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MAJ Mark E Cooper
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Kern, John Hunter (Jack), BG.
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Contact Info
Home Town Kingston, Ontario
Last Address Arlington, VA
Date of Passing Jul 03, 2012
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
March 16, 1948 - July 3, 2012 Brigadier General John Hunter Kern, United States Army, Retired, died unexpectedly, on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, at Inova Alexandria Hospital, Virginia, from complications following open heart surgery. The son of the late Colonel William Bentley Kern, USA, Retired, and the late Anne Nichol Kern, Jack was born in Kingston, Ontario, 16 March 1948, while his father was posted as an instructor to the Canadian Army Staff College. He traveled with his family throughout the world to Fort Monroe, Virginia, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, The Presidio of San Francisco, California, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, Paris, France, Fort Meade, Maryland, Hawaii, Algeria, Morocco, Israel, India, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and China. Jack was an ardent member of the Boy Scouts of America attaining Eagle Scout rank in 1964. He continued to serve the Scouts throughout his lifetime. Jack graduated from Groveton High School, Alexandria, Virginia in 1966, where he lettered in track and wrestling. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and was commissioned an Infantry officer through the Army ROTC program in 1970. He entered U.S. Army active service in 1971, attending the Infantry Officers Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was the honor graduate, followed by the Basic Airborne and the Mortar Platoon Leaders Courses. Thereafter, he was assigned as training officer of a basic training company at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Upon completion, he was assigned to the 172nd Infantry Brigade, Fort Richardson, Alaska where he served in the 60th Infantry Regiment as a rifle platoon leader leading sovereignty patrols north of the Brooks Range, and as an infantry company executive officer. BG Kern left the active military in 1975 and continued his military career in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he commanded Company C, 1st Battalion, 11th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He later served as the Battalion S-3 in Newburgh, N.Y. He was a CAS-3 instructor at the 2070th USAR Forces School at Fort Belvoir, VA and then commanded the 1st Battalion, 11th Special Forces (Airborne) in New Windsor, NY. BG Kern served 18 years with Special Forces. During his tenure, he greatly improved the professionalism, proficiency, and combat readiness of these units, and led his Soldiers in several winter warfare exercises in the Norwegian Arctic. He joined the 352nd Civil Affairs Command in 1994 as Assistant G-4. He deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina with the 352nd in 1996, serving as the Chief of Staff, Office of the High Representative, of the NATO Implementation Force's Combined Joint Military Civil Task Force in Sarajevo. This office was part of the Force deployed to implement the Dayton Accords to end the Bosnian Civil War. In 1998, he commanded the 4th Brigade (Combat Service Support), 80th Division (Institutional Training), Charleston, West Virginia. BG Kern returned to Special Operations as Commanding General, 352nd Civil Affairs Command in 1999. He deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2001, where he directed efforts to restore a civil society and met regularly with President Hamid Karzai. Upon return to the United States, BG Kern participated in the planning effort for the liberation of Iraq. In 2003, he led the 352nd Civil Affairs Command in the invasion and liberation of Iraq and provided civil-military support to the Coalition reconstruction effort and the restoration of civil society in Iraq. BG Kern loved being a Soldier. Having served tours in Alaska, Norway, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, BG Kern had a profound respect for the professional accomplishments, personal sacrifices, and courage of the men and women of the United States Army, both military and civilian. BG Kern was a graduate of the Infantry Basic and Advanced Courses, Civil Affairs Officer Advanced Course, Airborne, Jumpmaster, Special Forces, and Logistics Executive Development Courses, Command and General Staff College, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Class of 1992. BG Kern's personal awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (4th Award), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (7th Award), National Defense Service Medal (3rd Award), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2nd Award), Armed Forces Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Ten Year Device-Gold (3rd Award), Armed Forces Reserve Medal and Mobilization (3rd Award), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon (9thAward), North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal, Expert Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Special Forces Tab, and Norwegian Armed Forces Parachutist Badge. He retired from the U.S. Army on November 11, 2003, having served his country for over 33 years. In addition his U.S. Army Reserve service, Jack worked for the Army in a civilian capacity beginning at Fort Dix, N.J. in 1975. He moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1982 where he served as a