Stanley Allen McChrystal (born 14 August 1954) is a retired United States Army general best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from 2003 to 2008 during which his organization was credited with the elimination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. His final assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, United States Forces – Afghanistan (USFOR-A). He previously served as Director, Joint Staff from August 2008 to June 2009. McChrystal received criticism for his alleged role in the cover-up of the Pat Tillman friendly fire incident. McChrystal was reportedly known for saying what other military leaders were thinking but were afraid to say; this was one of the reasons cited for his appointment to lead all forces in Afghanistan. He held the post from 15 June 2009 to 23 June 2010.
Former defense secretary Robert Gates described McChrystal as "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I ever met." However, following unflattering remarks about Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials attributed to McChrystal and his aides in a Rolling Stone article, McChrystal was recalled to Washington, D.C., where President Barack Obama accepted his resignation as commander in Afghanistan.
His command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan was assumed by the deputy commander, British Army general Sir Nicholas Parker, pending the confirmation of a replacement. Obama named General David Petraeus as McChrystal's replacement; Petraeus was confirmed by the Senate and officially assumed command on 30 June. Days after being relieved of his duties in Afghanistan, McChrystal announced his retirement. Since 2010, he has taught courses in international relations at Yale University as a Senior Fellow of the university's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
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Early career
Born on the Fort Leavenworth U.S. Army base in Kansas, McChrystal graduated high school from St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1976 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. His initial assignment was to Company C, 1st Battalion, 504th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, serving as weapons platoon leader from November 1976 to February 1978, as rifle platoon leader from February 1978 to July 1978, and as executive officer from July 1978 to November 1978.
In November 1978, McChrystal enrolled as a student in the Special Forces Officer Course at the Special Forces School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Upon completing the course in April 1979, he remained at Fort Bragg as commander of Operational Detachment A-714 (an "A-team") in Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). This was not the last time that '714' would be associated with McChrystal. In June 1980, he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, until February 1981.
In February 1981, McChrystal moved to South Korea as intelligence and operations officer (S-2/S-3) for the United Nations Command Support Group—Joint Security Area. He reported to Fort Stewart, Georgia, in March 1982 to serve as training officer in the Directorate of Plans and Training, A Company, Headquarters Command. He moved to 3rd Battalion, 19th Infantry, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized), in November 1982, where he commanded A Company before becoming battalion operations officer (S-3) in September 1984.
McChrystal moved to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, as battalion liaison officer in September 1985, became commander of A Company in January 1986, served again as battalion liaison officer in May 1987, and finally became battalion operations officer (S-3) in April 1988, before reporting to the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, as a student in the Command and General Staff Course in June 1989. It was during this time that McChrystal also completed a Master of Science degree in international relations from Salve Regina University. After completing the course in June 1990, he was assigned as Army Special Operations action officer, J-3, Joint Special Operations Command until April 1993, in which capacity he deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
General officer
Promoted to brigadier general on 1 January 2001, he served as assistant division commander (operations) of the 82nd Airborne Division from June 2000 to June 2001, including duty as Commander, Coalition/Joint Task Force Kuwait, part of United States Army Central, in Camp Doha, Kuwait. From June 2001 to July 2002 he was chief of staff of XVIII Airborne Corps, including duty as chief of staff of Combined Joint Task Force 180, the headquarters formation contributed by XVIII Airborne Corps to direct all Operation Enduring Freedom operations in Afghanistan.
At the beginning of the Iraq War in March 2003, he was serving in the Pentagon as a member of the Joint Staff, where he had been vice director of operations, J-3, since July 2002. McChrystal was selected to deliver nationally televised Pentagon briefings on U.S. military operations in Iraq, including one in April 2003 shortly after the fall of Baghdad in which he announced, "I would anticipate that the major combat engagements are over."
Commander, Joint Special Operations Command
McChrystal commanded the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) for five years, serving first as Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command, from September 2003 to February 2006, and then as Commander, Joint Special Operations Command/Commander, Joint Special Operations Command Forward, from February 2006 to August 2008. He took command of JSOC on 6 October 2003. This position he describes as commander of Task Force 714 in his autobiography, a force which has been identified as the JSOC high-value targets task force.
