James A. Winnefeld Jr.

James Alexander "Sandy" Winnefeld Jr. (born April 24, 1956)[1] is a retired United States Navy admiral who served as the ninth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from August 4, 2011 to July 31, 2015. He previously served as the fourth Commander, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the 21st Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) from May 19, 2010 to August 3, 2011. Prior to that, Winnefeld served as Director for Strategic Plans and Policy, The Joint Staff which he concurrently served as the Senior Member, U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Military Staff Committee. His other operational commands include serving as the Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet and Commander, Allied Joint Command Lisbon. As the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Winnefeld was the second highest-ranking officer in the United States Armed Forces, second only to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 2015, he retired from the Navy after over 37 years of service. He currently serves on the board of directors for Raytheon Technologies, one of the largest aerospace and defense companies in the world.

James Winnefeld
Born (1956-04-24) April 24, 1956
Coronado, California, United States
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1978–2015
RankAdmiral
Commands heldVice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
United States Northern Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command
United States Sixth Fleet
Carrier Strike Group Two
USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
USS Cleveland (LPD-7)
VFA-211
Battles/warsOperation Desert Shield
Gulf War
War in Afghanistan
Iraq War
AwardsDefense Distinguished Service Medal (3)
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal
Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star Medal
Meritorious Service Cross (Canada)
RelationsRADM James A. Winnefeld Sr. (father)

Biography

James Winnefeld's military lineage extended to his father and grandfather who both served in the Navy.[2] His great-grandfather was a Prussian cavalryman.[3]

Winnefeld graduated from Georgia Tech in 1978 with high honors in Aerospace Engineering and received his commission via the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program.[4] While at Georgia Tech, Winnefield was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. After designation as a naval aviator, he served with two fighter squadrons and as an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). While an instructor at TOPGUN, he worked with crew from Paramount Pictures on the production of the movie Top Gun. Winnefeld went on to graduate with the highest distinction from the U.S. Naval War College off-campus program. He is a recipient of the Admiral William J. Crowe Award as Joint Staff Action Officer of the Year and the Vice Admiral William W. Behrens Jr. award as the honor graduate of his Navy nuclear power school class.

His command tours include Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211), USS Cleveland (LPD-7) and as the 17th commanding officer of the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He led Enterprise through her 18th deployment, which included combat operations in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom immediately after the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. As commander, Carrier Strike Group 2/Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, he led Task Forces 50, 152 and 58 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and maritime interception operations in the Persian Gulf. He most recently served concurrently as Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet; Commander, Allied Joint Command Lisbon; Commander, Striking and Support Forces NATO;[5] Deputy Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe; and Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander, Europe.[5]

His shore tours include service as an action officer in the Joint Staff Operations Directorate, as senior aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as executive assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. As a flag officer he served ashore as Director, Warfare Programs and Transformational Concepts, United States Fleet Forces Command and as Director, Joint Innovation and Experimentation at United States Joint Forces Command.

Winnefeld is now a Distinguished Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech.[6] He is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School.[7]

Winnefeld began speaking out on his son's opioid overdose death and advocating for awareness of the opioid epidemic.[8][9][10]

In an April 5, 2020 phone call to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer touted Winnefeld as a potential COVID-19 czar to oversee the production and disbursement of medical equipment.[11]

September 11 attacks

Winnefeld was the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise during the September 11 attacks.[12] The Enterprise was headed to Cape Town, South Africa, for a port call.[12] The crew was watching television at sea on September 11 and watched the hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 airliner strike the south tower of the World Trade Center.[12] Acting without specific direction from the National Command Authority, then-Captain Winnefeld gave the order to put the ship's rudder over (180° degree turn) to take station in the Arabian Sea.[12] The carrier's aircraft were within range of Afghanistan the next morning.[12] For over three weeks starting on October 7, aircraft from Enterprise flew nearly 700 missions and dropped large amounts of ordnance over Afghanistan. The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Vern Clark praised Winnefeld and credited him for taking initiative as well as for the Enterprise's crew readiness.

Military awards and decoration
Naval Aviator insignia
Defense Distinguished Service Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters | Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit
with one star		 Bronze Star
Defense Meritorious Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal Air Medal
with Strike/Flight numeral "1"
Navy Commendation Medal Joint Service Achievement Medal Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
with cluster		 Navy Unit Commendation
with one star		 Navy E Ribbon
with wreathed Battle "E" Device
National Defense Service Medal
with one star		 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
with two stars		 Southwest Asia Service Medal
with one star
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
with six stars
Meritorious Service Cross
Military Division
(Canada)[13]		 French National Order of Merit, Commander Pistol Marksmanship Medal
with Expert Marksmanship Device
Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge

He is also a recipient of the William J. Crowe, William W. Behrens Jr. awards and the 2012 recipient of the Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award.

Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE)

After losing a son to opioid addiction, the Winnefeld family began dedicating themselves to studying the issue. They launched a website called SafeProject.us with the goal of saving other families from the same heartache.[14][15][16]

Notes
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Winnefeld, James (November 29, 2017). "No Family Is Safe From This Epidemic". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  3. Winnefeld, James (November 29, 2017). "No Family Is Safe From This Epidemic". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  4. "NROTC Alum Winnefeld Nominated by Obama to Joint Chiefs". Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. June 2, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  5. Flag Officer Announcement July 22, 2008
  6. http://www.news.gatech.edu/2015/08/03/former-joint-chiefs-staff-member-named-faculty
  7. "James A. Winnefeld, Jr". Belfer Center. January 6, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  8. "Retired Adm. Sandy Winnefeld speaks out on son's opioid overdose death". CBS NEWS. November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  9. Winnefeld, James (November 29, 2017). "No Family Is Safe From This Epidemic". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  10. Horton, Alex (December 1, 2017). "A Navy admiral lost his son to opioid addiction. Now he's marshaling support to end the epidemic". Washington Post. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  11. Klar, Rebecca (April 6, 2020). "Schumer names coronavirus czar candidates in plea to White House". TheHill. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  12. "Bush: "The might of our Navy is needed again"". Sea Power Almanac. 2002. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  13. http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=67&lan=eng Governor General of Canada
  14. "Retired Adm. Sandy Winnefeld speaks out on son's opioid overdose death". CBS Interactive Inc. November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  15. "S.A.F.E." Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE). Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  16. Horton, Alex (December 1, 2017). "A Navy admiral lost his son to opioid addiction. Now he's marshaling support to end the epidemic". Washington Post. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
Military offices
Preceded by
Victor Renuart		 Commander of the United States Northern Command
2010–2011		 Succeeded by
Charles H. Jacoby Jr.
Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command
2010–2011
Preceded by
James Cartwright		 Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
2011–2015		 Succeeded by
Paul J. Selva
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