Fresh off his service as chairman of the National Commission on the Future of the Army, retired Gen. Carter Ham has been appointed as an executive vice president of AUSA.
The Association of the United States Army announced Ham's appointment Friday.
Ham, who retired in 2013 after almost 39 years of service, has long been rumored to be the next president of AUSA, an influential non-profit educational organization that supports the Army and advocates for the service on Capitol Hill.
Retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan, a former Army chief of staff who has led AUSA since 1998, told Army Times last fall that he plans to step aside "sometime in 2016." A date has not been set.
As executive vice president, Ham will report directly to Sullivan.
Retired Gen. Carter Ham commanded U.S. Africa Command before retiring in 2013. Ham has been appointed as an executive vice president for the Association of the United States Army, the group announced Friday.
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Most recently, Ham was the chairman of the National Commission on the Future of the Army, an eight-member panel tasked by Congress to study and provide recommendations on the size, force structure and capabilities of the Army.
The commission released its long-anticipated report Jan. 28.
Ham is a veteran of Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, where he commanded in Mosul, Iraq, from January 2004 to February 2005. He commanded U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Army Europe and the 1st Infantry Division. He also has served as director of operations on the Joint Staff and during his career served overseas in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Macedonia, Qatar and Iraq.
Ham's Army career began in 1974 as an enlisted soldier; he was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1976.