LaNeve Sworn in as 40th Army Vice Chief of Staff
LaNeve Sworn in as 40th Army Vice Chief of Staff
In a ceremony Feb. 6 at Conmy Hall on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, LaNeve received his fourth star, pinned on his uniform by his wife, Kim, his daughter, Capt. Caitlin LaNeve, his son, Capt. Nick LaNeve, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Following his promotion, LaNeve was sworn in by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, a former Special Forces officer and Vietnam veteran who is currently special presidential envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
In remarks after his promotion and swearing-in, LaNeve praised his family, friends and colleagues, fighting back tears that he proclaimed a family trait, saying, “We are a family of criers.”
“It is not lost on me, the responsibilities of the office of the vice chief of staff of the Army,” LaNeve said, recognizing that “the outpouring of support from current and past Army senior leaders has been invaluable. Without being named, one legendary vice said, ‘The chief leads the army and the vice runs it.”
A 1990 graduate of the University of Arizona, LaNeve was commissioned as an infantry officer and went to command Eighth Army in South Korea, the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwoehr, Germany. He served in Afghanistan and on the Army Staff in the Pentagon.
LaNeve gave his word to the Army’s formations at home and abroad that he would execute the responsibilities of the job to the best of his ability by marshaling every resource and capability available to support the warfighter.
“I've served as long as I have because of one reason: People. I unapologetically love them and love our Army,” LaNeve said. “They are what makes our Army great.”
He invoked the memory of Gen. Raymond Odierno, a former vice chief of staff and chief of staff of the Army, who died in 2021, recalling Odierno’s “timeless quote that’s more relevant than ever—'The strength of our nation is our Army, the strength of our Army is our soldiers, the strength of our soldiers is our families.’ This we’ll defend.”
LaNeve succeeds Gen. James Mingus, who served as the 39th Army vice chief of staff since January 2024. Mingus, who enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in December 1981 and was commissioned as a field artillery officer in 1985 through the Winona State University’s ROTC program, retired on Feb. 6 after 45 years of service.