1. Lloyd James Austin III was born on August 8,1953 and is a retired United States Army four-star general who served as the 28th United States secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025.
104 Facts About Lloyd Austin
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Lloyd Austin is the first African American to hold each of these positions.
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Lloyd Austin holds the unique distinction of having commanded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan at the one-, two-, three- and four-star levels, and was the first African American to command a division, corps, and field army in combat.
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Lloyd Austin is a recipient of the Silver Star, the nation's third highest award for valor, for his actions during the Iraq invasion, as well as five Defense Distinguished Service Medals.
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Lloyd James Austin III was born on August 8,1953, in Mobile, Alabama; he was raised in Thomasville, Georgia.
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Lloyd Austin graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975.
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Lloyd Austin later earned a Master of Arts degree in counselor education from Auburn University's College of Education in 1986, and a Master of Business Administration in business management from Webster University in 1989.
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Lloyd Austin is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College.
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In June 1975, Lloyd Austin graduated from West Point and was commissioned in the Infantry as a second lieutenant.
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Lloyd Austin completed Airborne and Ranger schools prior to receiving his initial assignment in Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division as a rifle platoon leader and later as a scout platoon leader and company executive officer in 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry.
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In 1981, Lloyd Austin was assigned to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was the operations officer for the Army Indianapolis District Recruiting Command, and where he later commanded a company in the Army Recruiting Battalion.
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Lloyd Austin then returned to West Point as a company tactical officer.
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Lloyd Austin subsequently served as Executive Officer for 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain, and later Director of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security for Fort Drum.
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In 1993, Lloyd Austin returned to the 82nd Airborne Division where he commanded the 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry.
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Lloyd Austin was awarded a Silver Star, the nation's third highest award for valor, for his actions as commander during the invasion.
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Lloyd Austin served from September 2003 until August 2005 as Commanding General of 10th Mountain Division, with duty as Commander, Combined Joint Task Force 180, during the War in Afghanistan.
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Lloyd Austin was the first African American to serve as a US Army division commander in combat.
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Lloyd Austin subsequently served as Chief of Staff of US Central Command at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida, from September 2005 until October 2006.
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On December 8,2006, Lloyd Austin was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed command of XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
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Lloyd Austin was the first African American general officer to lead a corps-sized element in combat.
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Lloyd Austin assumed the mission during the period when the Surge forces were drawing down.
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Lloyd Austin expertly oversaw the responsible transition of forces out of the country while ensuring that progress continued on the ground.
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Lloyd Austin handed over command of XVIII Corps to become Director of the Joint Staff in August 2009.
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On September 1,2010, at a ceremony at Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, Lloyd Austin was promoted to the rank of general, becoming the Army's 200th four-star general officer and the sixth African American in the US Army to achieve the top rank.
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Lloyd Austin was preceded in the role by General Ray Odierno.
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Lloyd Austin oversaw the transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom and combat operations to Operation New Dawn and stability operations focused on advising, assisting, and training the ISF.
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Lloyd Austin was extensively involved in the internal US discussions and then negotiations with the Iraqi Government leading up to the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement.
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Lloyd Austin oversaw the entire operation, concurrently planning and executing the orderly drawdown and redeployment of approximately 50,000 service members.
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In December 2011, Lloyd Austin was nominated to become Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
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Lloyd Austin spearheaded the Army's efforts to increase awareness and improve treatment options for the "invisible wounds" of war, namely traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress.
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Lloyd Austin became the commander of CENTCOM on March 22,2013, after being nominated by President Obama in late 2012.
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Lloyd Austin was preceded as CENTCOM commander by General James Mattis, whom Lloyd Austin would later succeed as secretary of defense.
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Lloyd Austin directed the activities of four service component commands, one subordinate unified command, two major subordinate multi-service commands, and several temporary task forces actively engaged in military operations.
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Lloyd Austin oversaw more than 150,000 American and Coalition forces involved in operations throughout the region.
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Immediately after retiring as CENTCOM Commander, Lloyd Austin joined the board of Raytheon Technologies, a military contractor, in April 2016.
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On May 29,2018, Lloyd Austin was appointed as an independent director on the board of Tenet Healthcare.
