James Mingus

James J. Mingus (born 1964) is a United States Army general who has served as the vice chief of staff of the Army since 2024. He was previously the director of the Joint Staff from 2022 to 2024, director for operations of the Joint Staff from 2020 to 2022, and commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division from 2018 to 2020. A native of Iowa, he enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard before being commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He is a graduate of Winona State University and the United States Army War College.

A native of Spencer, Iowa,^[1] he first enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in 1981 and was commissioned in 1985^[2][3] through the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps while he was studying at Winona State University.^[4] Mingus was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army's Field Artillery branch, and later became an infantryman in 1987,^[4] when he began active duty.^[5] He also later graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.^[4][6]

In March 1988 he received his first assignment as a platoon leader in the 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, in Germany. Between then and April 1992 he also served as a battalion executive officer and maintenance officer. After that, until August 1997 Mingus had several roles in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, including as a company commander in the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment; commander of the division's long range surveillance company; and as aide-de-camp to the division commanding general. From 1997 to 2000 he was an assistant professor of military science at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville and then studied at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.^[4][6]

From 2000 to 2003 he served in the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, including as a liaison officer and operations officer. After that Mingus was made the chief of the Joint Planning Group, Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg. In 2005 he assumed command of the 4th Ranger Training Battalion, Ranger Training Brigade, and in July 2007 he assumed command of the Regimental Special Troops, 75th Ranger Regiment.^[4][6]

In August 2009 he began his studies at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, before taking command of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, Colorado, in 2010.^[4][6] In that role, Mingus led the brigade combat team in a deployment to Afghanistan. During that deployment, the head of Mingus' personal security, Captain Florent Groberg, was awarded the Medal of Honor for stopping a suicide bomber from attacking Mingus and several Afghan officials that he was meeting with. Mingus was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan a total of twelve times during his career.^[5]

He remained at the 4th Brigade Combat Team until March 2013, when he was made the head of the Commander's Action Group of the United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. After a year in that role Mingus became the head of the Special Plans Working Group. In September 2015 he returned to the 4th Infantry Division to serve as its deputy commanding general (maneuver). He then took command of the Mission Command Center of Excellence of the United States Army Combined Arms Center in August 2016. Mingus became the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in 2018, and was later assigned to the Joint Staff at The Pentagon to serve as director for operations (J3) in September 2020.^[4][6] He served as director of operations until June 2022.^[5]

In June 2022 he took up the post of director of the Joint Staff.^[4][6] In July 2023, Mingus was nominated for promotion to four-star general and assignment as vice chief of staff of the United States Army.^[7] His tenure as the 39th vice chief of staff of the Army began on 4 January 2024, when he was sworn in by the chief of staff, General Randy George.^[5] In April 2025, it was reported that Mingus had been expected to become the next commander of the United States Central Command, but the Donald Trump administration instead chose the admiral Brad Cooper for the role.^[8]

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