Col. Adrian T. Bogart III ’81 has been appointed commandant of the Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets.

Previously, Bogart spent 38 years in the United States Army in both the Regular Army and National Guard.  He started his career in Baumholder, Germany during the Cold War as a Rifle and Support Platoon Leader, then Company Executive Officer in the 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry. Upon completing his initial duty assignment, he was assigned to C Company, 1/20th SFG(A) as a Special Forces Detachment Commander and SF Company Executive Officer, later commanding B Company, 2/20th SFG(A).

Bogart had several assignments in Washington, DC, where he was a Special Forces Staff officer on Army Staff, one of the original four officers who established Civil Support for the Department of Defense and co-founder of the InterAgency Board for Equipment Standardization and Interoperability. As the war commenced, he transferred into the Regular Army, and served as the CFLCC operations chief for the 2003 Liberation of Iraq, the lead strategist and then Special Forces chief of staff for CJSOTF-A, where he developed and managed the special operations supporting plan for the 2004 Afghan Presidential election.

He was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, where in 2006, as an assistant division chief of staff, he managed a Baghdad centric civic action supporting a population of 11 million Iraqis during the height of religious violence. After Baghdad, he was assigned as the deputy brigade commander for 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division where he partnered with Iraqi and Allied commands, tribal, Iraq, United States and British government officials to transition key provinces to Iraqi sovereignty in 2008 and 2009.

Upon returning to the United States, he commanded 2nd Battalion, 393rd Infantry, an infantry training support battalion, preparing 7,600 Soldiers for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, after which Colonel Bogart deployed to Afghanistan managing governance and development for the Special Operations Joint Task Force in 2012 and 2013.

His follow-on assignment was at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, where he served as the deputy strategist to the Commanding General developing the "Win in a Complex World" tag line guiding the Army's operating concept for the next 20 years. Afterwards, Colonel Bogart transferred to Special Operations Command, Africa and commanded a Special Operations Command and Control Element focused on Libya and North Africa. He returned to the United States and served as Military Faculty at the United States Naval War College, staffed the President of the United States as the Director of African Affairs on the National Security Council pioneering "Prosper Africa", and then deployed for a 21-month tour in Afghanistan as the Deputy Commander of the Train, Advise and Assist Command, North (NATO Resolute Support Mission) supporting the historic peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban. His last assignment on active duty was in the Pentagon as the USSOUTHCOM Chief of the Washington Field Office.

A civil engineering major at VMI, Bogart held positions of increasing responsibility as a member of the cadre and served as executive officer of Company F his 1st Class year.  He holds a Master of Arts in Diplomacy with a concentration in Terrorism from Norwich University and has proficiency in French, German, and Dari. He is a published author of two books and several articles on counterinsurgency and special operations. A veteran of 78 months in combat, he has earned two Defense Superior Service Medals, one with Combat Device, the Legion of Merit, five Bronze Star Medals, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, six Meritorious Service Medals, the Afghan Campaign Medal with 2 stars, Iraq Campaign Medal with 6 stars and other awards, Combat Infantrymen and Combat Action Badges as well as the Special Forces tab, Army Parachutist Badge, the Presidential Service and Army Staff Identification Badges, and German and Italian Parachute wings.

A native of New York, he and his late wife, Susan, have three adult children, Sarah, Catherine, and Adrian T. Bogart IV.

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