Deputy to the Commander
Speeches, Interviews, Video, and Blogs
Dr. Jack D. Kem currently serves as the Deputy to the Commander, NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan / Commander, Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan. The NTM-A / CSTC-A, in coordination with NATO Allies, partners and key Afghan stakeholders generates the Afghan National Security Forces, develops capable ministerial systems, and resources the fielded force to build sustainable capacity and capability in order to enhance the Government of the Islamic Republic of Af
ghanistan’s ability to achieve stability and security in Afghanistan.
Dr. Kem is on a leave of absence from the US Army Command and General Staff College, where he serves in concurrent appointments as the Director, Land Power Studies Institute, the Commandant’s Distinguished Chair of Military Innovation, and Supervisory Professor of Joint, Interagency, and Multinational Operations. Maintaining an active research agenda, Dr. Kem is the author of two books that are widely used in professional military education – Campaign Planning: Tools of the Trade (3d. ed.) and Design: Tools of the Trade. Dr. Kem is the primary author of the Operational Design chapters for the US Army’s Operations Process Field Manual (FM 5-0) and the Joint Operation Planning Joint Publication (JP 5-0).
In the past eight years Dr. Kem has published over 25 articles in a wide variety of publications, including Military Review, Air and Space Power Journal, Small Wars Journal, Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin, Army Chaplaincy, Public Administration Review, Public Performance and Management, Public Administration Times, Public Administration and Management, World Politics Review, and Global Virtue Ethics Review. An active blogger, Dr. Kem has published over 180 article-length blogs in the past two years.
Dr. Kem has additionally supervised over 35 Master’s theses and eight major research studies, including research on the Iraq Campaign Plan, the Afghanistan Campaign Plan, Private Military Companies, Irregular Warfare, and Improvised Explosive Devices.
Dr. Kem initially entered the US Army in 1974 and retired in 1998 as a Military Intelligence Colonel. His military assignments included service as a Battalion S2, G2 Plan Officer, DTOC Support Element Chief, and Battalion XO in the 82d Airborne Division; as a Brigade S2 in the 3d Infantry Division; as a Company Commander and Battalion S3 in the 3d Armored Division; and as the Battalion Commander of the 319th Military Intelligence Battalion, XVIIIth Airborne Corps.
His military education includes graduation from the Defense Language Institute (Turkish), Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Army Command and General Staff College, Air Command and Staff College, Joint Forces Staff College, and the US Army War College. Dr. Kem’s civilian education includes a BA from Western Kentucky University, an MPA from Auburn University at Montgomery, and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.
