Brigadier General Stephen M. Rutner is currently serving as the Deputy Commander for the 84th Training Command in Fort Knox, Kentucky as of July 2018. BG Rutner was commissioned as a Regular Army Second Lieutenant upon graduation from Millersville University in 1987.
BG Rutner served on active duty in 4-64 Armor in the 24th Infantry Div (Mech) at Fort Stewart, GA. His assignments included armor platoon leader, company executive officer and battalion S3 Air. After serving on active duty, BG Rutner moved to the Alabama National Guard. He served in the 31st Separate Armor Bde as the Brigade Liaison Officer. Later he moved to the 1-152nd Armor Battalion as the S2 Intelligence Officer.
In 1997, BG Rutner moved to the US Army Reserve and joined the 1189th Transportation Terminal Bde in Charleston, SC. Over the next ten years, he served in a number of positions to include Asst. S3, Vessel Officer, Terminal Officer, Vessel Chief and Pre-Stow Chief. His last position in the 1189th was as the Bde S3 Operations Officer while assigned in SW Asia operating multiple ports in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. BG Rutner assumed command of the 1181st Transportation Terminal Battalion in Oct of 2008. He mobilized the battalion back to SW Asia in 2009 where it earned the Meritorious Unit Commendation. He was then the G3 (Chief of Operations) of the Deployment Support Command, Birmingham, Alabama. BG Rutner then served as the Commander, Army Reserve Element, Defense Logistics Agency, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. In 2014, BG Rutner took command of the 1189th Transportation Bde, in Charleston, SC.
BG Rutner is an honor graduate of the Armor Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Transportation Corps Officer Advance Course, the NBC Officer Course, the Junior Officer Maintenance Course, the US Army Airborne School, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.
BG Rutner’s awards and decorations include: the Bronze StarMedal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star Device, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M device and Bronze Hourglass, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, the Army Service Ribbon, the Army Overseas Ribbon, the Army Reserve Overseas Training Ribbon, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award and the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation Award.
BG Rutner and his wife reside in Lubbock, Texas where they are both professors at Texas Tech University. BG Rutner is a Supply Chain Management Professor and holds a MBA in Logistics from the University of Alabama and PhD in Logistics and Transportation from the University of Tennessee. His professional writings include journal articles in over twenty civilian publications and articles in the Defense Transportation Journal and Army Logistician.