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THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
Manpower & Reserve Affairs
Mission, Vision, Values

ASA (M&RA) LEADERSHIP

Honorable Thomas R. Lamont
Assistant Secretary of the Army Manpower and Reserve Affairs
Mr. Thomas R. Lamont, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs), confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 18, 2009, is responsible for the supervision of the manpower, personnel and reserve component affairs for the Department of Army.
Full biography
 

Karl F. Schneider
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
Mr. Karl F. Schneider serves as the Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs by providing guidance, supervision, and synchronization for the daily activities of the Office of the Assistant Secretary.
Full biography
 

SGM Michael Byrd
Sergeant Major (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
As the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the ASA M&RA since 10 November 2009, SGM Byrd is primarily responsible for providing advice, guidance, and recommendations on policies that affect the total force for all Active, Guard, and Reserve components.
Full biography
 

Honorable Thomas R. Lamont

Hon. Thomas R. Lamont

Assistant Secretary of the Army
(Manpower & Reserve Affairs)

Mr. Thomas R. Lamont, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs), is responsible for the supervision of the manpower, personnel and reserve component affairs for the Department of Army. In this position, he serves as the Army's point person for policy and performance oversight of human resources (military, civilian and contractor) training, readiness, mobilization, military health affairs, force structure, manpower management, equal opportunity, equal employment opportunity and other critical matters as part of the Army leadership.

On April 27, 2009, President Barack H. Obama nominated Thomas R. Lamont as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 18, 2009. Prior to his appointment, he was the Chair of University of Illinois Board of Trustees and a longtime Springfield, Illinois attorney and resident partner for the Chicago firms of Gordon & Glickson and Altheimer & Gray, and the historic Springfield firm of Brown, Hay & Stephens, whose members previously included Abraham Lincoln. He concentrated his practice in Government Law and Legislative Affairs.

In the public arena, Mr. Lamont served as Assistant Illinois Attorney General, Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and Special Counsel and Adjunct Professor of Law to the University of Illinois. In the mid 1970's, he served as a Counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.

In 1990, Mr. Lamont was elected to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. In addition, he served as a trustee of the State University Retirement System, a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and on U.S. Senator Alan J. Dixon's Military Academy Appointments Committee.

He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, U.S. District Courts and Illinois State Courts.

Mr. Lamont served as a Judge Advocate General in the Illinois Army National Guard for over 25 years. He culminated his career serving as the Illinois Staff Judge Advocate and retired as a Colonel in 2007. His military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Mr. Lamont received his bachelor's degree from Illinois State University in 1969 and earned his law degree from the University of Illinois, College of Law in 1972.

 
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Karl F. Schneider

Karl F. Schneider

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army
(Manpower and Reserve Affairs)

Mr. Karl F. Schneider serves as the Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs by providing guidance, supervision, and synchronization for the daily activities of the Office of the Assistant Secretary. This includes supervision of all aspects of the M&RA portfolio, including military and civilian personnel policy, equal opportunity and equal employment opportunity, training, readiness, modernization, reserve affairs, health affairs, force structure, manpower management, and family policy.

Mr. Schneider is a native of Staten Island, New York. He attended The Johns Hopkins University on an Army ROTC Scholarship, and was a Distinguished Military Graduate. He has a law degree from Fordham University School of Law, where he was a Dean's List student and a member of the Moot Court Board. He also has a master's degree in labor law from Georgetown University Law Center.

Mr. Schneider served on active duty in the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, with assignments at Fort Lee, Virginia and the Office of The Judge Advocate General in the Pentagon. He continued to serve as a reservist with assignments on the Army Staff and in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness). In 2001, he retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. His military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and two awards of the Army Meritorious Service Medal.

After leaving active duty, he was an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Patterson Belknap, Webb & Tyler, a major law firm headquartered in New York City, specializing in litigation, government contract, personnel, and administrative law matters. His pro bono work included advising the District of Columbia Law Revision Commission and the Greater Washington Board of Trade on legislative and home rule issues.

Mr. Schneider later served as Legislative Counsel to the Army for 10 years, representing the Army in major Congressional investigations. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

In October 1997, he was appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Army Review Boards) and Director of the Army Review Boards Agency where he was responsible for the oversight and operations of 11 Army personnel boards, including the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, the Army Discharge Review Board, and the Army Clemency and Parole Board.

Mr. Schneider served as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1 from September 2006 until July 2009. He supported the Army's G-1 in the areas of military and civilian personnel policy, personnel programming and budget, human resources policy, human engineering and related research.

Mr. Schneider's civilian awards include the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service (three awards) and the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive.

 
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SGM Michael Byrd

SGM Michael Byrd

Sergeant Major
(Manpower and Reserve Affairs)

SGM Byrd assumed duties as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs on 10 November 2009. He is primarily responsible for providing advice, guidance and recommendations on policies that affect the total force for all components (Active, Guard and Reserve). He holds the most senior enlisted position in the Adjutant General's Corps.

SGM Byrd enlisted in the United States Army in 1982 and attended Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He holds an Associate degree in General Studies from Central Texas College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College of New York.

SGM Byrd has held a variety of leadership positions to include Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant and First Sergeant. He has also served two years in the Defense Attaché System at the American Embassy in Port au Prince, Haiti as Operations Coordinator with the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Other duty assignments include Personnel Sergeant, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, Schofield Barracks, HI; Squad Leader and Personnel Sergeant, 18th Field Artillery Brigade (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC; Personnel Sergeant, 1st Support Battalion, Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), Sinai, Egypt; HQ, United States Special Operations Integration Command (Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC; Platoon Sergeant and Personnel Sergeant, 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Airfield, GA; First Sergeant, United States Southern Command, Miami, FL; J-1 Sergeant Major, Iraq Assistance Group, Baghdad, Iraq, Armor Branch and Maneuver and Fires Division Sergeant Major, Army Human Resources Command.

His military education includes all levels of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System to include the First Sergeant Course, Sergeants Major Academy, Battle Staff NCO Course, Air Assault School, Airborne School, Jumpmaster Course, Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE "High Risk") Course, Attaché Staff Operations Course and the Haitian Creole Basic Language Course.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2OLC), the Meritorious Service Medal (4OLC), the Joint Service Commendation Medal the Army Commendation Medal (4OLC), the Army Achievement Medal (1OLC), Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Royal Australian and Canadian Parachutist Badges, the Army Staff Badge and have been presented the Noble Patron of Armor Medal.

SGM Byrd is married and has two children.

 
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