Townsend was appointed commander of the 3d Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division[3] at Fort Lewis. He led Task Force Arrowhead during the Iraq War. Townsend led the brigade in the Battle of Baqubah in June 2007.[10] Townsend became executive officer for the United States Central Command commander at Tampa, Florida. He then became senior commander at Fort Campbell and then was Deputy Commanding General (Operations) for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from 2009. Townsend served in the same position for Combined Joint Task Force 101 during Operation Enduring Freedom. He became Director of the Pakistan/Afghanistan Coordination Cell at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On 4 December 2012, Townsend became commander of the 10th Mountain Division.[11] He also led Combined Joint Task Force 10 and Regional Command East at Bagram.[8]
Under Townsend, the CJTF-OIR coalition together with allies from the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Iraqi Security Forces, and the Libyan Government of National Accord launched simultaneous successful offensives against ISIL's capitals in Syria, Iraq, and Libya respectively: the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017), the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017), and the Battle of Sirte (2016). By the end of 2017 ISIL no longer held any territory in Iraq or Libya, held very little territory in Syria, and was down to under ten thousand fighters in total. The Iraqi Parliament declared in December 2017 that ISIL had effectively been eradicated from Iraq, though ISIL insurgent activity continued regularly.[14]
On 26 March 2017, United States forces allegedly bombed the Tabqa Dam in Syria using bombs including at least one BLU-109 bunker-buster bomb with a 2,000 lb warhead. This attack was under a "no-strike" list due to the hundreds of thousands people that lived downstream of the dam, roughly 10,000 of which were estimated to have died if the dam failed. Townsend, then in command of the Combined Joint Task Force, called claims that the US had struck the dam "crazy reporting" and "the coalition has taken every precaution to ensure the integrity of Tabqa Dam".[15]
Townsend became the fifth commander of the United States Africa Command on 26 July 2019. He leads a command responsible for building defense capabilities, responding to crises, deterring and defeating transnational threats in order to advance United States national interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity, all in concert with interagency and international partners. Africa Command is one of seven United States Department of Defense geographic combatant commands. In September 2022, upon his retirement, GEN Townsend was succeeded at AFRICOM by General Michael Langley of the United States Marine Corps.[citation needed]
Awards and decorations
Townsend is the recipient of the following awards:[8]