Rich Staats Jr., PhD
Brigadier General Richard C. Staats is a retired U.S. Army major general and former commanding general of the 75th Innovation Command.
Brigadier General Richard C. Staats assumed command of the 316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) on 2 October 2014. As the Commanding General, Brig. Gen. Staats oversees the individual and organizational readiness and resilience of 8,365 Soldiers and 142 Civilians in four Brigade level Major Subordinate Commands across twelve states. He provides ready forces in response to distribution, distribution management, and base operations missions both in the continental Unites States and in overseas contingency operations.
Staats most recently served as a Strategic Planner, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington DC and as the Senior Fellow, Strategic Studies Group, Office of the Chief of Staff. He previously served as the Brigade Commander, 211th Regional Support Group in Corpus Christi, Texas. Brig. Gen. Staats has held numerous command and staff positions, including four deployed commands in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.
Brig. Gen. Staats is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, Quartermaster Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, US Army Command and General Staff College, Combined Arms and Services Staff School and the United States Army War College.
His military awards include: the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star w/Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal w/Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. Brig. Gen. Staats was also awarded the Polish Medal of Distinction. Units under his command have received the Joint Unit Meritorious Citation and the Meritorious Unit Citation. Brig. Gen. Staats has both the Joint Staff and Army Staff Badges. He was also awarded the US State Department Superior Honor Award.
In his civilian capacity, Dr. Staats was fortunate enough to spend over 20 years advising senior appointed and elected Federal officials in three executive think tanks in topics ranging from command, control, communications and intelligence to logistics, disaster relief and nation building. He served as director from 1997 to 2016 with the MITRE Corporation. Dr. Staats also served as a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Transition and Stability.