SAN DIEGO, California. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems announced on September 4 that retired U.S. Army Lt. General Sean MacFarland has joined the organization as Vice President of Weapons Program Strategic Development. MacFarland had served as the deputy commanding general and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command prior to joining GA-EMS.

“We are truly honored to have General MacFarland join the GA-EMS team,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “We look forward to applying his extensive Army and Joint Services experiences, and his over 36 years of service to our nation, to advance the development of disruptive technologies critical to solving many of the challenges facing today’s warfighter.”

General MacFarland will initially be assigned to the organization’s Washington DC office. In early 2019, he will move to GA-EMS’ headquarters in San Diego, CA to transition key technologies into production.

General MacFarland spent almost half of his military tenure overseas, primarily in Europe and the Middle East. As the principal architect of the 2015-2016 Operation Inherent Resolve campaign to destroy ISIS, he broke the stalemate and recaptured over 40% of the enemy’s territory. Concurrently, he forged key relationships with the U.S. Secretary of Defense, the Iraqi Prime Minister, and other senior regional military and political leaders.

General MacFarland is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and holds three masters degrees. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a Senior Fellow at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare.