GENERAL ANDREW POPPAS became the 24th commander of United States Army Forces Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., on July 8, 2022. As commander of the U.S. Army’s largest organization, he commands 216,000 active-component soldiers and 190,000 members of the U.S. Army Reserve, while also providing training and readiness oversight to the Army National Guard. In total, the Forces Command team includes more than 740,000 soldiers and 13,000 civilians.

A native of Wisconsin, General Poppas graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in 1988. He spent his early years serving within the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort Myer, Va.; the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.; as a foreign area officer in Thessaloniki, Greece; and on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C.

In 2005, he returned to the 82nd Airborne Division and Fort Bragg, where he commanded 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and later 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, which he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He then served in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky., as its 1st Brigade Combat Team Commander and later as the division’s Deputy Commanding General (Operations). In both these roles, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

General Poppas returned to Washington, D.C. where he served as Deputy Director for Regional Operations and Force Management on the Joint Staff, and Director of Force Management in the Headquarters, Department of the Army G-3/5/7. In 2017, he assumed command of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and again deployed with the division to Afghanistan.

Prior to assuming command of Forces Command, General Poppas served more than three years as a senior leader on the Joint Staff, first as Director for Operations, and later as Director of the Joint Staff.