James F. Amos - Biography

Biography

After graduating from the University of Idaho in 1970, Amos was designated a Naval Aviator in 1971, and has held a variety of operational and staff assignments since 1972. His operational assignments include tours with VMFA-212, VMFA-235, VMFA-232 and VMFA-122 where he flew the F-4 Phantom II. In 1985 then-Lieutenant Colonel Amos assumed command of Marine Air Base Squadron 24. Transitioning to the F/A-18 Hornet, he assumed command of VMFA-312 and subsequently joined Carrier Air Wing Eight on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). In May 1996, General Amos took command of Marine Aircraft Group 31 in Beaufort, South Carolina. In August 2002, he assumed command of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and deployed with them to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Amos served as Commanding General of the II Marine Expeditionary Force from July 2004 to July 2006.

Amos's staff assignments include tours with MAG-15 and MAG-31, III Marine Amphibious Force, Training Squadron Seven, The Basic School, and the MAGTF Staff Training Program. Promoted to brigadier general in 1998, he was assigned to NATO as Deputy Commander, Naval Striking Forces, Southern Europe, and as the U.S. Deputy Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Europe, at Naples, Italy. During this tour he commanded NATO's Kosovo Verification Coordination Center, and served as Chief of Staff, U.S. Joint Task Force Noble Anvil during the air campaign over Yugoslavia. Transferred in 2000 to The Pentagon, he was assigned as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Aviation. Reassigned in December 2001, Amos served as the Assistant Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations Department, Headquarters Marine Corps. From August 2006 to July 2008, Amos served as Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration.

Amos became the 31st Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on July 4, 2008. In June 2010, Amos was recommended for nomination by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to succeed James T. Conway as Commandant, while recommending Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. to fill his role as Assistant Commandant. He was formally nominated by President Barack Obama on July 20, who interviewed him for the job on June 17. He received support from the Senate Armed Services Committee during a confirmation hearing on September 21, and confirmed shortly thereafter. On October 22, 2010, Conway turned the position over to Amos at a ceremony at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C..

As Commandant, Amos opposed the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals openly serving in the U.S. military. After President Obama signed the legislation setting the conditions for repeal, Amos led the Department of Defense in carrying out the will of the nation's civilian leadership. In late November 2011, Amos acknowledged that his opposition to gays openly serving in the military has proven unfounded and said that Marines have embraced the change, describing the repeal as a "non-event."