Lewis Irwin

Major General Lewis G. Irwin, USA (Ret)
34th Commandant, Joint Forces Staff College
National Defense University
MG Lew Irwin relinquished command of the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) on August 3, 2020 and retired from active service in November. As a component of the National Defense University (NDU), JFSC consists of the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS); the Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS); and the Joint Command, Control & Information Operations School (JC2IOS). These schools develop joint warfighters and other national security leaders to plan and execute operational-level military operations in a joint, multinational, and interagency environment, while instilling in the students a primary commitment to joint, multinational, and interagency teamwork, attitudes, and perspectives.

Early in 2019, MG Irwin also assumed a “dual hat” as the inaugural Director of the newly established Joint Force Development and Design Center (JFDDC), in Suffolk, Virginia. With a primary goal of forging a collaborative partnership between DoD’s intellectual centers and a strengthened Joint Force development enterprise, this Center is comprised of the Joint Staff J-7’s Futures and Concepts Division, Joint Wargaming and Experimentation Division, Joint Training Division, and Joint Education and Doctrine section. MG Irwin relinquished these duties to the permanent Director in December 2019.

A native of Claysville, Pennsylvania, MG Irwin is a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and he holds a doctorate in political science from Yale University as well as a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. In his civilian career, he is a professor of public policy and government at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He is the author of four books on American politics and policy, as well as various articles on national security and American politics. One book analyzes the NATO mission in Afghanistan and the U.S. government’s strategic and interagency challenges there, while his current research interests have him examining the increasingly polarized nature of American society and politics, and the implications of those divisions for the future.

During more than 34 years of service in the Army and Joint assignments, MG Irwin served overseas in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, in addition to a variety of stateside locations. His active duty service included tours in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); service with the 3rd Armored Division during Operation “Desert Storm”; Sapper company command in the 1st Armored Division in Germany; faculty service in West Point’s Department of Social Sciences; and joint duty with the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, while working with the Afghan National Police and NATO’s international partners. Other brief overseas missions included conducting research for the Center for Army Lessons Learned in Bosnia and gathering “lessons learned” in Iraq for 1st Army. He also served as an Adjunct Professor for Research at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute and on the Secretary of Defense’s Reserve Forces Policy Board.

Other command assignments included the 2nd Battalion, 312th Regiment; the 301st Regional Support Group; the 926th Engineer Brigade; and the 416th Theater Engineer Command, comprised of more than 12,500 Soldiers assigned to 175 units across 26 western states. He also served as the officer-in-charge of a Joint Deployable Team in the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command (JECC) in Norfolk, Virginia.

MG Irwin’s military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (w/OLC), Bronze Star Medal (w/OLC), and various other awards. He is Airborne, Air Assault, Sapper, and Jungle Warfare qualified, and holds the Army’s “3H” Joint Planner designation.

Lew and his wife Marcia have been married for over 32 years and have three adult children. Two of their children currently serve in the U.S. Army, and the third is a teacher and coach at Fort Belvoir.

Education

Education

Ph.D. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, Political Science, May 1998
Dissertation: Evaluating Change in Legislative Success: Actors, Procedures,
Strategies, and Product in the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee Chair: David R. Mayhew

M.S.S. U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Strategic Studies, July 2009
M.Phil. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, Political Science, December 1995
M.A. Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, Political Science, December 1994
B.S. U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, Civil Engr. Mgmt., May 1986

Academic Appointments

Adjunct Professor for Research, U.S. Army War College: Strategic Studies, 2010-present
Professor, Duquesne University; Public Policy 2013-2017 and Political Science, 2013-present
Associate Professor, Duquesne University: Public Policy and Political Science, 2005-2013
Assistant Professor, Duquesne University: Public Policy and Political Science, 2000-2005
Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh: Military Science, 1998-2000
Assistant Professor, U.S. Military Academy: American Politics, 1995-1998
Teaching Assistant to Stephen Skowronek, Yale University: The American Presidency, 1994

Pertinent Non-Academic Appointments

Commanding General, 926th Engineer Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve (January 2012-present) As a Brigadier General and commander, responsible for the training, health, morale, welfare, and combat readiness of more than 5,500 Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to 44 combat engineer units spread throughout the southeastern United States.

Deputy Commander, 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Reserve (March 2011-December 2011) As a Colonel, served as the deputy to the commander responsible for the training, health, morale, welfare, and combat readiness of approximately 10,000 Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to more than 100 combat sustainment units spread throughout the northeastern United States.

Commander, 301st Regional Support Group, U.S. Army Reserve (June 2009-March 2011) As a Colonel and commander, was responsible for the training, health, morale, welfare, and combat readiness of more than 1,500 Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to 17 combat sustainment units spread throughout Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and Virginia.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, U.S. Joint Forces Command (April 2008-May 2009) As a Colonel and team leader, was responsible for the training, health, morale, welfare, and deployment readiness of approximately 30 active duty and Reserve Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who comprised a Joint Deployable Team, available to support the Geographic Combatant Commanders (GCCs) and Joint Task Forces (JTFs) as needed.

Chief, Afghan National Police Force Integration Team, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (August 2007-February 2008) As a Lieutenant Colonel, was responsible for leading an ad hoc interagency and coalition working group charged with designing, socializing, and implementing a nation-wide reform of the Afghan National Police.

Deputy Commander, 300th Sustainment Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve (April 2006-August 2007) As a Lieutenant Colonel, served as the deputy to the commander responsible for the training, health, morale, welfare, and combat readiness of more than 1,500 Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to combat sustainment units spread throughout the mid-Atlantic states.

Battalion Commander, 2nd Battalion, 312th Regiment, U.S. Army Reserve (November 2003-March 2006) As a Lieutenant Colonel and commander, was responsible for the training, health, morale, and welfare of the unit's 151 active duty and Reserve Soldiers. The unit's mission included providing training support and mobilization assistance for deploying Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers and Military Support to Civil Authorities (MSCA) in times of crisis.

Operations Officer, 99th Regional Readiness Command, U.S Army Reserve (November 2000-June 2003) As a Major and operations officer for the Deputy Commanding General, was responsible for legislative outreach and for emergency preparedness activities related to the role of the U.S. Army Reserve in homeland security operations.

Primary Researcher, U.S. Army (November 1998-January 1999) As an active duty Army Major, conducted research requested by the Chief of Staff of the Army into family readiness and related support operations. The mission included data collection through interviews and primary source document analysis in Bosnia, Germany, and a variety of stateside locations. The mission culminated with a Center for Army Lessons Learned publication distributed throughout the Army.

Pertinent Professional Certifications

Advanced Joint Professional Military Edtinent Professional Certificationsucation: Joint Forces Staff College, June 2011

Master of Strategic Studies: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S. Army War College, July 2009
U.S. Command and General Staff College: Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, December 2002
DOD Emergency Preparedness Course: FEMA/Mt. Weather, Virginia, August 2002

Peer-Reviewed Publication Pertaining to Teaching

Book The Policy Analyst's Handbook: Rational Problem Solving in a Political World.
Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2003.