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Lloyd Austin operates a consulting firm and has been a partner at Pine Island Capital, an investment company with which Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Michele Flournoy are affiliated.
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Lloyd Austin took office on January 22,2021, after being sworn in by a Defense Department official, and was later sworn in ceremonially by Vice President Kamala Harris on January 25,2021.
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On March 28,2023, Lloyd Austin testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on DoD's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2024 and the Future Years Defense Program.
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On January 1,2024, Lloyd Austin was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications following a minimally invasive surgical procedure conducted on December 22,2023, to address his prostate cancer.
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Lloyd Austin spent several days in Walter Reed's intensive care unit and during that time delegated authority to the deputy secretary of defense Kathleen Hicks.
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The cancer was treated early, and Lloyd Austin's doctors have stated that his prognosis is "excellent".
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Some Democratic and Republican members of Congress have called on Lloyd Austin to resign due to the failure to disclose his absence.
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On February 29,2024, Lloyd Austin testified before the House Armed Services Committee regarding his hospitalization.
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On February 25,2021, under Biden's direction, Lloyd Austin coordinated military defensive airstrikes against an Iranian-backed militia in Syria.
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Lloyd Austin had previously recommended such airstrikes as a response to Iranian attacks on Americans in Iraq earlier in the month.
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Lloyd Austin stated there were investments being made to improve the technology used for counterterrorism efforts.
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On December 18,2023, Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a multinational maritime task force, Operation Prosperity Guardian, to address attacks from Houthis in Yemen on commercial ships and other targets.
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On October 16,2024, Lloyd Austin released a statement about a series of precision strikes conducted earlier that day by US Air Force B-2 bombers against five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
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The next day, October 17,2024, Lloyd Austin highlighted three lessons that he views as key to ongoing success against global terrorism while speaking at NATO's D-ISIS Ministerial in Brussels, Belgium.
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On October 8,2023, the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, Austin directed Gerald R Ford carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean in response.
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On December 18,2023, Lloyd Austin declared that American support for Israel is "unshakeable".
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On March 5,2024, Lloyd Austin met with Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz.
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Lloyd Austin conveyed strong concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and requested Minister Gantz's support in enabling more humanitarian assistance and distribution into Gaza.
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Lloyd Austin emphasized the critical need for a credible and implementable plan for protecting civilians and addressing the humanitarian situation prior to any ground operations in Rafah.
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Lloyd Austin said there was "no question" that there had been "far too many" civilian casualties in the war in Gaza.
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On July 31,2024, following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh by Israel, Lloyd Austin reiterated an "unwavering commitment" to Israel's security and said the United States would come to its defense if needed.
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On October 1,2024, Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Gallant that the United States supports Israel's ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
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On October 17,2024, Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli minister of defense Yoav Gallant to discuss reports on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the terrorist assault on Israel on October 7,2023, in which 1,200 Israelis and other civilians from more than 30 countries, including the US were murdered and 251 people were taken hostage.
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Lloyd Austin expressed strong support for the immediate release of all remaining hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.
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Lloyd Austin later issued a statement about the killing of Sinwar, stating:.
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The trip was part of the Biden administration's "America is back" diplomatic theme, and Lloyd Austin pledged the US's commitment to reaffirm ties with its allies and to maintain a robust military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
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Lloyd Austin added that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains a top priority for the Biden Administration, and that the alliances with South Korea and Japan are among the most important tools the United States has in that regard.
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In June 2023, as part of his seventh official visit to the Indo-Pacific region, Lloyd Austin traveled to Tokyo to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and other senior leaders, including Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
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Lloyd Austin's visit came as the United States and Japan took important strides to modernize Alliance capabilities, optimize US force posture, and build links with like-minded partners following the historic US-Japan "2+2" Ministerial meeting earlier that year.
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In July 2024, Lloyd Austin made his eleventh official visit to the Indo-Pacific region where he conducted a series of engagements with counterparts and other senior officials in Japan and the Philippines.
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In November 2024, Lloyd Austin again met with President Marcos and Secretary Teodoro in the Philippines.
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In March 2021, Lloyd Austin made a three-day visit to India, where he met with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh, and other senior government officials.
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Lloyd Austin urged India to cancel the planned purchase of Russia's S-400 air defence system.
