SPEAKER BIOS

U.S. Army Materiel Command
Lieutenant General James M. Link
Deputy Commanding General

Lieutenant General James M. Link became the Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command on August 3, 1998.

A veteran of Vietnam and Desert Storm, General Link has held numerous command and staff positions leading to his current assignment. Most recently, he was Chief of Staff of U.S. Army Materiel Command. Prior to that, he served as Commander, U.S. Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, AL. (now Aviation and Missile Command) from June 1994 to July 1997 and Deputy Commander, 21st Theater Army Area Command, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, from July 1993 to June 1994. From January 1992 to June 1993, he served as the MICOM Deputy Commanding General. He also served at MICOM from 1986 to 1989 as Director of Materiel Management Directorate in what is now the Integrated Materiel Management Center, and served as the Acting Director of this organization for eight months.
General Link was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in North Carolina. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps in 1967 after completing undergraduate work at Methodist College and graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also has a master's degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee. His military education includes the Army Command and General Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Methodist College and the University of Alabama, Huntsville.

He has held various logistical and staff assignments. While Commander, 16th Corps Support Group, V Corps, Hanau, Germany, he deployed to Southwest Asia in support of VII Corps during Operations Desert Shield and Storm. He was Deputy for Training Developments, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command; Chief, Ordnance Assignment Branch, MILPERCEN; Commander, 194th Maintenance Battalion, Camp Humphreys, Korea; and Department of the Army Staff Officer, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics. In Vietnam, he served as Company Commander and Technical Supply Officer, 173rd Airborne Brigade.
General Link's awards and decorations include: Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Bronze Star Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Achievement Medal, Senior Army Parachute Badge, and the Army General Staff Identification Badge.

General Link's wife is Judith, and they have a daughter, Carey.