AMERICA'S FIRST CORPS

U.S. Army Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson is the commanding general of America's First Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Lt. Gen. Brunson has served at every level of command, up to the corps, across a 33-year career. As a general officer, Lt. Gen. Brunson has served in numerous staff and command positions in conventional and special operations forces. His operational assignments have included service in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Freedom’s Sentinel, and Inherent Resolve. His previous assignment was the Deputy Commanding General of America's First Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Lt. Gen. Brunson commissioned in 1990 as an infantry officer upon graduation from Hampton University, in Va. He has multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, including service as the Assistant Commanding General for Support, 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) at Fort Liberty (Bragg), N.C. and Operation Inherent Resolve. He has also served as the Deputy Commanding General for Operations, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Fort Drum, N.Y.; and the Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty, including a forward deployment as the Chief of Staff of the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, Iraq. Prior to serving in America's First Corps, he served as Commanding General, 7th Infantry Division. Lt. Gen. Brunson assumed his current position as Commanding General of America's First Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Oct. 2021. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Hampton University. He also earned a Masters of Arts in Human Resource Development from Missouri's Webster University and a Masters of Science in National Security Strategic Studies from the U. S. Army War College. His military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced courses, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center's Command and General Staff College, and U.S. Army War College. He is a life member of The Rocks Inc., Veterans of Foreign Wars, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and the National Infantry Association. Lt. Gen. Brunson’s notable civic awards include Omega Psi Phi’s Dr. Julian Haywood Gamma Epsilon Founder’s Leadership Award and the U.S. National Park Service’s Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument Trailblazer Award. The following honors were awarded by U.S. Army regimental associations: Honorable Order of Saint Barbara (field artillery), Centurion Order of Saint Maurice (infantry), Order of Aaron and Hur (chaplaincy), Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton Award (military intelligence), and Col. Eli E. Nobleman Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions (civil affairs). He is married to retired Col. Kirsten Brunson (Campbell), and they have two daughters and one son.

U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Shawn F. Carns is the command sergeant major for America's First Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Command Sgt. Maj. Carns enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 1992, from Indiana, Pennsylvania, as an infantryman. He has served in every key leadership position in the infantry up to command sergeant major. After completion of basic and advanced individual training at Fort Moore (Benning), Georgia, he served with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Calvary Regiment in Fort Cavazos (Hood), Texas. He served as both team leader and squad leader while with the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment in Fort Liberty (Bragg), North Carolina. His other leadership positions include a long-range surveillance team leader with the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Hovey, South Korea; a ranger instructor with 4th Ranger Training Battalion in Fort Moore (Benning); a platoon sergeant and, later, first sergeant with the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment in Fort Carson, Colorado. Upon graduation from the Sergeants Major Course, then Sgt. Maj. Carns served as the operations sergeant major for the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy—which he joined in deployment to Afghanistan from June 2012 to February 2013 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In January 2014, he assumed responsibility as the command sergeant major for the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment in Fort Stewart, Georgia. In June 2016, he advanced as the brigade command sergeant major for Joint Task Force-B in Honduras, later assigned as the Command Sergeant Major Development Program lead at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served as the command senior enlisted leader for Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa as his next assignment. Following that assignment, the senior enlisted leader served as the 2nd Infantry Division command sergeant major in South Korea. He became the Command Sergeant Major of America's First Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord on May 2, 2022. Command Sgt. Maj. Carns’ military education includes all noncommissioned officer (NCO) education system courses, concluding with his graduation from the U.S. Army NCO Leadership Center of Excellence (nonresident class 39). Additionally, he is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School, Airborne School, Jumpmaster, Pathfinder, Air Movement Operations, Instructor/Facilitator course and Battle Staff. Command Sgt. Maj. Carns civilian education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Leadership (Management) earned from Trident University, in California. Command Sgt. Maj. Carns’ military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with three oak leaf clusters), Army Achievement Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), Joint Meritorious Unit Medal, Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Good Conduct Medal (ninth award), National Defense Service Medal (second award), Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal (with two stars), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon (fifth award), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (sixth award), NATO Medal, Ranger Tab, Combat Infantry Badge, Expert Infantry Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Master Parachutists Badge, and South Korean Jump Wings. Command Sgt. Maj. Carns is married to Theresa Carns and they have two children.

U.S. Army Major General Matthew W. McFarlane is the deputy commanding general of America's First Corps.

Canadian Army Brigadier-General Eric Landry serves as the deputy commanding general for operations in America's First Corps.

U.S. Army Colonel Phillip H. Lamb is the chief of staff of America's First Corps. The son of a career Army officer, Col. Lamb was a distinguished military graduate from Creighton University, Nebraska, in 1999, and commissioned as an Army aviation officer. He eventually became a master aviator: qualified on the Bell OH-58 Kiowa, Boeing AH-64 Apache and Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota. Col. Lamb has four operational deployments: as a Platoon Leader to Iraq in 2003, Company Commander to Iraq from 2008 to 2009, Brigade Operations Officer to Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013, Aviation Task Force Commander to Afghanistan from 2017 to 2018. Following his 2009 Gen. Omar N. Bradley Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff Fellowship, his Pentagon utilization tour included: deputy legislative assistant to the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, followed by service in the U.S. Department of the Army Headquarters G-3/5/7 Aviation Directorate (DAMO-AV). Col. Lamb left the Pentagon to serve in Germany as a battalion and brigade operations officer. Subsequently, he returned to the Pentagon nominatively assigned to the staff for the 38th and 39th Army Chiefs of Staff. Additionally, he worked in the J-8 Force Structure, Resources, and Assessment Directorate as the director of the Future Vertical Lift - Joint Capabilities and Integration Cell. Before his assignment to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, Col. Lamb served as the senior aviation trainer at the Joint Multi-National Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany. He assumed command of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Garrison, from 2021 to 2023. In June 2023, Col. Lamb became Chief of Staff for America's First Corps. Col. Lamb received a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Medicine from Creighton University. He is also a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro’s Center for Creative Leadership Program, and a recipient of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI certificate. In 2009, Col. Lamb earned his Masters degree in Public Policy Management from Washington D.C.'s Georgetown University, as part of the Bradley Fellowship. He is also a 2019 graduate of the U.S. Army War College, earning a Masters degree in National Security Studies. Col. Lamb and his wife, Victoria Lamb (Tory), have two daughters.