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Lloyd Austin made a second visit to India in June 2023, where he again met with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh as well as other senior leaders to discuss the ongoing joint efforts to modernize the US-India Major Defense Partnership.
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In November 2024, Lloyd Austin met with Indian defense minister Singh in Laos.
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At the June 2023 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Lloyd Austin warned that conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be devastating.
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Lloyd Austin underscored that the US remains committed to its longstanding one China policy, and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
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In November 2023, Lloyd Austin traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia for the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus where he emphasized the US commitment to ASEAN centrality as a key pillar of the United States' efforts to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific and detailed how US security cooperation with ASEAN partners is contributing to a more stable and prosperous region.
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Lloyd Austin delivered plenary remarks and announced the first-ever DoD Vision Statement for a Prosperous and Secure Southeast Asia that details ways to increase practical cooperation between the United States and Southeast Asia.
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Lloyd Austin announced the second-ever ASEAN-United States Maritime Exercise in 2025 to advance maritime safety and rule of law in the region.
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On February 19,2021, Lloyd Austin told reporters at the Pentagon that the Biden Administration had not yet determined whether the US would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the May 1 deadline set by the Trump administration in February 2020 as part of the Doha Agreement, a deal reached between the United States and the Taliban.
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On March 21,2021, Lloyd Austin met with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.
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That same month, Biden directed his national security team, including Lloyd Austin, to begin withdrawal planning that accounted for a range of possible contingencies, including a non-combatant evacuation operation.
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In December 2021, Lloyd Austin directed an independent After Action Review be conducted to provide a detailed assessment of the Defense Department's implementation of US Afghanistan policy from January 2020 through August 2021.
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Lloyd Austin said that he wanted to see "Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine".
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Lloyd Austin immediately ordered deployment of 7,000 US military personnel and key enablers to locations across Europe in support of Ukraine.
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Lloyd Austin made clear that the invasion of Ukraine was a "war of choice".
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On January 20,2023, Lloyd Austin traveled to Ramstein Air Base, Germany to conduct the eighth such meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
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Lloyd Austin was joined by ministers of defense and chiefs of defense from nearly 50 nations, including Ukrainian defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
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Lloyd Austin refused to cooperate with the International Criminal Court investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine, consistent with long-standing policy that it might legitimize the ICC's investigation of United States war crimes.
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On May 25,2023, Lloyd Austin hosted the 12th meeting of the UDCG, held virtually and attended by leaders from 50 countries.
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On June 15,2023, Lloyd Austin delivered remarks at the 13th meeting of the UDCG, marking the United States' new package of more than $2 billion under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
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At an October 31,2023 Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Lloyd Austin told lawmakers that supplemental aid is needed to help Ukraine continue to defend itself against Russia's ongoing aggression.
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On November 20,2023, Lloyd Austin met with President Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during an unannounced visit to Ukraine.
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On February 23,2024, Lloyd Austin issued a statement marking two years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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On June 2,2024, Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Singapore on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue to reiterate unwavering US support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
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On June 13,2024, Lloyd Austin hosted the 23rd meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contract Group in Brussels, Belgium.
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Lloyd Austin was joined by Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
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On September 6,2024, Lloyd Austin hosted the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where he welcomed special guest Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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Lloyd Austin met with Ukraine's minister of defense Rustem Umerov, reaffirming to both the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine.
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In September 2023, Lloyd Austin made his first trip to Africa as secretary of defense.
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Lloyd Austin then traveled to Kenya, where he and Kenyan Defense Minister Aden Duale signed a five-year security agreement to support working together against their common terror threat.
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Lloyd Austin pledged $100 million in support of Kenyan security deployments, as Kenya prepares to lead a multinational peacekeeping mission to Haiti to combat gang violence.
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Lloyd Austin concluded his trip on Africa's western coast, becoming the first US defense secretary to ever visit Angola.
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Lloyd Austin was honored with a farewell ceremony hosted by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown at Conmy Hall on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall on January 17,2025.
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Lloyd Austin received a traditional clap-out ceremony as he departed the Pentagon on his final day on January 17,2025.
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Lloyd Austin was raised by a devoutly Catholic mother and remains practicing himself.
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Lloyd Austin has worked as a non-profit administrator and served on the board of the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University.