Maj. Gen. Abraham J. Turner
Maj. Gen. Abraham J. Turner, a native of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, graduated from South Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. He also earned a Master’s Degree in public administration from Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
While enrolled at South Carolina State University, Turner was active in the ROTC program. He received his United States Army commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1976. He is also a graduate of several military schools including the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College.
Turner has held numerous positions throughout his Army career and has commanded at the company, battalion, and brigade levels. Currently, Turner commands the nation’s largest initial entry training post, Fort Jackson in South Carolina, where an average of over 40,000 soldiers per year are trained for the Army.
His assignments have included Executive Officer and later commander, B Company 1st Battalion, 1st Advanced Individual Training Brigade, Fort Benning; Instructor, 3rd Ranger Company, Fort Benning; S4, 2nd BN, 505th Infantry, Fort Bragg; Commander, A Co, 2-505 Infantry, Fort Bragg; Schools Commandant, G3, Fort Bragg; Assistant Professor of Military Science, South Carolina State College, Orangeburg SC; S3 (Operations), 1-5 Infantry, Korea; S4 1st Brigade Fort Bragg; Executive Officer, 1-504 Infantry Fort Bragg; Deputy G3 (Operations) 82nd Airborne Fort Bragg; Commander 3-504 Infantry Fort Bragg; Regimental Tactical Officer, West Point; Commander, Infantry Training Brigade Fort Benning; Chief, Joint Exercise and Training Division, J7 Washington DC; Special Assistant to the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington DC; Chief, House Legislative Liaison Division, Office of the Chief, Legislative Division Washington DC; Assistant Division Commander (Operations) 82nd Airborne Fort Bragg; and Assistant Chief of Staff, C3, Coalition Forces Land Component Command, Camp Doha Kuwait.
His last assignment prior to commanding Fort Jackson was Operations Officer for the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) in Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom.
Turner’s combat experiences include a combat jump into Panama during Operation Just Cause in December 1989; a deployment to Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm from 1990-1991; and deployment to the Coalition Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait in 2003.
His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Bronze Star Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Achievement Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster); the Combat Infantry Badge, the Expert Infantry Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge (with Combat Star), the Pathfinder Badge, the Ranger Tab, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.