Gen. Carter Ham, U.S. Army retired, was president and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army from June 2016 to September 2021. He served nearly 38 years in the Army, beginning as an enlisted infantryman and concluding with his final assignment as commander of the U.S. Africa Command. Before that, he served as commander of U.S. Army Europe, director of operations on the Joint Staff and commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division. In retirement, he chaired the congressionally mandated National Commission on the Future of the Army. He was among the first group of 50 soldiers selected in 1974 for what is now called the Green to Gold Program and was a Distinguished Military Graduate of John Carroll University, Cleveland.