Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe, is now Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York; Washington, DC; and Los Angeles.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, he held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). General Hodges serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics, he consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union, and he is co-author of the book Future War and the Defence of Europe, published by Oxford University Press. In addition to several other organizations, he is a member of Spirit of America’s Advisory Board.

A native of Quincy, Florida, General Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the US Army.

After his first assignment as a Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).

General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions to include Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the US Army; and Commander, NATO Allied Land Command 2012-2014 in Izmir, Turkey. His last military assignment was as Commanding General, US Army Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany, from 2014 to 2017.

He retired from the US Army in January 2018 and lives today with his wife in Frankfurt, Germany.