David T Zabecki

Enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1966, David T. Zabecki served in Vietnam during 1967-68 as an infantry rifleman. In 1988, he graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College as the Distinguished Honor Graduate, receiving the General John J. Pershing Award. From 1996 to 1998 Colonel Zabecki served extensively in Bosnia and Former Yugoslavia. From 2001 to 2002 Brigadier General Zabecki was the Deputy Chief (Individual Mobilization Augmentee) of the U.S. Army Reserve, assigned to the Pentagon. He then commanded the 7th Army Reserve Command in Germany, and in early 2003 he served as the Director of the U.S. Army Europe Deployment Operations Center, responsible for managing and coordinating the movement of 33,000 troops and their equipment from Europe to the Gulf region for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Later in 2003 Major General Zabecki served in Israel as the Senior Security Advisor on the State Department’s U.S. Coordinating and Monitoring Mission, charged with managing the Roadmap to Peace in the Middle East initiative. In 2004 he served as the Department of Defense Executive Director for all World War II 60th Anniversary observances in Europe. He commanded the joint task forces that supported the D-Day 60, Operation Market-Garden 60, and Battle of the Bulge 60 events. From 2005 to 2006 he served as the Commanding General of the Southern European Task Force (Rear), and the U.S. Army’s Senior Mission Commander in Europe South of the Alps, headquartered in Vicenza, Italy. He is the author, translator, editor, or assistant editor of more than 25 military history books and encyclopedias; and the author of more than 1,100 articles in professional journals, magazines, and encyclopedias.