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MG (Ret) Lester Simpson
Major General (Ret) Lester Simpson is a distinguished military student and a distinguished military graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington Military Science department. He received an early commission in the Texas Army National Guard in May of 1980 and graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies degree in December 1983. As a cadet, Major General (MG) Simpson was very active in the Corps of Cadets at UTA for four years and commanded the Sam Houston Rifles Drill Team in 1979 and 1980, winning numerous trophies and the State of Texas Championship.
Commissioned an Infantry officer, he served in many key Leadership and Command assignments in the Texas Army National Guard throughout his distinguished military career. In October 2012, General Simpson became the Assistant Adjutant General – Army, Texas National Guard, in May 2013 he was selected as the Special Assistant to the Director, Army National Guard, at the Pentagon Title 10. In 2014, he became the first African American commanding general of the 36th Infantry Division (also known as the Texas Division), a division of the US Army and the Texas National Guard. He retired from the National Guard in July 2017.
He has been called to active duty in support of contingency operations overseas four times in his career, including Bosnia and Afghanistan, and earned the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and the Combat Action Badge and during combat operations in Afghanistan 2010-2011.
He is a graduate of the US Army War College and received a Master of Strategic Studies degree in 2005. His area of concentration is Defense Support to Civil Authorities operations and the Asia Pacific region. He is also a graduate of the National Defense University CAPSTONE General and Flag Officer Professional Development Course.
His awards and decorations include: The Defense Meritorious Service Medal, The Meritorious Service Medal, The Army Commendation Medal with 2 OLC,, The Army Achievement Medal, The Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal with 4 OLC, The National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, The Armed Forces Service medal, The Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M Device, Silver Hour Glass and numeral 3 device, The Army Service ribbon, The Overseas Service Ribbon, The Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon with number 2, and The NATO Medal with Bronze Star.
Concurrent with his very active National Guard career, Major General Simpson had a 33-year career with United Parcel Service (UPS) where he rose from part-time employee during his college years to Supervisor of Full Time Employees, Plano Delivery Center, Mesquite, Texas and served as Co-Chair of the Plano Center’s Comprehensive Health and Safety Committee. He was the highest ranking veteran employed by UPS nationwide and UPS utilized his military expertise and knowledge of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) on a number of occasion to prevent or overcome friction between service members and UPS Management surrounding deployment and Re-Employment rights. He retired from UPS in March of 2013.
MG Simpson is married to Antoinette Simpson, and they reside in Rowlett Texas. He has four children; Lester Jr. (currently serving in Iraq), Solomon Joseph Simpson (Arlington, Texas), Nathan Ross Simpson (Manheim, Germany) and Morgan Jaquai Williams (Rowlett, Texas).