Lt. Col. Richard Kaiser is the Acting Deputy Commander of the Southwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
His permanent position is the Deputy Chief of the Readiness and Contingency Operations Division of the Southwestern Division, a position he has held since 2011.
Kaiser was raised in a military family and graduated from Northwestern State University of Louisiana in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. After earning a Master of Science degree in Physics from the University of Texas at Arlington, he served in a variety of operational, command and staff assignments in the United States and overseas. In 2003, he was released from the active duty Army and began serving the Army as a Reservist. Since then, he has been called back on active duty twice, in 2006 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and again in 2011 to serve in his current capacity.
His previous active duty assignments include the 63rd Signal Battalion, Fort Gordon Ga.; the 1st Infantry Division in Wurzburg, Germany; Signal Officer for the 1st Infantry Division Engineer Brigade in Bamberg, Germany; Company Commander in the 304th Signal Battalion, South Korea; and Company Commander of C Company, 478 Civil Affairs Battalion in Baghdad, Iraq.
In 1998, he deployed with his platoon to El Salvador to conduct response and recovery operations following Hurricane Mitch. He deployed again the following year to Kosovo to serve as a Battle Captain with the 121st Signal Battalion , 1st Infantry Division. In 2006, Kaiser was mobilized and retrained as a Civil Affairs Officer at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. He was placed in command and deployed his Civil Affairs Company to conduct capacity building operations in Baghdad, Iraq.
Kaiser’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (3 oak leaf clusters), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon (3 oak leaf clusters), Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M device, NATO Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit award, and the Parachutist Badge.