Major General Garrick Harmon
Director, Strategy, Engagement, and Programs, United States Africa Command
Maj. Gen. Garrick Harmon is a native of Hutchinson, Kansas. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA) in 1992 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. Maj. Gen. Harmon is a Europe/Eurasia Foreign Area Officer with extensive experience in Russia and throughout the former Soviet Union. Maj. Gen. Harmon assumed duties as the Director of Strategy, Engagement, and Programs at U.S. Africa Command in July 2024.
Maj. Gen. Harmon earned a Bachelor of Science degree in European History and Russian Language from USMA. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia Studies from Harvard University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College. His military schooling includes the Field Artillery Officer Basic and Advance Courses, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, United States Army Command and General Staff College, Joint Military Attaché School, Defense Institute for Security Assistance Management, and Joint and Combined Warfighting School. Maj. Gen. Harmon is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Army War College. He was also a Fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program.
Maj. Gen. Harmon served in numerous command and staff positions in the continental United States and Europe. Prior to his current assignment, he served as Deputy Commanding General, Security Assistance Group – Ukraine. He also served as the Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché (SDO/DATT), U.S. Defense Attaché Office (USDAO), Embassy of the United States, Kyiv, Ukraine and as Commanding General, United States Army Security Assistance Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. He previously served as the Deputy Director, Strategy, Plans, and Policy, Headquarters, Department of the Army; Deputy Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Army; and Deputy Director and Chief of Transition, CJ-5, Strategic Plans and Policy, NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. MG Harmon served in the NATO Land Component Command, Madrid, Spain, and in the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
In addition to USDAO Kyiv, Maj. Gen. Harmon served four other tours in the Defense Attaché Service in multiple embassies. He served as Army Attaché for USDAO Tallinn, Estonia; Army Attaché for USDAO Moscow, Russian Federation; SDO/DATT for USDAO Tbilisi, Georgia; and SDO/DATT for USDAO Moscow.
His awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, the Airborne and Air Assault Badges, and the Army Staff Identification Badge. While assigned to USDAO Moscow as the Army Attaché, he earned the Director’s Annual Agency Team Award and the 2015 Department of Defense Human Intelligence Team Award. While assigned to USDAO Kyiv as the SDO/DATT, his team earned the Culper Ring Special Emphasis National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation. He is the recipient of the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for his service as SDO/DATT in Moscow.