseki at the point of the 9/11 attacks.[7] He went on to do six tours in Afghanistan.

Nicholson was the deputy director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.[8] He became commander of the 82nd Airborne Division in 2012. In 2014 Nicholson took control of the NATO Allied Land Command in Izmir, Turkey.[9]

Nicholson told the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2016 that "Since 9/11, the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan has largely defined my service."[10][11] Nicholson was given command of the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, amid a worsening security situation.[12][13][14][15]

Nicholson apologized in person for U.S. involvement in the Kunduz hospital airstrike.[16][17]

General Nicholson has testified before the following Congressional Committees: The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Senate Armed Services Committee. He participated in numerous sessions of the NATO North Atlantic Council, to include the Ambassadors to NATO, Chiefs of Defense, Defense Ministers, Foreign Ministers and Heads of State of the Alliance.

In 2017, as the commanding general in Afghanistan, General Nicholson, drew attention when he said in a press conference that his command “continued to get reports of” Russian assistance to the Taliban, including weapons — something that was the subject of internal debate within the intelligence community at the time but appears to have been validated by media reporting in July 2020. [18]

In January 2019, Nicholson was found to be responsible, along with General Francis H. Kearney III and Marine investigator Patrick Pihana, of gross errors in judgment in false accusations against a seven-member Marine elite commando force in 2007. The group was expelled from Afghanistan in 2007 amid unproven allegations that they massacred innocent bystanders in the frantic minutes following an ambush. They were cleared of wrongdoing more than a year later, after the case was heard by a military court. However, Nicholson and Kearney did little to set the record straight for 11 years. The group was fully vindicated in a report approved in January 2019 by the Navy Department.[19] Nicholson retired from the Army in 2018 before the report was published.[20]

Awards and decorations
Combat Infantryman Badge (Second Award)
Ranger tab
Master Parachutist Badge
Pathfinder Badge
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge
Army Staff Identification Badge
82nd Airborne Division Combat Service Identification Badge
75th Ranger Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia
French Parachutist Badge
German Parachutist badge in bronze
11 Overseas Service Bars
 Defense Distinguished Service Medal with one bronze oak leaf cluster
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters
Bronze Star with "V" Device and oak leaf cluster (one award for Valor)
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Army Commendation Medal
 Army Achievement Medal with oak leaf cluster
 Joint Meritorious Unit Award with oak leaf cluster
Army Meritorious Unit Commendation
 National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal with four service stars
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal
Army Service Ribbon
Army Overseas Service Ribbon with bronze award numeral 4
NATO Meritorious Service Medal
 NATO Medal for former Yugoslavia with service star
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Knight Commander's Cross
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References
  1. "Register of Graduates and Former Cadets of the United States Military Academy". 1991.
  2. "US General: Taliban Won't Capture a City by Winter". Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  3. ""We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us". An Analysis of NATO Strategic Communications: The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, 2003-2014. | StratCom". www.stratcomcoe.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-17. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
  4. SHAPE Public Affairs Office. "Change of Command at NATO's Allied Land Command". Allied Command Operations. NATO. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. Carlotta Gall (8 April 2014). The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001–2014. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-544-04568-2.
  6. Carroll, Ward. "New Commander for 82nd Airborne". Archived from the original on 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  7. "Meet the next commander in Afghanistan, who has deeper experience there than almost any U.S. general". Archived from the original on 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  8. MMillham. "Major General John W. Nicholson Jr. - Resolute Support Mission". Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  9. "All Americans change command". Archived from the original on 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  10. "Army's Nicholson: Career 'largely defined' by Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  11. "Lieutenant General John Nicholson Confirmation Hearing". Archived from the original on 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  12. "Top US Commander in Afghanistan to Face Lawmakers". Archived from the original on 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  13. "New U.S. General Takes Command of Coalition Forces in Afghanistan". The New York Times. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  14. http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Gen. John 'Mick' Nicholson takes command of U.S.-NATO forces in Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  15. "Nicholson Nominated as Next Afghan War Head".
  16. "US General Apologizes in Person for Bombing MSF Hospital in Afghanistan - VICE News". Archived from the original on 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  17. Kunduz, Reuters in (22 March 2016). "US and Nato commander apologizes for Médecins Sans Frontières bombing". Archived from the original on 18 September 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  18. https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2020/06/russian-bounties-are-part-moscows-aid-taliban-current-and-former-intel-officials-say/166538/
  19. "These Marines were falsely accused of war crimes. Twelve years later, they have vindication". MSN. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  20. Mashal, Mujib (2 September 2018). "'Time for This War in Afghanistan to End,' Says Departing U.S. Commander". Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
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