Nominally assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he spent most of his time in Afghanistan, at U.S. Central Command's forward headquarters in Qatar, and in Iraq. In Iraq, he personally directed special operations, where his work there is viewed as "pivotal". Early successes included the capture by JSOC forces of Saddam Hussein in December 2003. He was promoted to lieutenant general on 16 February 2006.
As head of what Newsweek termed "the most secretive force in the U.S. military", McChrystal maintained a very low profile until June 2006, when his forces were responsible for the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. After McChrystal's team successfully located Zarqawi and called in the airstrike that killed him, McChrystal accompanied his men to the bombed-out hut near Baqubah to personally identify the body.
McChrystal's Zarqawi unit, Task Force 6-26, became well known for its interrogation methods, particularly at Camp Nama, where it was accused of abusing detainees. After the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal became public in April 2004, 34 members of the task force were disciplined. McChrystal later said that, "we found that nearly every first-time jihadist claimed Abu Ghraib had first jolted him into action." He also said that, "mistreating detainees would discredit us. ... The pictures [from] Abu Ghraib represented a setback for America's efforts in Iraq. Simultaneously undermining U.S. domestic confidence in the way in which America was operating, and creating or reinforcing negative perceptions worldwide of American values, it fueled violence".
McChrystal was also criticized for his role in the aftermath of the 2004 death by friendly fire of Ranger and former professional football player Pat Tillman. Within a day of Tillman's death, McChrystal was notified that Tillman was a victim of friendly fire. Shortly thereafter, McChrystal was put in charge of paperwork to award Tillman a posthumous Silver Star for valor.
Director, Joint Staff
McChrystal was considered a candidate to succeed General Bryan D. Brown as commander of U.S. Special Operations Command in 2007, and to succeed General David Petraeus as commanding general of Multi-National Force – Iraq or Admiral William J. Fallon as commander of U.S. Central Command in 2008, all four-star positions. Instead, McChrystal was nominated by George W. Bush to succeed Lieutenant General Walter L. Sharp as director of the Joint Staff in February 2008, another three-star position.
Normally a routine process, McChrystal's Senate confirmation was stalled by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who sought more information about the alleged mistreatment of detainees by Special Operations troops under McChrystal's command in Iraq and Afghanistan. After meeting with McChrystal in private, the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmed his reappointment as lieutenant general in May 2008 and he became director of the Joint Staff in August 2008.
Commander of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan
With his 10 June 2009, Senate approval to take command in Afghanistan, McChrystal was promoted to general. Shortly after McChrystal assumed command of NATO operations, Operation Khanjar commenced, marking the largest offensive operation and the beginning of the deadliest combat month for NATO forces since 2001.
McChrystal submitted a 66-page report to Defense Secretary Robert Gates calling for more troops in Afghanistan, saying "We are going to win." That became public on 20 September 2009. McChrystal warned that the war in Afghanistan might be lost if more troops were not sent, but the report ends on a note of cautious optimism: "While the situation is serious, success is still achievable."
In 2009, McChrystal publicly suggested between 30,000 and 40,000 more troops were needed in Afghanistan, as the lowest risk option out of a number of possible troop level changes. He was advised by White House Staff not to present troop increases to "defeat the Taliban", but to "degrade" them.
Scott Ritter, former Chief UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq, stated at the time that McChrystal should be fired for insubordination for disclosing information that he should have said only in private to the President of the United States.
New York magazine refers to the leaked report as the "McChrystal risk" as it boxed Obama into a corner about boosting troop levels in Afghanistan.
In an article written by freelance journalist Michael Hastings ("The Runaway General", appearing in Rolling Stone magazine, July 8–22, 2010, issue), McChrystal and his staff mocked civilian government officials, including Joe Biden, national security advisor James L. Jones, US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry, and special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke. McChrystal was not quoted as being directly critical of the president or the president's policies, but several comments from his aides in the article reflected their perception of McChrystal's disappointment with President Obama after their first two meetings.
Retirement
Shortly after his removal from command in Afghanistan, McChrystal announced that he would retire from the Army. The day after the announcement, the White House announced that he would retain his four-star rank in retirement, although law generally requires a four-star officer to hold his rank for three years in order to retain it in retirement. His retirement ceremony was held on July 23, 2010, at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. During this ceremony, McChrystal was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Pentagon inquiry
Hastings and Eric Bates, executive editor of Rolling Stone, repeatedly defended the accuracy of Hastings' article. An inquiry by the Defense Department inspector general found no evidence of wrongdoing by McChrystal or his military and civilian associates. The Pentagon report also challenged the accuracy of Hastings' article, disputing key incidents or comments reported in it.
