Colonel Gerald A. Mathis
Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché, The Republics of Senegal, Cabo Vede, The Gambia, and Guinea Bissau
Col. Gerald A. Mathis is a native of Texarkana, Texas and enlisted in the United States Army in 1996. He commissioned as an Armor officer in 2001 through the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia. Col. Mathis became a Sub-Saharan Africa Foreign Area Officer (FAO) in 2011.
Col. Mathis is a distinguished graduate (magna cum laude) of Tarleton State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. He holds a Master of Science degree in Strategy, Defense, Security, Conflict and Disaster Management from the University of Yaoundé II, and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from Boston University. Additionally, he holds an Associates of Arts degree in French from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.
Col. Mathis has served as assistant operations officer at the Battalion and Brigade levels. He served in leadership positions in the 4th Infantry Division, 1st Squadron, 10th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas and deployed with the 4th Infantry Division to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He commanded companies in the 2nd Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion 9th Infantry Regiments, Republic of South Korea and was selected as a finalist for the Douglas A. MacArthur Leadership Award. Following his command tours, Col. Mathis served as a Small Group Instructor at the Maneuver Captains Career Course (MCCC), Fort Benning, Georgia.
Col. Mathis’ previous assignments include tours of duty as the Senior Defense Official to Burundi, and U.S. Army Attaché to Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Cabo Verde. His staff assignments include Branch Chief - J29-Strategy and Plans for Intelligence Engagements at United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) Joint Intelligence Center J2, and Chief of Strategy and Plans for Sahel and West Africa at Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF). He attended the International Combined War College, Ecole Supérieure Internationale de Guerre (ESIG) while assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Col. Mathis joins United States Defense Attaché Office, Darkar after serving as the Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché to The United Republic of Tanzania.
His military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, and the Expert Infantryman's Badge, Air Crew Member Badge, and Airborne wings. Col. Mathis was awarded both the honors of the Order of Saint George and the Order of Saint Maurice and initiated in the Order of the Spur (silver and gold variants). He is fluent in French and Portuguese and has a working knowledge of Portuguese-Creole.