General Montgomery C. Meigs, Commanding General United States Army Europe and Seventh Army will be featured as part of the West Point Distinguished Lecture Series hosted by the Department of Systems Engineering March 1. Meigs will be speaking on "The Transformation of Our Army as a System of Systems," starting at 7:30 p.m. in Robinson Auditorium, Thayer Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. Attendees are asked to be seated by 7:20 p.m.

On Oct. 18, 1999, Meigs returned to the Headquarters, United States Army, Europe and 7th Army in Heidelberg, Germany. He had been serving as the Commander of the multinational Stabilization Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina since Oct. 23, 1998. He assumed the duties of Commanding General, USAREUR & 7th Army on Nov. 10, 1998.

Meigs was born in Annapolis, Md., Jan. 11, 1945. He is a USMA ’67 graduate and spent his initial assignments as a company grade officer in command of armored cavalry units in Germany and Vietnam.

After study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a year at the Army’s Command and General Staff College, he taught in the history department here. He spent the 1981-82 academic year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He received his Ph.D. in history from Wisconsin in 1982 before reporting to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment as its executive officer.

In 1984, Meigs joined the 1st Squadron, 1st Armored Cavalry Regiment as its commander. Following a stint at the National War College as an Army Fellow, he worked as a strategic planner on the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., for three years. Returning to Germany, he assumed command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division Sept. 26, 1990 and soldiered with it through Desert Storm. He subsequently commanded the 7th Army Training Command in Grafenwoehr and served as Chief of Staff of V Corps and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the USAREUR & 7th Army.

Meigs commanded the 3rd Infantry Division from July 1995 until its reflagging as the 1st Infantry Division in February of 1996. In October 1996, he deployed with the 1st Infantry Division to Bosnia, serving nine months as COMEAGLE in command of NATO’s Multi-National Division (North) in Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with V device and the Purple Heart.