Our first recipient, Major General Robert B. Sofge, completed the AMP at Harvard Business School in October 2011.  Bob is a highly decorated Marine aviator who is currently serving as the Commanding General, U.S. Marine Forces Europe and Africa, in Stuttgart, Germany.  As a General Officer, he also served as the Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy (UCJ5), United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea, Deputy Commander for Marine Forces Pacific in Hawaii, Director of the Combined Joint Operations Center in Baghdad, Iraq, and as the Assistant Wing Commander of the 3rd Marine Air Wing in Miramar, CA.  Enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1982, Bob served in Japan, Korea, and the Philippines before commissioning as an Officer and becoming a Naval Aviator.  Selected to fly the AV-8B Harrier, he has flown combat missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Kuwait, and Iraq from both land and sea bases, and served as Commander of Marine Attack Squadron-311 and Marine Aircraft Group 14.  His staff assignments include Head, Strategic Assessment Branch, Programs & Resources, Headquarters Marine Corps in the Pentagon; Defense Resource Analyst for the Joint Staff; Battle Captain for the 3rd Marine Air Wing in Al Asad, Iraq; Requirements Coordinator for Harriers for the Deputy Commandant for Aviation; Weapons and Tactics Instructor at Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1 in Yuma, AZ; and various squadron billets in logistics, operations, and maintenance. He is also a qualified Landing Signals Officer and Jumpmaster.  Bob graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in Political Science in 1990, attended The Basic School in 1991, and completed Naval Flight School in 1993.  He has also earned an MBA in Military Management from Touro University, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Bob and his wife, Adrianne, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, have two children.