Major General Richard C. Longo,
U.S. Army

Major General Richard C. Longo

U.S. Army, Retired

Inducted 2023




Richard C. Longo was born in Madison, Wisconsin on June 29th, 1958. He was commissioned into the Field artillery from the ROTC Program at Furman University. After the Basic Officer Course, he was sent to Wiesbaden Germany, to the 1st – 133rd Lance Missile Battalion where he stayed to take Battery command. After five years in Germany, CPT Longo was sent to an ROTC recruiting posting at University of North Carolina, Wilmington. In his next assignment on the III Corps Staff, he served as the G3 and the SGS. MAJ Longo was sent to Fort Hood to serve in the Fire Support of III Corps. He was then sent to 1st CAV Division as XO at 2nd-82nd FA Battalion. After completing assignment as XO, he became the Deputy Fire Support Coordinator of 1st Cavalry Division. While in Garmisch Germany, working at the U.S. Marshall Center as an operations officer he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and then selected to command the 1st-14th Field Artillery Battalion at Fort Sill. LTC Longo was then asked to be the G3 of III Corps Artillery. Longo stayed at Fort Sill another year while working on Task Force 21, taking many trips to Fort Monroe to meet with TRADOC leadership.  After War College and promotion to Colonel, Longo took command of 1st ID DivArty. in Bamberg, Germany. In 2003, he deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II. While in Iraq, he was tasked to put together an HQ BCT in An-Najaf between the 2nd ACR leaving and, and the 8th Marine Expeditionary Unit arriving. On January 30th, 2005, the team was tasked to oversee Iraqi election polling stations. On the way back from doing battlefield circulation COL Longo’s Humvee was blown up just outside of Baiji. The vehicle was completely destroyed, but the driver, gunner and COL Longo survived. Following the return from Iraq in 2005, COL Longo became the XO for the DGC of USAREUR in Heidelberg Germany. Longo was then sent to Fort Shafter, Hawaii to become the Chief of Staff for the Commander of U.S. Army Pacific and while in that position he was selected for Brigadier General. Upon return to Fort Sill. COL (P) Longo became the Assistant Commandant of the USAFAS. The following year he headed for the Pentagon to be the Director of Training and Leader Development on the Army Staff in the G3. He received a follow-on assignment as the TRADOC G3 for eight months and then transferred to be the Deputy Commanding General for Initial Military Training. In this role he was overseeing Officer Basic Courses, Warrant Officer Basic Courses, Basic Training and AIT. This was during an important time in our Army, the war in the middle east was going on its second decade and recruiting was on the decline. He then volunteered to go to Afghanistan to lead Task Force 2010 which was designed to keep U.S. aide dollars out of the hands of the Taliban. After promotion to Major General, Longo became the Deputy Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe. MG Richard Longo retired at the headquarters in Wiesbaden on July 31, of 2014. MG (R) Rich Longo did not stop giving back after retirement. His unique perspective and knowledge set from his career and being a DivArty Commander was vital as a Fires Senior Mentor at MCTP. He has coached and mentored dozens of DivArty and Division commanders. He continues to help groom the next generation of Field Artillery leaders.