Bruce A. Cheadle, Retired LTC US Army

A native of Ohio, Bruce Cheadle started his military career in the U.S. Army in 1972 as an Enlisted Medical Supply Specialist and Laboratory Technician, serving almost four years at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1976, he graduated from the U.S. Army Officers Candidate School (OCS) in Fort Benning, Georgia and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant.

Upon graduation from the U.S. Army Artillery Officers Basic Course, he was assigned to a number of positions throughout the United States and overseas.

He has served four tours overseas, including two tours in Korea, a tour in Germany and a tour in Romania. While in Romania, he was on the first bi-national Romanian/U.S. Military Liaison Team as the U.S. Team Chief and Operations Officer. As part of the U.S. Country Team/U.S. Embassy, in Bucharest, the five-man Military Liaison Team was responsible for the coordination and execution of Military-to-Military activities between Romanian and the U.S. Armed Forces.

In 1997 Mr. Cheadle was assigned to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Doral, Florida as the Chief of Current Counterdrug Operations, SOUTHCOM J3/5 managing a team of 6 officers and an annual budget of over $12 million. During that time, he was responsible for a number of Counterdrug programs including development of the first Colombian Counterdrug Battalion and a U.S. Congressional Supplemental Spending Plan of over $1.3 billion, focused on countering the illicit drug trafficking industry in Colombia and surrounding nations. He was then assigned to the SOUTHCOM J5 Plans Directorate, as the first Chief of the newly established Counterdrug Plans Branch. As the Chief of the Counterdrug Plans Branch, he and his 4-man team were responsible for writing the first U.S. Southern Command Strategic Counterdrug Campaign Plan and Functional Plan.

In 2001, he retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving over 28 years of active duty service. Upon his retirement, he started a second career as a Defense Contractor and then as a Department of the Army Civilian at U.S. Southern Command.

In 2003, he was selected to form first U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Coordination Group (JIACG). As the Chief of the JIACG, he was responsible for developing coordination and information sharing links and partnerships between U.S. Southern Command and its U.S. interagency counterparts and its numerous subordinate organizations to include the Dept of State, Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of Justice, Health and Human Services, Dept of Energy, Department of Commerce, Dept of Treasury, United States Agency for International Development and others. Additionally, he established coordination links between International Organizations such as the United Nations, Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). He also established coordination links with several Non-Government Agencies, all of which are focused on supporting “Whole of Government/Whole of Society” planning, operations and activities in the over 35 countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America region. During this time, he wrote and coordinated numerous Interagency Service Support Agreements (ISSAs) for the assignment of a number of full-time interagency representatives to U.S. Southern Command. These links have provided for not only US Southern Command but our partners clear lines of communications for intelligence and information sharing as well as conducting joint activities to better serve our government and support our partner nations.

In 2006, at the direction of Admiral James Admiral Stavridis, Commander US Southern Command, Mr. Cheadle developed and formed the first U.S. Southern Command J9 Partnering Directorate. He took the successes and structure of the JIACG as the nucleus to form a much larger and more diverse Partnering Directorate. The SOUTHCOM Partnering Directorate was the first of its kind in the Department of Defense and became the model for other Combatant Commands. He was selected to become the Chief, Integration Division, for the Directorate, a position that he kept until 31 August 2015, when he retired with a total of over 43 years of active military and civilian service.

He attended the University of Toledo and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Cameron University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan University. He is a resident graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and has attended numerous military schools, including the Field Artillery Officer’s Advance Course. Furthermore, he is also a resident graduate of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) Civil-Military Coordination Course (UN-CMCoord). Throughout his career he was awarded a number of military awards including the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (3), the Army Meritorious Service Medal (2), the Civilian Superior Service medal and numerous other medals and awards.

He is currently enjoying his retirement, living in Pembroke Pines, FL, with his wife Claire Cheadle.