senior member on the U.S. Army Staff at the Pentagon for 21 years. As the Chief of the Army's Equipping and Readiness Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, he coordinated Army Equipment Readiness support efforts through major operations such as Panama, Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His civil service career culminated with the position of as the Chief of the U.S. Army's Prepositioning Stock Division, where he directed the Army's war reserve program that consisted of equipment and supplies stored around the world on land and afloat prepositioned in 14 countries and the United States of America and ships berthed in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Upon retirement, Jack established Kern Consulting, LLC, a defense firm specializing in logistics management and post hostilities consulting. Jack loved life and lived it to the fullest. He was a consummate professional and took on any challenge that faced him. No matter what the difficulty, he never gave up. He always kept moving forward. He loved his family and friends, his country, and the United States Army. His passions were the Virginia Military Institute, the 11th Special Forces Group, U.S. Army Civil Affairs, and the Bryce Resort Ski Patrol. His hobbies included sailing his 43' ketch, "Civil Affair", patrolling with the Bryce Resort Ski Patrol, golfing for the ever elusive par, naval history, windsurfing and running marathons (completing 10 Marine Corps Marathons). He enjoyed a good steak, a great cigar, and Lagavulin single malt scotch. An outstanding leader, disciplined soldier, brilliant mentor, and a wonderful man of kindness, compassion, generosity, and fairness, Jack walked with faith and courage, a wake of goodwill behind him, always seeking and treading the right path. An extraordinary man...an extraordinary life... Jack Kern will be remembered. He is survived by his loving wife of 23 years, Melanie A. Hughes, his children, John H. Kern, Jr. and Bonnie S. Kern, four grandchildren, Hayden and Ty Miller, and Madeleine and Jack Kern, his sister Anne K. "Lawrie" Branson and her husband Dr. Ira D. Branson, his sister Katharine "Kathy" K. Candido and her husband Lieutenant Colonel (USA, Retired) Robert H. Candido, his brother Colonel (USA, Retired) William H. Kern and his wife, Lieutenant Colonel (USA, Retired) Elizabeth A. Hart, his aunts, Lorraine M. Nichol and Albina S. Kern, as well as many other beloved in-laws, out-laws, nieces and nephews, cousins, and many, many wonderful colleagues and friends. Visitation will take place at Demaine Funeral Home, 520 South Washington Street, Alexandria, VA on October 17, 2012, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services and burial will take place at Arlington National Cemetery on October 18, 2012, beginning at 3 p.m. at Fort Myer Old Post Chapel. Reception will follow at the Fort Myer Officers Club, immediately after the burial The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project. The family wishes to thank the staff at the Demaine Funeral home for their caring professionalism and kindness. Friends may sign the on-line guestbook by visiting www.demainefuneralhomes.com
De Opresso Liber
Secure the Victory
Published in The Washington Post from July 14 to July 16, 2012
OIF/Liberation of Iraq (2003)
From Month/Year
March / 2003
To Month/Year
May / 2003
Description The 2003 invasion of Iraq lasted from 19 March to 1 May 2003 and signaled the start of the conflict that later came to be known as the Iraq War, which was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States (prior to 19 March, the mission in Iraq was called Operation Enduring Freedom, a carryover from the conflict in Afghanistan). The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion phase consisted primarily of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces.
Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 9 April 2003. These were the United States (148,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops were assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The coalition forces also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan.
According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." General Wesley Clark, the former Supreme NATO Allied Commander and Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of Strategy and Policy, describes in his 2003 book, Winning Modern Wars, his conversation with a military officer in the Pentagon shortly after 9/11 regarding a plan to attack seven Middle Eastern countries in five years: "As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan." Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.
In a January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, and New Zealand. Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading the country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC's 12 February 2003 report. On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war.
The invasion was preceded by an air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 19 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Province from their massing point close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While the special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March, the 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk, where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi army to secure the northern part of the country.
The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi army including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.
