Date:  Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Location:  Pine Lakes Country Club

Speaker:  GEN (Ret) Laura Richardson

Program:  GEN (Ret) Richardson will discuss the current state of the Army, and where the Army is heading as relates to its future transformation.  Also, the members in attendance at the meeting will vote on the Chapter Officer slate for 2026.

Cost: $30 per person.

Speaker Biography:  

General (Retired) Laura J. Richardson is a national security and leadership expert, specializing in diplomatic and governmental affairs, leading large organizations, and risk and emergency management. 

Growing up in Colorado, Laura attended Metropolitan State University in Denver, received her ROTC commission and spent more than 38 years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of 4-star General. She commanded units from the company to combatant command level, the highest command level in the Department of Defense (DOD), and she served as the Army’s first female combat arms general officer. 

Her last military position was Commander of U.S. Southern Command, one of the six DOD geographic warfighting combatant commands, working directly for the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense, from 2021 to 2024. In this position she was responsible for all military operations, contingency planning and partnerships across South and Central America, and the Caribbean, which included 31 countries and 11 territories and dependencies, to promote regional stability, keep America safe, strengthen governance, counter illicit trafficking, and support disaster preparedness and response efforts. Laura received high-level recognition from the Presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, and Paraguay. 

Previous general officer positions in her career include as a 3-star, Commanding General of U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) under U.S. Northern Command from 2019-2021, responsible for the Southwest Border Mission across 2,000 miles of U.S. border, the COVID-19 response across the U.S. in over 70 civilian hospitals, response efforts for the California Wildfires in 2020, and responsible for Operation Allies Welcome and 73K Afghans brought to the U.S. These operations were in support of the Department of Homeland Security. 

GEN Richardson was the 3-star Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Forces Command 2017-2019, responsible for the training and readiness of Army forces (770K Soldiers) in the U.S., ensuring all forces were certified ready to deploy to combat operations, execute their missions successfully, and win. As a 2-star she was Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division, one of the most decorated combat divisions of the U.S. Army, responsible for the readiness and sustainment of this mobile armored combat division of 25K Soldiers. As the Army's Congressional Liaison to the U.S. Senate and House 2014-2017, she worked directly for the Secretary of the Army and led the Army to be the best Service liaison on Capitol Hill. As Commanding General of the U.S. Army Operational Test Command, she led the Army’s testing efforts to rapidly testing and expedite new warfighting systems to our warfighters faster. 

GEN Richardson served an impeccable career as a combat aviator, she was the Military Aide to the Vice President at the White House, and served in the Pentagon as the Army’s Transformation Director leading the most comprehensive change for the Army since WWII. She commanded an assault helicopter battalion and flew combat missions in the 101st Airborne Division during the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and she served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Director of Strategic Communications. 

GEN Richardson and her husband, LTG James Richardson, are members of our GS MOAA Chapter.

Color Guard Duties:   Loris High School JROTC

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GS MOAA NOVEMBER 11, 2025 DINNER MEETING