Major General (Ret.) Edward M. Reeder Jr. retired from the US Army after nearly 35 years of service. Reeder spent the last 30 years in uniform as a Special Forces Officer commanding at every level in the US Army Special Forces.

Reeder served as the Commanding General of the US Army Special Forces Command, consisting of 15,000 Soldiers with a $450M USD operating budget. He was responsible for manning, training, equipping, and deploying the elite US Army Green Berets operating in 56 different countries each day.

He also served as the Commanding General of the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. He was responsible for the entry level training of the US Army Special Forces, Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs, as well as, selected advanced training for the greater US Special Operations community.

His other assignments include:

  • National Civil Defense Advisor, Republic of El Salvador in 1988. He was responsible for organizing, training, and equipping a local defense force of 58,000 volunteer fighters.
  • Reeder also commanded Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha 786 in support of Operation JUST CAUSE in 1989; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group under Task Force Black, Republic of Panama.
  • He commanded Special Operations Task Force 32 (2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group) in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Afghanistan in 2002 and again in 2003.
  • He commanded the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan (7th Special Forces Group) in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Afghanistan in 2006 and again in 2007. He was responsible for all US Army Special Operations in Afghanistan, as well as, the special operations from the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, France, Canada, and the Netherlands.
  • Reeder also planned, organized, established and served as the Commanding General of the first Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. He was responsible for all US Army Special Operations in Afghanistan, as well as, special operations from the United Arab Emeritus, Jordan, France and Canada.
  • From 2014 to 2015 he served as the Commanding General of the Special Operations Joint Task Force/ NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and Operation FREEDOM SENTINEL. The Special Operations Joint Task Force consisted of 12,500 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines from 21 different countries with an operating budget of $1.3B USD. He was responsible for all US and NATO Special Operations in Afghanistan.