(Tribune Content Agency) — A former commander of Army Special Operations and the officer who led the first Green Berets on the ground in Afghanistan has joined the CIA.
Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland Jr. is the new associate director for military affairs at the nation's top intelligence agency, the CIA announced in a statement from Director John Brennan.
Mulholland, 59, was previously deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., and, before that, commanded U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., from November 2008 until July 2012.
He also served as a special assistant to the commanding general at U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg from October 2014 until earlier this month.
In a statement to CIA employees dated Wednesday, Brennan said the agency was fortunate to have Mulholland fill his new role.
Brennan said Mulholland has had a distinguished career in Special Forces.
"He commanded special operations task forces in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom," Brennan said. ".John's long and outstanding record of service in special operations has given him a deep understanding of the conduct and value of intelligence, and many of our officers know him as a close partner and good friend."
"I look forward to working with John and benefiting from his insights as we confront the wide array of complex global challenges facing our agency," he said.
Previous military and CIA leaders have praised the close relationships between the agency and the military in recent years.
In Afghanistan in particular, the two groups have often worked together, including during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Mulholland is a Clovis, N.M., native who graduated from Furman University in Greenville, S.C., before joining the Army in 1978.
He served in Panama and with the 20th and 5th infantries before training at Fort Bragg to become a Special Forces soldier.
After graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1983, he served with several Special Forces units at Fort Bragg.
He spent time with the 5th Special Forces Group, which moved from Fort Bragg to Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1988, the 7th Special Forces Group, which moved from Fort Bragg to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in 2011 and with 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, better known as Delta Force.
In 2001, when he was commanding the 5th Special Forces Group, Mulholland commanded the first Green Berets to infiltrate Afghanistan as part of Task Force Dagger and later, led soldiers during the initial campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Speaking of Task Force Dagger during a memorial dedication at Fort Bragg in 2013, Mulholland said the soldiers never numbered more than 300 men, but — working with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan — were able to "bring down a regime in less than a few months."
Mulholland said the soldiers had old or poor equipment but succeed in spite of those constraints.
"It was not a pretty picture," he said. "Decades of neglect became apparent.
"What we did have was extraordinary men," he said. "Those A-Teams were what made Task Force Dagger successful."
Mulholland also held other posts at Fort Bragg, including commander of the U.S. Army Special Forces Command and deputy commander of Joint Special Operations Command.
While at the helm of USASOC, Mulholland oversaw rapid growth among the Army's special operations troops.
When he left Fort Bragg in 2012, then-Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, who at the time led U.S. Special Operations Command, called Mulholland "a proud Irishman" and "stubborn as a mule" when it came to compromising on resources for his soldiers.
"He was raised by a tough Irish Catholic mother and a host of nuns, and, consequently, he demands discipline from his troops so they can perform beyond expectations in combat and in garrison," McRaven said. "He has a tough, hard, gruff exterior but hosts the tenderest of Irish hearts. Truth be known, John Mulholland is a softie inside."
Mulholland's family includes his wife of 35 years, the former Miriam Mitchell of Clemson, S.C., and four children.
His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.
©2015 The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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