Thomas R . Turner II Lieutenant General Thomas R . Turner II is the commanding general of the United States Army North , Fort Sam Houston , Texas . Military career . Turner graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1974 and was commissioned as second lieutenant in the infantry . His first assignment was with the 1st Battalion , 8th Infantry , 4th Infantry Division ( Mechanized ) , as a platoon leader and company executive officer . In August 1977 , he was assigned as a platoon leader with the United Nations Command Security Force , Joint Security Area , Panmunjom , Korea . He attended the Infantry Officer Advance Course prior to taking command of B Company , 3rd Battalion , 19th Infantry , 24th Infantry Division ( Mechanized ) in Fort Stewart , Georgia . Following this assignment , he served as the Aide - de - Camp to the Deputy Commanding General , Combined Arms Combat Development Activity at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . In February 1981 , he was assigned to the 2d Battalion , 75th Infantry ( Ranger ) where he served as the battalion S5 and company commander of C Company . Upon graduation from the Naval Postgraduate School and completion of the Armed Forces Staff College , he was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment where he served as the Regimental Plans and Liaison Officer . In September 1986 , he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion , 75th Ranger Regiment , where he served as the battalion S3 ( operations ) and executive officer . Subsequently , he was named the Assistant to the Commander , 75th Ranger Regiment , during Operation Just Cause in Panama . Next , MG Turner was assigned as Commander , United Nations Command Security Force , Joint Security Area , Panmunjom , South Korea . Following completion of the United States Army War College an Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania , he assumed command of 2d Brigade , 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment , 82d Airborne Division , in Fort Bragg , North Carolina . Upon relinquishing command , he served as the Chief of Staff for the 82d Airborne Division . Selected to attend the Royal College of Defense Studies in London , England , he served a one - year tour as a British Defense college Fellow and was subsequently named the Executive Assistant to the Commander - in - Chief , United States Atlantic Command , and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic , in Norfolk , Virginia . In September 1999 , Turner returned to Fort Bragg , North Carolina , where he served as the Chief of Staff , XVIII Airborne Corps . Following this assignment , he was named the Assistant Division Commander for Maneuver of the 1st Infantry Division , United States Army Europe and U . S . Seventh Army , Germany . In August 2001 , he was assigned as the Deputy United States Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee in Brussels , Belgium . On 2 December 2002 , Turner assumed command of the U . S . Army Southern European Task Force ( Airborne ) in Vicenza , Italy . Following his assignment in Italy , Turner was made the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division and Ft . Campbell , Kentucky in May 2004 . On September 23 , 2005 , Turner deployed with the 101st to Iraq for one year . On November 10 , 2006 , the 101st Airborne changed commands , with Turner turning over his command of the Division and Ft . Campbell to Major General Jeffrey J . Schloesser . On December 4 , 2006 , Lieutenant General Turner received his third star and became the commanding general of United States Army North . Located on Fort Sam Houston , Texas , United States Army North is the Army ' s service component command for U . S . Northern Command and the U . S . Northern Command Joint Force Land Component Command . He set to retire June 8 , 2010 .