The report from the inquiry states: "In some instances, we found no witness who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported. In other instances, we confirmed that the general substance of an incident at issue occurred, but not in the exact context described in the article." In response, Rolling Stone stated that "the report by the Pentagon's inspector general offers no credible source—or indeed, any named source—contradicting the facts as reported in our story."
After the report was made public, the White House tapped McChrystal to head a new advisory board to support military families, an initiative led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president. The selection of McChrystal was announced on 12 April, four days after the inspector general's report was finished.
Post-military career
In 2010, after leaving the Army, McChrystal joined Yale University as a Jackson Institute for Global Affairs senior fellow. He teaches a course entitled "Leadership", a graduate-level seminar with some spots reserved for undergraduates. The course received 250 applications for 20 spots in 2011 and was taught for a third time in 2013.
In November 2010, JetBlue Airways announced that McChrystal would join its board of directors. On 16 February 2011, Navistar International announced that McChrystal would join its board of directors.
McChrystal is chairman of the Board of Siemens Government Technologies, and is on the strategic advisory board of Knowledge International, a licensed arms dealer whose parent company is EAI, a business "very close" to the United Arab Emirates government. He co-founded and is a partner at McChrystal Group, an Alexandria, Virginia–based consulting firm.
In 2011, McChrystal joined Spirit of America, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports the safety and success of Americans serving abroad and the local people and partners they seek to help, as an Advisory Board Member.
McChrystal's memoir, My Share of the Task, published by Portfolio of the Penguin Group, was released on 7 January 2013. The autobiography had been scheduled to be released in November 2012, but was delayed due to security clearance approvals required from the Department of Defense.
He established a consultancy firm, McChrystal Group, in 2011 which uses the slogan "Bringing Lessons from the Battlefield to Boardroom". It includes researchers, practitioners and former military officers.
In 2015, McChrystal's second book Team of Teams was released and aimed at business organizations and their leaders. With his co-authors, Tantum Collins, David Silverman and Chris Fussell, McChrystal describes his work on the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Middle East.
In January 2016, McChrystal became the chair of the Board of Service Year Alliance—an organization merged from ServiceNation, the Franklin Project at The Aspen Institute, and the Service Year Exchange. Service Year Alliance aims to make a year of full-time service—a service year—a common expectation and opportunity for young Americans of all backgrounds. McChrystal called on the 2016 presidential candidates to embrace practical solutions to restore social trust in the United States "such as engaging young Americans in a year or more of national service." He has also said, "A service year that teaches young Americans the habits of citizenship and the power of working in teams to build trust is one of the most powerful ways this generation can help restore political and civic responsibility—and in the process help to heal a wounded nation."
Personal life
McChrystal is the son of Major General Herbert J. McChrystal (1924–2013), and his wife, Mary Gardner Bright (1925–1971). His grandfather was US Army Colonel Herbert J. McChrystal Sr. (1895–1954). He is the fourth child in a family of five boys and one girl, all of whom would serve in the military or became military spouses. His older brother, Colonel Scott McChrystal, is a retired Army chaplain, and is the endorsing agent for the Assemblies of God. He is a distant relative of Corporal Charles Edward McChrystal (1922–1944), US Army Corporal and Purple Heart recipient, who died in France during World War II.
McChrystal married Annie Corcoran, also from a military family, in 1977.
Awards and decorations
According to Council on Foreign Relations:
Published works
McChrystal, Stanley (2013). My Share of the Task: A Memoir. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. ISBN 9781591844754. OCLC 780480413.
McChrystal, Stanley; Collins, Tantum; Silverman, David; Fussell, Chris (2015). Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. ISBN 9781591847489. OCLC 881094064.
McChrystal, Stanley; Eggers, Jeff; Mangone, Jason (2018). Leaders: Myth and Reality. New York: Portfolio/Penguin. ISBN 9780525534372.
McChrystal, Stanley; Butrico, Anna (2021). Risk: A User's Guide. Portfolio. ISBN 978-0593192207.
McChrystal, Stanley (2025). On Character: Choices that Define a Life. Portfolio. ISBN 978-0593852958.