Mick Bednarek is employed as a Highly Qualified Expert - Senior Mentor for the Joint Staff J7 in support of Combatant Command and Joint Task Force Operations and Exercises. He is also employed as a Senior Fellow for the National Defense University in support of the Pinnacle, Capstone, and Keystone programs.
Lieutenant General Bednarek earned his commission through ROTC. He retired from the United States Army on 1 September 2015 after nearly 40 years active commissioned service. His final duty was as the Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation, US Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq where he led all United States military activities, $23B in foreign military sales, and foreign military financing in support of strategic investment, foreign policy, and operational readiness of the Iraqi Security Forces. He directed all Security Cooperation activities with U.S. Coalition partners (Middle East, European, Pacific) and Strategic Framework Agreement issues with host nation equities.
In his previous assignment, he was the Commanding General, First United States Army. He was responsible for the training, readiness, and deployability of more than one half million men and women assigned to the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve Forces across the United States and territories. He coordinated with 50 State Governors and State Adjutant Generals for resource requirements and managed a $28M training budget for exercise and simulation development. Prior to the assignment to First United States Army, Lieutenant General Bednarek was the Commanding General, Division East, First United States Army. He developed and managed all Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve Force training, exercises, and deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other global contingencies for 23 States. He also validated tactical and operational readiness for state and national crisis response capability of all organizations. In his previous assignment, Lieutenant General Bednarek served as Deputy Commanding General (Operations), and then Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He was responsible for the readiness, welfare, training, and personnel management of 14,000 Soldiers, families, and civilian employees. During this three year tour, the Division served for 15 months in northern Iraq requiring principal oversight of all security operations, complex civil-military activities, crisis response actions, and contingency planning.
Lieutenant General Bednarek holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Old Dominion University and a Master of Science in Personnel Management/Administration from Troy State University. He has attended numerous military schools, strategic leadership programs, and is a graduate of the Army War College.