WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has nominated Lt. Gen. James Mingus to be the next vice chairman of the Army Staff, according to an announcement in the Congressional Record.
Mingus, who will pin a fourth star if confirmed by the US Senate, comes from the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, where he has served as director since June 2022. He joined the staff in October 2020 as director of operations.
Over the past year, one of his duties has included serving on a new high-level team focused on providing military assistance to Ukraine.
A 1985 graduate of Winona State University in Minnesota, Mingus was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant through the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. He became a platoon leader in the 5th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Seventh Army in Germany in 1988, serving there for four years.
He joined the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), North Carolina, in 1992. Mingus also assumed command of the Long Range Surveillance Detachment, 1st Squadron and became a Regiment there, 17th assistant to the commanding officer of the 82nd.
The three-star also commanded another long-range surveillance company within the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg.
Mingus took a three-year teaching job in 1997 as an assistant professor of military science at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He then attended the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After his time in academia, Mingus joined the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia, serving as a liaison officer and operations officer. He would later take command of the Regiment’s Special Forces in 2007.
Returning to Fort Bragg in 2003, he became head of the Joint Planning Group with the Joint Special Operations Command.
If confirmed, Mingus will work closely with Gen. Randy George, who has been named the next Army Chief of Staff. Both were commanders of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado. George commanded the brigade from 2008 to 2010, and Mingus replaced him in 2010.
Mingus later returned to Fort Carson in 2015 as deputy commanding general of the 4th ID (Maneuver) after a stint at U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, as commander’s task force chief and a stint at J -5 as deputy director of the Special Plans Working Group.
Mingus also served as director of the Mission Command Center of Excellence at the US Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth for two years. He then assumed command of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg until 2020.
George, who is the current vice chief, testified today at a confirmation hearing to become the next Army chief of staff before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Biden nominated him to be the next leader in April.
Army Chief of Staff General James McConville will retire from military service next month.
Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist who covers land warfare for Defense News. He has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.
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