Major General Bruce E. Hackett assumed command of the 80th Training Command (TASS) located in Richmond, Virginia on 17 September 2017.
His military service began in 1981 enlisting in the Indiana Air National Guard as a Heavy Equipment Operator. In 1985, he graduated from the Indiana State University with a B.S. Degree in Construction Technology and earned his commission through Army ROTC into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Upon completion of the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, he served on active duty with the 18th Engineer Brigade, 79th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) in Karlsruhe, Germany with the following key development assignments: Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and a Battalion Construction Officer. Upon completion of the Engineer Advance Course, he served as a Construction Contract Administrator for the Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In 1991, he deployed to Desert Storm with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Kuwait Emergency Recovery Office (KERO) to conduct damage assessment to critical infrastructure in war-torn Kuwait. His active duty service culminated as the Battalion Construction Officer of the 62nd Engineer Combat Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas.
Upon entering the Army Reserve in 1992, MG Hackett served in a variety of command and staff positions within the 99th Regional Support Command in Oakdale, Pennsylvania. He assumed command of the Headquarters and Support Company, 463rd Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) in Wheeling, West Virginia, became the Battalion Civil Engineer, and served a combat tour as the Battalion Commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom III (2004-2005) in Balad, Iraq.
His staff assignments with the 99th Regional Support Command included serving as an: Engineer Staff Officer, Force Integration Officer, CENTCOM Team Planner for the Corps of Engineers Contingency Response Unit in Washington D.C., Emergency Liaison Preparedness Officer for the State of Pennsylvania within FEMA Region III, and the command’s Directorate of Public Works. In 2009, he became a Logistics Officer and assumed command of the 165th Quartermaster Group (POL) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Following his Group Command, he was selected as the Deputy Chief of Staff/G3 of the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania and later deployed as the Deputy Commanding Officer in support of Theater Sustainment Operations in Kuwait during Operation Enduring Freedom (2012-2013).
Upon being selected as a General Officer, he assumed command of the 78th Training Division (Operations) in July 2013; responsible for executing collective training exercises for the Army Reserve’s Combat Support Training Program at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ. In January 2016, he became the Commanding General of the 451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command and deployed the command to Kuwait; executing Theater Sustainment Operations for the CENTCOM Area or Responsibility, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve and Freedom’s Sentinel.
MG Hackett’s military education includes the Engineer Officer Basic Course, Engineer Officer Advance Course, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, the United States Army War College and CAPSTONE. MG Hackett has earned Master’s Degrees in Strategic Studies from the Army War College and in Leadership & Business Ethics from Duquesne University.
A few of MG Hackett’s military decorations and awards include Legion of Merit Medals, the Bronze Star Medals, Meritorious Service Medals, Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medals, the Combat Action Badge, and the Airborne Parachutist Badge.
MG Hackett and his wife Gabriella of 30+ years reside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and have an adult aged daughter and son; Kristen and Kraig.