GEN. Louis Wagner, USA (ret.)

General Louis C. Wagner, USA (ret.) graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1954 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, Armor, in the US Army. In over a thirty-five year military career he served throughout the world in a wide variety of command and staff assignments. His career culminated as Commander of the US Army Materiel Command.

Following initial troop assignments, General Wagner attended the University of Illinois where he received an MS degree in theoretical and applied mechanics. This was followed by a three-year assignment as an instructor and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanics at West Point. Military schools attended include Army branch schools, the US Army Command and General Staff College, the US Naval War College and executive courses in acquisition management at the Defense Systems Management College.

Prior to being promoted to general officer in 1976, General Wagner held a wide variety of command assignments at every level from platoon to Armor brigade in the United States and Germany. Additional overseas assignments included Alaska and two combat tours in Vietnam as an Infantry and Armor advisor. He spent two years as a weapon system analyst and special assistant for materiel acquisition in the Office of the Chief of Staff, US Army.

Following promotion to general officer he spent the majority of his assignments in the materiel acquisition field. During this period the Army underwent the most extensive modernization in its history since World War II. In key Department of the Army Staff positions, General Wagner was responsible for all aspects of materiel acquisition from programming and budgeting for the Army’s equipment, to the overall responsibility at the Department of the Army level for all of the Army’s research, development and acquisition programs, as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development and Acquisition. He also served as the individual responsible for the development of materiel requirements and organizational structure for the Army as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Force Development.

Key command assignments as a general officer included Chief of Armor and Commanding General of the Armor Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Commander of the US Army Materiel Command headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

General Wagner is the recipient of the following military awards: the Distinguished Service Cross, two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Air Medals, three Army Commendation Medals, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and various foreign awards. He was a qualified ranger and senior parachutist.

Since retirement from the US Army, General Wagner has been active as a consultant to major industries and various Department of Defense organizations. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of Land Warfare, Association of the United States Army in Arlington, Virginia, and is a former Chairman of the Board of The Retired Officers Association, Alexandria, Virginia. He is a member of the Board of Regents, National Eagle Scout Association, Irving, Texas, and served as the President of the Army Retirement Residence Foundation – Potomac, Fort Belvoir, Virginia for six years. He has also served on the Army and Defense Science Boards, as a member of the President’s Advisory Board of the Advanced Technology Institute, Charleston, South Carolina, and as a Director of the AFBA 5Star Fund, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia.