Major General Jason E. Kelly assumed duties as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations on September 9, 2024, after most recently serving as the 53rd Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, the U.S. Army's main production center for Basic Combat Training. The installation trains roughly 50 percent of all Soldiers and more than 60 percent of women entering the Army each year. In addition to basic combat training, more than 24,000 Soldiers graduate each year from other Fort Jackson schools and courses, such as the Drill Sergeant Academy, U.S. Army Institute of Religious Leadership, the Adjutant General School, Finance School, and Noncommissioned Officer Academy.
Major General Kelly, a native of Flint, Michigan, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and graduated in 1994 with a commission as an engineer officer.
Major General Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from West Point, and master’s degrees in engineering management from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, in statistics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy from the National Defense University and in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.
Kelly’s thirty-year career assignment history is vast. He has held Army leadership positions at every level of command and staff with duty in Asia, the Middle East, and the United States, including Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Atlantic Division; Commander of the Afghanistan District; Commander of the Norfolk District; Commander of the 20th Engineer Battalion in Afghanistan; Deputy Commander of the 36th Engineer Brigade during Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn; Commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division; Assistant Operations Officer for the 10th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division; Adjutant for both the 44th Engineer Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Division Engineer Brigade in Korea; Plans Officer for the 4th Infantry Division Engineer Brigade; and Line Platoon Leader, Assault and Obstacle Platoon Leader; and Company Executive Officer in the 588th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Division.
Other key assignments include participation in the Army’s Advanced Civil Schooling Program, with duty as an advanced calculus instructor in the Department of Mathematics, U.S. Military Academy; Aide-de-Camp to the Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy; and assignments in the Pentagon in the Office of the Chief of Engineers.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, the Combat Action Badge, and the Army Parachutist Badge, and the Sapper Tab.