Walter Wojdakowski
Major General Walter Wojdakowski is Deputy Commanding General of the former Combined Joint Task Force 7. On May 15, 2004, the CJTF7 was redesignated as Multi-National Force-Iraq and Multi-National Corps-Iraq. Wojdakowski served as top deputy to Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez who was redesignated Force commander and who will leave that command on July 1, 2004, when the Iraqi Interim Government assumes Iraqi sovereignty: June 30, 2004.
"The officer, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, also said General Sanchez visited a military intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib at least three times in October [2003], when the first of the worst abuses were taking place. And while General Sanchez has said he did not learn of the abuses until Jan. 14, General Karpinski said his top deputy, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, was present at a meeting in late November at which there was extensive discussion of a Red Cross report that cited specific cases of abuse." May 24, 2004, New York Times.
According to his U.S. Central Command biography, Major General Walter Wojdakowski "joined the Victory Corps on 4 September 2002 and is assigned as the V Corps Deputy Commanding General. He arrived in Germany after having served as the Assistant Division Commander (Forward) in the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) / Deputy Commanding General (South), First United States Army.
"Major General Wojdakowski graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 1972. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree, a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Alaska and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences Degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He is a member of the National Honor Society Phi Kappa Phi. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies, and the Army War College.
"Major General Wojdakowski served in company grade officer positions as a Platoon Leader, Scout Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, Ranger Instructor and Commander at Fort Lewis and at the Army Mountain Ranger Camp. He also was an Assistant Professor of Military Science at the University of Alaska--Fairbanks. As a field grade officer, he served as a Brigade S-3, Battalion Executive Officer and Chief, Tactical Operations III Corps G-3 at Fort Hood, Texas. He commanded the 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Tiger Brigade, 2d Armored Division at Fort Hood and in DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM from 1989 to 1991. He was then assigned as the Senior Infantry Task Force Combat Trainer at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California. He attended the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania and commanded the 11th Infantry Regiment at FT Benning, Georgia from July 1993 to July 1995. Major General Wojdakowski's next assignment was as the Director of Training, 7th Army Training Command, USAREUR and he became the Commander, Operations Group, Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany on 1 May 1996. Major General Wojdakowski assumed the duties of Assistant Commandant of the Infantry School and Deputy Commanding General, Fort Benning, on 21 January 1997. In September 1998 he became Chief, Office of Military Cooperation, Kuwait at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait. He assumed duties as the ADC, 24th Infantry Division (Mech) (Fwd) and DCG, 1st U.S. Army on 17 August 2000. In September 2002 he assumed his current position as the Deputy Commanding General V Corps.
"Major General Wojdakowski's awards include the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with 2 oak leaf clusters), the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (with 2 oak leaf clusters), the Navy Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Combat and Expert Infantryman Badges, the Ranger Tab, and the Master Parachutist Badge."
