General Joseph Ryan assumed the duties as the Commander, U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command on 5 December 2025. Originally from New York, General Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics and commissioned into the Infantry.
Over the course of his career, General Ryan served in Europe in the 1st Armored Division and in the United States in the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army.
As a General Officer, he served as Deputy Commanding General (Support), 4th Infantry Division; as Commanding General, Train Advise Assist Command (East), U.S. Forces Afghanistan; as Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; as Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, U.S. Forces Afghanistan; as Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army Hawaii; as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7; and the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 (Operations, Plans, Training), Headquarters, Department of the Army.
He is a graduate of the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the Joint and Combined Warfighting School, and the Army War College where he served as a Fellow at Columbia University in New York City. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Management from Webster University and is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow.
General Ryan’s military awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal for Combat Service, Legion of Merit with 4 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medals with 3 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with 3 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with V Device and 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Achievement Medal 3 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the Ranger Tab.