Lieutenant General Scott Howell retired from the United States Air Force in August 2021 after a 34-year career during which he held a variety of positions of leadership, including most recently as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from July 2018 to June 2021.
As the first Air Force officer to command JSOC, Lt Gen. Howell led a force of 14,000 personnel engaged in special operations across multiple areas of instability, and was responsible for the readiness and mission execution of highly-specialized forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
From 2017 to 2018 he served as the Vice Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command focused on organizing, training, and equipping more than 70,000 U.S. Special Operations personnel operating in more than 85 countries. In this role he led acquisition, budgeting, programming, and fiscal processes for USSOCOM with the military services, Joint Staff, and Office of the Secretary of Defense.
From 2016 to 2017 then Maj Gen Howell commanded all NATO and US special operations forces in Afghanistan as Commanding General, NATO Special Operations Component Command / U. S. Special Operations Joint Task Force – Afghanistan.
HIs addition to his commands as a general officer, Lt Gen Howell also commanded the 20th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field FL, the 1st Joint Special Operations Aviation Component at Ft Bragg NC, and the 1st Expeditionary Special Operations Wing in CENTCOM and AFRICOM.
Howell’s senior staff positions include service on the HQ Air Force Staff, Air Force Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, and as the Deputy Director of Special Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Howell is a 1987 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and earned Master’s Degrees from the Air Command & Staff College and the National War College. He is a career special operations helicopter pilot with extensive combat experience.