Kurt Sonntag

(MAJOR GENERAL, RETIRED, US ARMY)

Major General (Retired) Kurt L. Sonntag is an accomplished senior executive whose service as one of the most respected leaders in U.S. Special Operations and the U.S. Army afforded him the opportunity to refine his leadership and management skills over the past four decades.

Throughout his service, Kurt’s expertise was consistently sought after to solve many of the most complex, challenging problems our nation faced. Always at the forefront, he established personal and professional relationships throughout the U.S. government, academia, non-governmental organizations and with foreign leaders. His success is largely due to his ability to develop holistic, cohesive and collaborative partnerships within and outside of an organization. A driver of change, Kurt cultivates future organizational relevance through his strong interpersonal and communication skills. He builds resilient, high performing teams whose actions are directed by a strong sense of values and ethical behavior.

Prior to transitioning to the civilian sector, Kurt served as the 33rd Commander of the U. S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Operations Center and School where he was responsible for the training, education and leader development of over 26,000 students. With an acute understanding of the changing global environment, Kurt provided a new vision driving a change in unit and organizational culture that directly led to enormous cost savings for the organization.

Kurt achieved significant impacts throughout his career as an Army leader. He held several notable positions to include Commanding General of the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, where he was responsible for the security of U.S. personnel and assets throughout East Africa as well as the development of partner nations’ military capacities and capabilities. Prior to that, Kurt was the Commanding General of the Theater Special Operations Command – South, where he worked with partner nations across Central and South America, and the Caribbean to improve security conditions in the western hemisphere.

Kurt is relied upon for his willingness to take on the most difficult challenges in the most uncertain of environments and circumstances. He is known for his ability to work through chaos to redefine problems, develop unique executable solutions, recognize, and fully utilize the talents and expertise of others, build the necessary relationships to implement change, and provide the leadership and management experience to realize the vision.

Kurt received his commission from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and over his career has received many awards and decorations for his service. In addition to his Bachelor of Science Degree from West Point, he also received a Master’s Degree in History from Louisiana State University, a Master’s Degree in National Security Strategy from the U.S. Naval War College and was a U.S. Army War College Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.