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<p><em>Charles Hemming “Chuck” Jacoby Jr.</em> was born on June 19, 1954, the second of three children born to Charles and Roberta Jacoby in Detroit, MI. He grew up there and in Clarks Summit, PA with sister Kay and brother Robert, graduating from Abington Heights High School in 1972, where he excelled in academics and wrestling. Deciding to follow the example of military service set by his father and uncles, Chuck applied to West Point while in high school but was not immediately selected for admission. Two years of Army ROTC at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and repeated applications submitted by his mother, were finally rewarded by nomination and appointment as a member of the United States Military Academy Class of 1978. Chuck passed through Thayer Gate and reported to the Man in the Red Sash with his classmates on July 8, 1974. As a cadet he continued to excel in the classroom and on the intramural fields of friendly strife, and he established a reputation for having a wry sense of humor, while always being a humble and loyal teammate and leader of impeccable character.</p>
<p>Graduating with his classmates on June 7, 1978, Chuck was commissioned into the Infantry and began what would be a long journey leading soldiers and teams in service to the nation. Assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC following graduation, he led paratroopers as a platoon leader, served a year as aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the newly established Joint Special Operations Command, and served in combat as a company commander during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, the Army’s first conventional force engagement since Vietnam. After five years at Fort Bragg, he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, followed by obtaining a master’s degree in history from the University of Michigan and service as a professor (or “P”) in the USMA Department of History. Continuing his intellectual growth at Fort Leavenworth, KS, he attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, extending his stay for another year at the School for Advanced Military Studies. Notwithstanding the importance of these intellectual pursuits, the highlight of his two years in Kansas was meeting and marrying fellow Army officer Grace Dorta, launching a partnership that would endure for life. </p>
<p>Chuck commanded a battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division as a lieutenant colonel, then Joint Task Force Bravo in Honduras as a colonel, where his work responding to the Hurricane Mitch crisis would pave the way for future positions of responsibility. He was on duty at the Pentagon as a new one-star general when terrorists flew a plane into the building on September 11, 2001. In the Global War on Terror that followed, he deployed to Afghanistan with the 25th Infantry Division, commanded U.S. Army Alaska, establishing it as an airborne headquarters, and (as a lieutenant general) commanded I Corps and the Multi-National Corps in Iraq, the Corps’ first deployment since Korea. Following service as the director of strategy, plans, and policy (J-5) on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon, he was promoted to general and selected to serve as the commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, the only Army officer to have held that combatant command post. In this capacity, he led the military response to Hurricane Sandy, reorganized the joint and bi-national command for greater effectiveness, defended U.S. and Canadian airspace 24/7/365, advanced military partnerships with Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas, and—he would point out with his trademark grin and twinkle in his eye—never once lost track of Santa on Christmas Eve.</p>
<p>Chuck hung up his Army blues in 2015 after nearly 37 years of dedicated service to his country. He went on to serve as a director on several corporate and non-profit boards, returned to West Point as the inaugural Distinguished Chair of the Modern War Institute, and was a senior mentor to a new generation of flag officers. He wrote extensively about the military profession, the importance of developing agile leaders able to guide the nation through the uncertainty, and the dangers and opportunities that lay ahead for the nation, and he was a tireless advocate for continuing education for military leaders. </p>
<p>Chuck said that Grace, the love of his life, was the perfect partner who made him a better person. He also said that being a dad to sons CJ, Victor and Michael, was his life’s greatest achievement and privilege. His classmates, as well as the countless lives he touched along his journey, would say he made them better people too. Duty well performed, Chuck. Be Thou at Peace, brother.</p>
<p><em>— Mark O’Neill and Family</em></p>
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