General James J. Mingus

General Mingus enlisted in the Iowa National Guard on 28 December 1981, in 1985 he was commissioned through ROTC from Winona State University as a 2LT of Field Artillery and was later assessed on to Active Duty in 1987 as an Infantryman. In March 1988, he was posted as a platoon leader in 2nd Battalion, 20th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, in Germany. Over the course of four years, he also served as a company executive officer and battalion maintenance officer.

After the Infantry Officers Advance Course, he posted to the 82nd Airborne Division where he commanded B Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry, the Division’s Long Range Surveillance Detachment, and was aide-de-camp to the division’s commanding general. General Mingus remained at Fort Bragg, taking command of the XVIII Airborne Corps’ Long Range Surveillance Company. In August 1997, he returned to ROTC to become an assistant professor of military science at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. In 2000, he was posted to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, where he served as a liaison officer and operations officer. In January 2003, General Mingus returned to Fort Bragg, becoming chief of the Joint Planning Group, then chief of current operations, with Joint Special Operations Command.

In 2005, General Mingus moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he commanded the 4th Ranger Training Battalion of the Ranger Training Brigade and the Regimental Special Troops in the 75th Ranger Regiment. General Mingus then reported in August 2009 to the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. In 2010, General Mingus took command of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, Colorado. In March 2013, General Mingus reported to US Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, where he served as chief of the Commander’s Action Group and deputy J-5, Special Plans Working Group. In September 2015, General Mingus returned to Fort Carson and the 4th Infantry Division to serve as the division’s deputy commanding general (maneuver). He then became director of the Mission Command Center of Excellence at the US Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth. Two years later, General Mingus took command of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.

Following this assignment, General Mingus reported to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon in September 2020, serving both as the J3, director for operations, and the Director of the Joint Staff.

He is married to the former Amy Hedgepeth and they have three children, Nathan (25), Zoe (22), and Luke (19).