Major General Richard Wightman Jr.

Senior Military Representative, NATO Headquarters Sarajevo

(Fena, DPA; NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo website)

US Major General Richard Wightman Jr. took over the duties of senior military representative at the NATO Headquarters in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from US Brigadier General Louis Weber on October 6th, 2006.

Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, Wightman obtained a Bachelor's degree in history from Framingham State College and a Master's Degree in Military Art and Science from the US Army Command and General Staff College. He is a graduate of the Engineer Officer Advanced Course, the Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College.

He enlisted in Airborne Infantry in June 1968, and 14 months later was commissioned an Engineer Second Lieutenant. Wightman served as a platoon leader and Asst S-3 in the 18th Engineer Battalion (BN) at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, before going to Vietnam, where he served in command and staff positions in the 48th Transportation Group and the 91st Combat Service Support BN. He then left active duty in July 1972.

He joined the 101st Engineer BN of the 26th Yankee Division (Massachusetts Army National Guard) in September 1974, and was subsequently selected to represent the Army Guard on a two-year Reserve Compensation Systems Study Group in OSD at the Pentagon.

After completing the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Wightman joined the 418th Civil Affairs BN in Kansas City, Missouri, to become the unit's commander 18 months later. He then left for the US Army War College and after graduation returned to the Kansas City area as the Logistics Operations Officer of the 917th Corps Support Group, assuming command of the unit in July 1991.

Three years later, he joined the 19th Theatre Army Area Command (TAACOM) in Des Moines, Iowa, as a Security, Plans and Operations officer. He later served the Assistant Chief of Staff, Personnel at the 310th TAACOM, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, before becoming the Deputy Commanding General for Mobilization at HQ, Military Traffic Management Command in Falls Church, Virginia in July 1996.

In June 1998, he joined the army staff as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (Mobilization and Training) in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, at the Pentagon. A year later, Wightman assumed the position of commanding general of the 143rd Transportation Command, in Orlando, Florida, where he served until his selection as Military Executive to the Reserve Forces Policy Board and Military Advisor to the Chairman, RFPB, in the Office of the Secretary of Defence in February 2001. Three years later, he became the Deputy Commander of the Joint Warfighting Center/Deputy Joint Force Trainer (J-7), US Joint Forces Command, Suffolk, Virginia.

As he took over from Weber on October 6th, 2006, Wightman said his top priorities are the arrest of the six war crimes fugitives still wanted by The Hague, and the continuation of defence reforms in BiH.

Wightman is married and has five children.