New Commanding General of 1st Special Forces Command

The Army announced on March 25, 2021, that Maj. Gen. Richard E. Angle will be the next commander of the 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He is currently serving as the deputy commander of Joint Special Operations Command at FBNC. He was posted to JSOC in November 2019. Prior to that he served as the Deputy Commanding General (Operations) of the United States Army Cyber Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

His military career began at the United States Military Academy at West Point – where he graduated in 1991 and became an infantry officer. His first assignment was at the platoon level with the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

After graduating from the Infantry Officer Advanced Course and the Special Forces Qualification Course, Angle was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), where he commanded a Special Forces Operational Detachment and served as the battalion assistant operations officer. He later commanded 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), in Okinawa, Japan.

Angle graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and was assigned to the United States Army Office of Military Support in Washington, D.C. While assigned to this unit, he served as a troop commander, squadron operations officer, unit operations officer, squadron commander, and unit commander.

His staff assignments include tours as military assistant to the Secretary of the Army; as Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Special Operations Command; and as Deputy Commanding General, 1st Special Forces Command. He has participated in contingency and combat operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa, and the Philippines.

Angle has earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from West Point, a master’s in business administration from Webster University, and a master’s in national resource strategy from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit (one bronze oak leaf cluster); the Bronze Star Medal; the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (one bronze oak leaf cluster); the Meritorious Service Medal (one bronze oak leaf cluster); the Joint Service Commendation Medal; the Army Commendation Medal; the Army Achievement Medal; the Combat Infantryman Badge; the Expert Infantryman Badge; the Master Parachutist Badge; the Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge; the Ranger Tab; the Special Forces Tab; the Pathfinder Badge and the Army Staff Identification Badge.