Carter Ham

Carter Frederick Ham (born February 16, 1952) is a retired United States Army General Officer who served as the second commander of United States Africa Command.

Ham was born on February 16, 1952, in Portland, Oregon.

He attended high school at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

He received the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth in 1965.

Ham enlisted in the United States Army in 1973 and served as an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division before being accepted in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (Army ROTC) while attending John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ham is a 1976 Distinguished Military Graduate of John Carroll University in the Cleveland suburb of University Heights, Ohio.

During his military career, he achieved a Masters of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, in Newport, Rhode Island.

An ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate, Ham was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1976.

He later received his master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as graduating from several military schools including the Infantry Officer Basic Course, the Armor Officer Advanced Course, the Naval War College's College of Naval Command and Staff, and the Air War College.

He is a member of the John Carroll University ROTC Hall of Fame.

He and his wife, Christi, are both John Carroll University graduates.

Ham's early assignments included service at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and tours of duty in Italy and Germany.

After graduating from the Armor Officer Advanced Course, he was a Recruiting Area Commander in Lima, Ohio.

In 1984, he served with a joint service unit in support of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

From 1984 until 1989, Ham served as Assistant Inspector General, then as Battalion Operations Officer (S-3) and Executive Officer with the Opposing Force (OPFOR) at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California.

He attended the College of Naval Command and Staff, graduating with distinction in 1990, and was then assigned to the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Ham served a tour as an advisor with a Saudi Arabian National Guard Brigade in Riyadh as part of OPM-SANG then returned to Fort Benning, where he was the executive officer for the Infantry School.

Ham commanded the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry in Vilseck, Germany including a six-month tour with the United Nations Protection Forces in the Republic of Macedonia.

Following battalion command, he was the Senior Observer/Controller of the Timberwolf Team at the Combat Maneuver Training Center, Hohenfels, Germany.

Ham graduated from the Air War College in 1997 then returned to Germany, where he served as Operations Officer (G-3), then Chief of Staff, 1st Infantry Division.

From 1999 to 2001 he commanded the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, then served as Deputy Director for Resources and Analysis (J-8) for United States Central Command at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida and in Doha, Qatar, during which time he was selected for promotion to brigadier general.

Ham was assigned as the deputy commanding general for training and readiness, I Corps at Fort Lewis, Washington in August 2003.

In January 2004, he assumed command of Multinational Brigade (Task Force Olympia) – North in Mosul, Iraq serving there until February 2005.

During his time in Iraq, Ham suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was caused by his attending the aftermath of a deadly suicide bombing at a mess hall.

He later sought treatment for his condition and publicly encouraged other soldiers to do the same.

Returning from Iraq, Ham served as the deputy director for regional operations, J-3, on The Joint Staff.

Ham assumed command of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, in August 2006 and served as the commanding general until July 2007, returning to The Joint Staff as director for operations, J-3.

Prior to that, he served as Director for Operations (J-3) at the Joint Staff from August 2007 to August 2008 and the commanding general, 1st Infantry Division from August 2006 to August 2007, and was the commander of Operation Able Sentry in Macedonia in the mid-1990s, during the Yugoslav wars.

Ham served as the commanding general of the United States Army Europe and Seventh Army from August 28, 2008, to March 8, 2011.

On August 28, 2008, Ham became the 34th Commanding General of the United States Army Europe headquartered at Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany.

In 2010, Ham served as co-chair for the comprehensive review of issues associated with the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The United States Senate, confirmed Ham's nomination to become the next Commanding General of United States Africa Command, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany, in November 2010.

As commander of Africa Command, he led Operation Odyssey Dawn, the initial United States role in the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

He assumed the post on March 8, 2011.

Ham was in command of United States forces enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone, along with Admiral Samuel J. Locklear.

Described as "in charge of the coalition effort", Ham on March 21, 2011, said, "there would be coalition airstrikes on Colonel Qaddafi's mobile air defenses and that some 80 sorties – only half of them by the United States – had been flown on Monday."

Admiral Locklear, aboard the flagship Mount Whitney, had tactical command of the Operation Odyssey Dawn joint taskforce.

Ham also said he had "full authority to attack the regime's forces if they refused to comply with President Barack Obama's demands that they pull back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiya," according to one report.

In 2012, his final full year as a U.S. Army officer, the Boy Scouts of America bestowed upon him the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Post-retirement, Ham served as president and CEO of the Association of the United States Army from July 2016 to September 2021.