Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-435 

Vice Adm. Harward assumed command of Joint Task Force (JTF) 435 in November 2009. JTF 435 achieved Initial Operations Capability Jan. 7, 2010 and transitioned to Combined Joint Interagency Task Force (CJIATF) 435, Sept. 1, 2010. As the task force commander, Harward has control, oversight, and responsibility for U.S. detention and correction operations in Afghanistan. With policy guidance from U.S. Embassy and in cooperation with Afghan, interagency, coalition, and international counterparts, CJIATF 435 assists the Government of Afghanistan as it builds capacity to enable the responsible transition of self-sustaining Afghan National Detention and Rule of Law institutions that are compliant with Afghan and international law.

Harward qualified as a Surface Warfare officer aboard the destroyer USS Scott (DDG 955) and then transferred to the Naval Special Warfare community. He was the “Honor Man” of BUDs class 128 and has served in both east and west coast SEAL teams.

Harward’s tours in the Naval Special Warfare community include commander SEAL Team Three; team leader and operations officer at Naval Special Warfare Development Group; SEAL plans officer for commander, Amphibious Force U.S. 7th Fleet; executive officer, Naval Special Warfare Unit One; aide-de-camp to commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; deputy Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF) commander in Bosnia; deputy commander Special Operations Command, Pacific; commander Naval Special Warfare Group ONE, and most recently Deputy Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command. Harward also commanded multiple JSOTFs conducting combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Harward’s assignments outside of his community include a tour in the Executive Office of the President at the White House where he served on the National Security Council as the director of Strategy and Policy for Combating Terrorism from August 2003 until March 2005. Starting in April 2005, Harward was assigned as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff representative to the Senior Interagency Strategy Team where he helped stand up the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C. Most recently Harward served as deputy commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Harward was born in Newport, R.I., grew up in a Navy family and graduated from the Tehran American High School in Iran. He was awarded a fleet appointment to the United States Naval Academy where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1979. Harward attended the College of Naval Command and Staff, the Naval Staff College and the Armed Forces Staff College. He holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Strategic Security Affairs, served as a federal executive fellow at RAND and is an alumnus of the MIT Foreign Policy program, Seminar XXI.

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